The fallout from a critically mishandled “fraudulent” donation is prompting more in-depth reflection from the Florida A&M University Board of Trustees at their annual retreat.
During a Wednesday board retreat at Bradley’s Pond in Tallahassee, Artis Hampshire-Cowan – a consultant for the university who is also owner of the firm Leverage Leadership Group – informed trustees that the university is facing operational, legal and regulatory, financial, political and reputational risks after a stock donation purportedly valued at $237 million turned out to be “baseless.”
“As a board, and as a university, I think we did a horrible job,” FAMU trustee Otis Cliatt said Wednesday morning as he attended the retreat via Zoom. “One of the things that led to that horrible job is because in times of crisis and in times of emergency, that’s when we should revert back to our processes and procedures and when we should revert back to trusting one another.”
The retreat was kicked off by a session titled “Governance During a Storm,” which included an exercise where trustees discussed their behavior and actions after the surprise $237 million gift announcement from little-known Texas hemp farmer Gregory Gerami at FAMU’s summer commencement ceremony.