The New FAMU Trustees
At least one state official describes the new Florida A&M Board of Trustees as “perhaps the strongest the governor has pulled together.” The new trustees, who were named June 15, range in age from senior citizens to a college student. They are Black, Latino and White; Republicans and Democrats. They range in expertise from senior corporate executives and retired military personnel to education administrators and spiritual leaders.
Nominations for these coveted board slots came from FAMU faculty, staff, students, President Frederick Humphries, the alumni association, education circles, the business community and state lawmakers, among others. Ultimately, it was Gov. Jeb Bush, under the counsel of advisers, who selected this team of 13 individuals in whose hands the future of FAMU now rests. Already, some onlookers are concerned that the group may be too heavily influenced by the FAMU old guard. Both the chairman and vice chairwoman are FAMU alumni, as are three other trustees. Other observers see this as a good thing, noting that with the university facing so much change all at once, it is as important for the board to maintain some continuity with FAMU’s past as a commitment to its future.
Only time will tell how this board will fare. Trustees will serve terms ranging from one to four years. For now, they are still getting to know one another and coming to grips with the awesome and historic responsibility they have assumed.
Lt. Gen. (RET.) Julius W. Becton Jr.
(7/1/01-6/30/03)
This veteran of the Korean and Vietnam wars also is the former president of Prairie View A&M University and, most recently, the former superintendent of public schools for the District of Columbia. Becton is an alumnus of Prairie View A&M and earned his master’s degree at the University of Maryland. Now a resident of Springfield, Va., he is one of four trustees who will serve on the board from out of state.
Dr. Regina Benjamin
(7/1/01-6/30/03)
This physician and alumna of Xavier University has made a career out of aiding the disenfranchised. Currently the associate dean for rural health at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine, Benjamin is the recipient of several national and international humanitarian awards, including the Nelson Mandela Award for Health and Human Rights, which she received in 1998. A graduate of the medical school at the University of Alabama-Birmingham and the business school at Tulane University, she lives in Spanish, Fort, Ala.
Dr. Castell Bryant
(7/1/01-6/30/05)
A veteran educator who likes to “keep things simple,” Bryant has already shown herself to be an independent thinker whose main concern appears to be the interests of FAMU students. An alumna and former employee of the university, she earned her doctorate at Nova Southeastern University. Bryant is currently the president of Miami-Dade Community College’s North Campus. She lives in Miami.
