AGAINST THE GRAIN

Beneath the happiness lies concern

By Roosevelt Wilson

I just witnessed my 35th homecoming celebration at Florida A&M University, and the thousands of alumni and friends returning to The Hill had a ball.

Spirits were as high as I’ve ever seen them, and the variety of events appropriately highlighted the positives and focused on FAMU as a bustling, institution with unlimited potential.

Indeed, returning Rattlers had much in which to take pride.

One of the biggest was the academic turnaround of the athletic program which now has all 18 men’s and women’s sports teams exceeding the minimum standards for progress toward graduation as established by the NCAA.

Returning Rattlers who were not here a couple of weeks ago for the ribbon cutting, also were impressed by the expansion of the Galimore-Powell Field House at Bragg Stadium.

And, of course, playing no small part in those high spirits and broad grins was the Rattlers’ thrilling 24-23 victory over the Morgan State Bears before a jam packed Bragg Stadium crowd.

Phase 1 of the student recreation center opened since last homecoming and was impressive for alums seeing it for the first time.

There was much more to please returning Rattlers, including exciting new programs in plasma research and astrophysics.

In addition, returning alumni got to see and appreciate some of their classmates and other fellow alumni such as Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and author and interior designer Cecil Hayes.

And during a special gala, alumni honored Bishop A.J. Richardson Jr., former head drum major of the Marching 100 band and former pastor of Tallahassee’s Bethel AME Church.

The famous FAMU Homecoming Parade on Saturday drew its usual tens of thousands of spectators from near and far.

FAMU Homecoming is always special and traditionally draws non-FAMUans from other colleges and universities, and other out-of-town spectators who flock to the event as well.

And as usual, in addition to the fans packed inside the 25,500-seat Bragg Stadium, thousands more filled the stadium parking lot, surrounding areas and the malls even as the game was being played.

It was a great homecoming and best described by the cliche, “and a good time was had by all.”

But among the joy and revelry, some alumni caucused to express concern about some issues that could have an adverse impact on the university.

I was surprised by the number of out-of-town alumni and supporters who stopped by the newspaper office or who telephoned, or wanted to huddle before or after events to discuss their concerns - or simply vent.

Though I am accustomed to hearing the concerns of local alumni, supporters, faculty and staff, I was somewhat taken aback by the apparent number of out-of-town alumni who had similar concerns.

On more than one occasion I was told that the Capital Outlook and the Internet blog Venom Nation go beyond the public relations fluff of planted stories and op-ed pieces and get some real truth about other critical issues.

Venom Nation has many more facts and posts them daily, sometimes long before the Outlook can get and verify the information.

But the person behind Venom Nation is anonymous and not many, if any, people know how to contact him or her in person to discuss things posted on the blog.

Thus, as one visitor told me Friday before homecoming: “The Capital Outlook is all we have.”

I suppose that helps explain the volume of contacts I get, but I learned that’s not the only reason.

Some say they contact me out of frustration. They say they have tried to contact members of the FAMU Board of Trustees but are not given the courtesy of a reply, not from a single trustee.

I wish the trustees understood how they are perceived by alumni from all over.

First, there is an unbelievable level of distrust of the BOT, and some have total disdain for Chairwoman Challis Lowe.

There is widespread belief that the presidential search is a sham and that the BOT already knows whom it will hire. Some are convinced it will be former State University System Chancellor Adam Herbert.

Though I think the BOT is weak and has abdicated much of its responsibility, I have told alumni privately and I say here publicly that with the Rev R.B. Holmes one of the trustees playing a leadership role on the search committee, and with Dr. Mary Diallo, Faculty Senate president, also on the committee, I am certain they and other members of he committee would never participate in a search that was not transparent and done with the highest integrity.

And as for Herbert, I don’t think the BOT would go there. There would be angry protests in the streets if the BOT seriously considered him. He became perhaps the most reviled person in FAMU’s history for campaigning while he was chancellor to relegate FAMU to the bottom tier of Gov. Jeb Bush’s discriminatory three-tiered system.

My argument was not persuasive to some who said they don’t trust Lowe’s relationship with the search firm.

Some expressed concern over what they call the “deliberate weakening of our signature programs,” referring to business, pharmacy and engineering.

And there were other concerns expressed, many shared by university faculty and staff.

These are issues that newspaper clippings and a publicity campaign won’t make go away.

Only the BOT, by becoming more people friendly, carrying out its constitutional oversight duties, breaking its code of silence with FAMU stakeholders and electing a chair with more humility than arrogance can stem this tide of distrust and growing concern about the BOT’s real agenda for FAMU.

Roosevelt Wilson is editor and publisher of the Capital Outlook.

You can email him at rwilson@capitaloutlook.com .

You can also talk to him live on his weekly radio show "Against The Grain" on Fridays from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. on WTAL 1450AM or live on the internet at www.wtal1450.com .