Timeline of Change
February 2000
Florida board of regents adopts Gov. Jeb Bush’s One Florida Plan, which eliminates the use of affirmative action policies in admissions in the state in exchange for a system giving special consideration to students who demonstrate economic or educational disadvantage. One Florida also guarantees admission to high school students who rank in the top 20 percent of their senior class to a state university, regardless of SAT or ACT scores. The plan also earmarks $20 million in need-based financial aid for low-income students attending state institutions and directs additional resources toward improving outcomes at middle schools and high schools that rank in the D and F categories on statewide performance indicators. The plan gets mixed reviews from African Americans and others. Critics say the new plan will cause the state’s HBCUs to shoulder a disproportionate share of the burden of admitting students who, though they rank in the top 20 percent of their senior class, do not qualify for admission to the state’s most selective institutions.
May 2000
Florida legislators pass HB 2263, which creates a new governance system for education in the state. The move triggers the beginning of a process for ending nearly all existing education governing bodies in the state, including the board of regents and the state board of community colleges. The new model creates a “seamless, student-centered,” pre-kindergarten through graduate school (K-20) system that will emphasize academic success.
June 2000
Gov. Bush signs legislation granting FAMU permission to reinstate its law school, after a 30-year battle. The previous law school was closed in 1968.
August 2000
A 12-member transition task force is appointed to implement the state’s new education governance system. The task force includes five appointees named by the governor, three named by the speaker of the state legislature and three named by the president of the state senate. The task force, which meets monthly in a public forum, is charged with completing the transition by 2003.
November 2000
Controversy erupts when a national election yields unclear results in the presidential race between Vice President Al Gore and Gov. George W. Bush of Texas. Florida is at the center of the storm as voters charge unfair practices at the polls and several thousand ballots are determined to be either missing, mismarked or miscounted. Adding to the nation’s cynicism about the election results are concerns about the role Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, George W. Bush’s brother and the younger son of former President George Bush, might have played in the voting scandal. Students at FAMU are among those who protest the election results.
Gov. Jeb Bush names Charlie Crist, a lawyer and former state senator, as commissioner of education for the state.
The board of regents accepts recommendations from Chancellor Adam Herbert, Humphries and a site selection committee to locate the new FAMU College of Law in Orlando. The new program is scheduled to enroll its first class of students in fall 2002, with the new campus scheduled to open in 2003.
January 2001
After weeks of unprecedented events, the U.S. Supreme Court finally rules that George W. Bush is the rightful winner of Florida electoral votes and Bush is declared President of the United States.
University system Chancellor Adam Herbert also announces his intention to step down effective March 2 to start a new center for public policy and leadership at the University of North Florida. Judy Hample, a veteran educator, is named to serve as chancellor until the new governance system takes effect.
February 2001
Dr. James H. Ammons Jr. resigns as FAMU provost and vice president of student affairs to accept a new position as president of North Carolina Central University. Dr. Gladys Lang, associate vice president of academic affairs, is named interim provost.
Days after the Ammons announcement, Humphries announces that he, too, plans to resign effective June 30.
