Board of Governors questions FAMU President Larry Robinson's leadership following athletics issues

For the second time in as many weeks, Florida A&M University President Larry Robinson Tuesday found his leadership acumen challenged following the FAMU football team's complaints about their needs as student athletes being neglected.

This time, it was the Board of Governors raising concerns and holding Robinson’s bosses – the board of trustees – accountable to make sure the president corrects the issues.

“What I really see to be very blunt is a failure in leadership, because these aren’t new issues in some cases,” Vice Chair Eric Silagy told Robinson during an Audit and Compliance Committee meeting Tuesday at the University of West Florida.

“I’m glad that you have a plan of action, but I am skeptical that this is something that is going to be addressed in short order,” said Silagy, president and CEO of Florida Power & Light.

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Underlying compliance and academic advising staff shortage issues surfaced after the NCAA announced 26 of FAMU’s football players were ineligible to play during their season-opener game at North Carolina. Although the number dwindled down to eight players being uncertified just in time for the Orange Blossom Classic, the team took a stand by writing a letter to Robinson about their concerns.

"Men and women who are going to school deserve better than this, and the litany of excuses is hard to take,” Silagy said. “There’s things that need to be done right now to make sure that your student athletes are getting taken care of.”

FAMU's trustees met with Robinson during an "emergency" meeting earlier this month to hear his update about the status of athletics

“My board (of trustees) has made it clear to me that they want more recruiting reports around these matters and increased accountability as well, and I am up to the challenge – so is my team,” Robinson told governors during the meeting.

On top of the Tallahassee Democrat and USA Today's coverage, the situation received more national attention from The New York Times Saturday on FAMU's longstanding issues in athletics and compliance.

"I'm just curious," said Board of Governors member Alan Levine, "how did it get to the point where this blew up and, seemingly, people felt that they had to go out to the press to be heard?"

While Robinson’s current action plans include recruiting and hiring five additional compliance coordinators and two academic advisors to staff the athletics department, needed changes have been discussed since April, Robinson told the board.

But even though efforts were made to resolve the compliance issues in the past, Silagy told Robinson “talking about it and doing it are two different things.”

“It really hurts me, too, when somebody questions our care and concern for these young men and women, whether they play football, volleyball or are just a regular student,” Robinson responded. “Our level of compassion for these students, I believe, is immeasurable.”

Levine, who has been supportive of Robinson's tenure at FAMU, described how "extremely frustrating” the situation has become.

“I’m saying this having been a huge fan of FAMU and the work that you guys have done,” Levine told Robinson during the meeting. “I don’t take any joy in sounding critical, but when you see students who feel that the university failed, something else is going on there and that needs to be addressed."

As governors questioned the root of the dysfunction, Board of Trustees Chairman Kelvin Lawson said it revolves around not having the right level of resources in the right positions.

“As a board, we needed to understand what specifically is in place today, tomorrow and moving forward to not only address the current issue on the table, but to prevent this from being a recurrence,” Lawson told governors.

The late afternoon session followed Robinson getting approval for the 2022-2027 "Boldly Striking" strategic plan at an earlier committee meeting in the day and the university receiving national accolades earlier in the week.

FAMU moved up in the U.S. News and World Report’s “Best Colleges 2023” rankings by placing no. 103 nationally among public universities from no. 104 last year. As the university works its way closer to the goal of being in the top 200, the placement also makes it the highest ranked public HBCU (historically black college or university) in the country for the fourth year in a row.

But that didn't matter as much as the athletics concerns were at the forefront of the Board of Governors' conversation with Robinson.

“There is a list of other accolades around FAMU that we can celebrate. The last thing I want to do in this board meeting is have this conversation,” said Chair Brian Lamb, who mentioned that he personally spoke to Robinson and Lawson to address his direct concerns before the meeting.

“My ask is that we not do this and that we really get our arms around the challenges," he added.

Lamb, a native of Midway, Florida and gradate of FAMU High, is a managing director for JPMorgan Chase & Co. in the northeast.

FAMU in the headlines:

• FAMU maintains top-ranked public HBCU standing nationally by U.S. News & World Report

• Florida shut down FAMU's original law school. These 57 trailblazers graduated, made their mark

• FAMU faith tested, but football player baptisms at Bethel turn 'despair into destiny'

Kent Stermon, a member of the Board of Governors and chair of the Audit and Compliance Committee, has been tasked to work closely with Robinson and trustees for regular updates on how the action plan will be carried out.

What Stermon believes will solve a lot of the problems is stability in the athletics department.

“At the end of the day, you two have to be held accountable for this,” Stermon said to Robinson and Lawson, “but I also hate to see you have to deal with this when there’s so much good going on at the university.”

Although the board made their disappointment clear, they also expressed their openness to help FAMU and suggested having other universities in the system offer their expertise if needed.

“This is all to make sure that student athletes and all the students can be successful so that you can focus on moving everything forward and celebrating all the mini successes that you have rightly and deservedly achieved,” Silagy told Robinson, “and so that it’s not these things that are sucking up all the oxygen in the room.”

Contact Tarah Jean at tjean@tallahassee.com or follow her on twitter @tarahjean_. 

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FAMU President Larry Robinson's leadership: Board of Governors raise concerns