Today marks the ending of President Larry Robinson’s six year tenure here at Florida A&M University.
Earlier this summer, Robinson met with The Board of Trustees regarding the $237 million donation received by Gregory Gerami during the Spring Commencement ceremony. During the meeting, Robinson, the only university employee under the Board, admitted to accepting the donation without a prior background check.
Throughout the duration of the meeting, members of the board questioned not only the policies at hand but the judgment that one had in this agreement.
“I’m upset that I have to sit here. And be doing this right now when all they took was normal due diligence. I had a journalist tell me that I don’t know how these people worked on this for six months, and I got the information I got in 2 days,” said Trustee Deveron Gibbons.
Throughout this time, current & former students under Robinson’s tenure stand with him for the energy, positive characteristics & relatability he’s brought to the university.
As of right now, a statement has not been released by the university via email regarding Robinson’s departure, only an Instagram with over 5,000 likes and hundreds of reshares by students showing their appreciation for the good times they’ve had with Robinson.
Former SGA President Xavier Mclinton spoke about how Robinson influenced a new culture to the university in 2017 following a state of turmoil the university was under at the time.
“He was highly instrumental in helping move the university forward. I think it’s so many other things, such as the record level of funding from the state legislature or even our status as the #1 Public HBCU for the last 5 years. I believe stable is underselling the impact he had,” said Mclinton.
“When it comes to supporting students, he was really big on that,” said Chazriq Clarke. “It was great to know that, yes, he’s leading the university, but he’s also putting himself in the shoes of the students.”
Clarke remembers seeing Robinson dining with students at Top Cafe for fried chicken Wednesdays.
As an alum, Clarke spoke about how Robinson supported his fan business and even spoke about making a special edition design.
Robinson has had a meaningful impact on student life, being very proactive on social media and campus life & overall being the overall standard for FAMU’s motto, “Excellence with Caring.”
“His words during convocation would always speak truth and motivation to anyone who attended and provided encouragement for students to always pay forward the gifts we receive from our university,” said Kaitlin Gaines when asked about the impact Robinson had.
Gaines, being optimistic about the future of the university, stated, “FAMU is going to thrive and remain the number one public HBCU. While we continue to strike on the highest of 7 hills throughout this new era. Our leadership team is going to continue to fight for the student body’s academic success as well as the development of students.”
While the news of his departure has left the student body stunned, current rattlers still adorn their time with Robinson, & thank him for helping add to their college experience.
At the moment, Robinson still retains his position as the Board of Trustees still have a future meeting regarding who will officially relieve him of his position.