TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The president of Florida’s only public historically Black university is resigning amid backlash over the school’s apparent failure to properly vet a multi-million dollar donation from a dubious donor.
Larry Robinson submitted his resignation last week and will leave Florida A&M University at a time when state officials are scrutinizing programs at the school that they say are underperforming and as increasing political influence reshapes the state’s higher education landscape.
During a graduation ceremony in May, Robinson stood on stage in his academic regalia holding a jumbo check for $237 million, a gift that would have been the single largest private donation to a historically Black college or university – if it ever materialized.
Robinson has led the 137-year-old HBCU for seven years. There has been public outcry over the university’s handling of the donation, which took the form of millions of shares in 30-year-old donor Gregory Gerami's fledgling industrial hemp company. FAMU put the gift on pause and authorized an outside investigation of the debacle, which is ongoing.
“I saw in this unprecedented gift the potential to serve our students and our athletic programs in ways unimaginable at that time,” Robinson told the university’s trustees on May 15. “I wanted it to be real and ignored the warning signs along the way.”
During Robinson’s tenure, FAMU has touted its rise in national rankings. But state officials have also scrutinized the flagging performance of some of the university’s programs, including its colleges of pharmacy and law.
The leadership change at the institution is raising concerns among some alumni, at a time when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is working to limit the state’s diversity programs and restrict what can be taught about race and American history.
Democratic State Senator Shevrin Jones, who’s a 2006 graduate of the HBCU, says he hopes the university’s leaders remember the institute was founded to educate African Americans as it searches for a new president.
“If they make decisions based off of the politics of this time, I fear for my institution,” Jones said.
The university’s trustees is expected to set Robinson’s departure date and begin discussing the presidential search when it meets July 23. Robinson plans to return to his position as a professor in FAMU’s School of the Environment after a year-long sabbatical.
Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
FILE - This image made from a video provided by WCTV shows Gregory Gerami, a 30-year-old who calls himself Texas' "youngest African American industrial hemp producer," third from left, and Florida A&M University president Larry Robinson, posing with a ceremonial check during a commencement ceremony May 4, 2024 in Tallahassee, Fla. Robinson announced Friday, July 12, he’s resigning amid backlash over the university’s apparent failure to properly vet the donation. (WCTV via AP, File)
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TOP STORIES
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SPOTLIGHTING VOICES
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PARALYMPICS-TAEKWONDO-REFUGEE — Zakia Khudadadi has made history at the Paris 2024 Paralympics by becoming the first athlete from the Refugee Paralympic Team to win a medal. Khudadadi won bronze in the women’s 47kg category. Born without one forearm, she began practicing taekwondo in secret at age 11 in a hidden gym in her hometown of Herat, in western Afghanistan. Following the rise of the Taliban in 2021, she settled in Paris and was later offered the opportunity to compete with the refugee team at the Paris 2024 Paralympics. By Tom Nouvian. SENT: 390 words, photos.
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ISRAEL-HAMAS-WAR
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MIDEAST-TENSIONS — Yemen’s Houthi rebels released footage on Thursday showing they boarded and intentionally set explosives aboard a Greek-flagged tanker that was earlier abandoned after they repeatedly attacked it, putting the Red Sea at risk of a major oil spill. SENT: 790 words, photos, video.
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RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
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MORE NEWS
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WASHINGTON/POLITICS
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NATIONAL
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STEWARD HOSPITAL CLOSURES — Patients will suffer with bankrupt health care firm’s closure of Massachusetts hospitals, staff say. SENT: 1,180 words, photos.
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INTERNATIONAL
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ENTERTAINMENT
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SPORTS
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Carlos Alcaraz, of Spain, gestures to fans after losing to Botic van De Zandschulp, of the Netherlands, in a second round match of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
FILE - New Zealand Maori King, Kiingi Tuheitia, from left, reacts with Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, at Turangawaewae Marae, Hamilton, New Zealand, Nov. 8, 2015. (David Rowland/Pool Photo via the AP, File)
Christina Hernon, an emergency physician, stands outside the Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer, Mass., on Friday, Aug. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Nick Perry)
A bulldozer collects dead fish from a river near the port city of Volos, central Greece, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024, following a mass die-off linked to extreme climate fluctuations. (AP Photo/Vaggelis Kousioras)
This photo provided by Michael Langer shows a flash flood at Grand Canyon National Park, Thursday, Aug 22, 2024 on the Havasupai Reservation in Arizona. (Michael Langer via AP)
Women shout slogans as Indian policemen fire teargas and live ammunition in the air to stop a protest march in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Aug. 9, 2019. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin, File)
Joesph Diamond, associate professor of anthropology at New Paltz, talks to some of his students as they work at the site of an African burial ground in Kingston, N.Y., Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
From left: Silver medalist Ziyodakhon Isakova from Uzbekistan, gold medalist Leonor Angelica Espinoza Carranza from Peru, co-bronze medalist Khwansuda Phuangkitcha of Thailand, and co-bronze medalist Zakia Khudadadi, from Afghanistan and part of the Paralympic Refugee team, celebrate after the Para Taekwondo K44-47kg class competition, during the Paralympic Games in Paris, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Madeleine Mertens)
Chamaine Brown holds her son, Kelzie Lewis, 3, before a high school equivalency (HiSET) diploma graduation ceremony for the Youth Empowerment Project (YEP) in New Orleans, Thursday, June 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthew Hinton)
18-year-old Zaire Byrd poses for a photo, Sunday, July 21, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
This frame grab from video released by the Ansar Allah Media Office, the media arm of Yemen's Houthi rebels, on Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024, shows explosions striking the Greek-flagged oil tanker Sounion in the Red Sea after Yemen's Houthi rebels boarded and set explosives on the tanker, which was earlier abandoned after the Houthis repeatedly attacked it, setting off blasts that put the Red Sea at risk of a major oil spill. The logo in the bottom righthand corner of the image reads in Arabic: "Yemeni War Media." (Ansar Allah Media Office via AP)
Palestinians inspect their houses after they were destroyed by the Israeli bombardment on east of Deir al-Balah, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Thomas Kasza, a former Green Beret with over 13 years of service in both Afghanistan and Iraq, and now the executive director and founder of the 1208 Foundation, stands for a portrait with some of his military memorabilia in Long Beach, Calif., on Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event at Alro Steel, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024, in Potterville, Mich. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris disembarks from Air Force Two upon arrival at Joint Base Andrews, Md/. Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024. (Saul Loeb/Pool via AP)
