Florida A&M University is going through a tough time and students, faculty, and alumnus are banding together in an attempt to right the wrong. According to the Tallahassee Democrat, FAMU Board of Trustees has chosen Marva Johnson as their next President and the reaction to their decision is one of anger and betrayal. Johnson has deep ties to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and the Republican Party and and HBCUs are not a place that welcomes conservative ideology especially in an era where DEI is being attacked from Donald Trump’s bully pulpit. Johnson’s new job must be certified by the State University System’s Board of Governors but the Democrat acknowledges that its almost a guarantee that they will vote in lockstep with the school’s trustees.
Hollywood super producer and FAMU alumnus Will Packer has been loud and proud about his dissent to Johnson becoming the HNIC at his beloved school. According to The Democrat, Packer recently joined Leon County Commissioner Bill Proctor and dozens of others who have concerns about how Johnson will run the school and what affect the Republicans’ hate-based agenda will have on the historically Black university.
“If we do not fight for what we believe in, there will be nothing left for us to fight for,” Packer said in his address to the crowd at his namesake amphitheater.
Despite the weeks of protests against Johnson’s appointment, the Board of Trustees voted 8-4 to make her the school’s 13th President in a tense conference where FAMU Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Donald Palm lost handily.
One of the biggest knocks against Johnson outside of her MAGA adjacency is that she has no experience whatsoever in higher education. To be given a job of this magnitude without merit reeks of the type of unqualified power that has been doled out during the Trump administration.
Protest against Johnson are likely to continue in addition to intense scrutiny on her presidential performance as the school has already suffered an embarrassing public debacle at the hands of former president Larry Johnson who resigned following multi-million dollar donation fraud scandal.
BOSSIP will have its eyes trained on FAMU and any impropriety on Marva Johnson’s part will be reported in full right here.
