FAMU Vice President Resigns As $237 Million Donation Scandal

By Christopher Rhodes

Fallout continues from Florida A&M University‘s announcement of a dubious $237 million donation. As at least one executive has resigned over the secretive and unvetted gift, more questions arise about how FAMU put itself in an this position.

A VP resigns after secret deal put on hold

FAMU hit pause on an announced $237 million stock donation from Gregory Gerami and his Isaac Batterson Family 7th Trust, an entrepreneur and business with little publicly available information and a history of a failed nine-figure donation to another school. The repercussions continue to grow for Gerami’s FAMU donation, which was kept secret even from FAMU board members until the day it was announced at commencement. On Wednesday, Shawnta Friday-Stroud, who also served as executive director of the FAMU Foundation, resigned from her role as FAMU’s vice president for university advancement. Before the Gerami donation, Friday-Stroud had been a successful fundraiser for the school; under her leadership, the school had far exceeded its $15 million fundraising goal for the 2022-2023 fiscal year, bringing in $26 million. Though Friday-Stroud has resigned from her fundraising position, she will stay at FAMU as dean of the School of Industry and Business.

Investigation launched

WBXL reported that Friday-Shroud resigned from her VP role just before a special board meeting to discuss the controversial stock gift. FAMU Chief Operating Officer Dr. Donald Palm will take over as VP of University Advancement in the interim. The station also reported that the FAMU board approved hiring an outside agency to investigate the details surrounding the donation and has urged President Larry Robinson not to make personnel changes during this investigation, which it hopes will conclude shortly.

Possible financial fallout

With the status of the stock donation unclear, questions remain concerning how the “paused” gift will ultimately impact the university’s finances. For example, WTXL reported that two days after announcing the massive donation, FAMU sent a letter to Leon County’s Blueprint Intergovernmental Agency withdrawing a $15 million request for funds to renovate its football stadium. However, the news channel could not confirm whether the withdrawal and the donation were related or coincidental.