Plight @ Institutions of Higher Learning

[AKA2D '91]

Florida A&M president fired
Wednesday, September 29, 2004 Posted: 10:07 AM EDT (1407 GMT)


Florida A&M president Dr. Fred Gainous leaves a Board of Trustees
meeting Tuesday.



TALLAHASSEE, Florida (AP) -- The president of Florida's historically
black public university was fired Tuesday after a little more than a
two-year tenure marked by a dispute over the school's football
program and bookkeeping problems.

Florida A&M board of trustees voted 9-4 to dismiss Fred Gainous
effective December 31. It provided what all agreed was a meaningless
caveat -- that he could keep the job if he wins unanimous board
support by then.

"We knew the job was dangerous when we took it," Gainous said. "We
thought we could make a difference. And I think we have."

Gainous became president of the 13,000-student university in July
2002. His decision earlier this year to delay moving the football
program to NCAA Division I-A left a badly split board and divided
loyalties among the school's alumni.

Gov. Jeb Bush said he supported the decision to remove Gainous,
saying in a statement: "It is my sincere hope that the interests of
FAMU's students remain the school's number one priority."

Trustees chairman James Corbin said there would be a national search
for a replacement. Trustee Barney Bishop III, however, called the
ouster "a railroad job."

"This agenda was manipulated to get the result that they wanted,"
Bishop said.

Though Bishop said he feared the decision would slow fund-raising
efforts, a faculty member said it was time for a change.

"Sooner or later, you can't continue to say, 'Sorry I made a
mistake,"' said William Tucker, president of the university's chapter
of the United Faculty of Florida. "Too much water had gone under the
bridge for the situation to be salvageable."

Among other problems, a 2003 review found the school's construction
budget was off by more than $3 million.