The Florida A&M University board of trustees voted Thursday to approve a negotiated agreement leading to the exit of President Elmira Mangum, once again plunging the state’s only public historically black university into uncertainty.
Less than three years after Mangum was hired to repair the reputation of a university rocked by a hazing scandal and other high-profile missteps, board members voted 10-1 to accept an agreement that called for her to step down immediately.
The board tapped former Provost Larry Robinson to be the interim leader of the school, the third time he’s held that position.
As she left the trustees meeting shortly after the approval of the agreement, Mangum was unbowed.
“I feel good about what I’ve done at Florida A&M,” she said. “The university’s in a better position than it was when I came.”
Mangum worked to rebuild trust in the institution after her predecessor, James Ammons, resigned following the hazing-related death of Marching 100 drum major Robert Champion after a football game in November 2011, as well as a series of questionable audits.
She came as an outsider after serving as vice president for budget and planning at Cornell University.
Mangum was the first FAMU president in 60 years who didn’t graduate from the university.
“This was a place I believe that needed change,” she said. “And I think being a catalyst for that change here at this particular point in time was extremely important to the institution.”
Under the agreement, Mangum will continue to earn her $425,000 annual salary until April 1, when she begins a 12-month sabbatical.
By Oct. 2, 2017, she has to notify the school whether she wants to remain as a tenured professor at FAMU.
If she opts for the professorship, she would receive 90 percent of her base pay as president in her first year, with the salary being adjusted to the highest salary paid for any FAMU professor in subsequent years.
Mangum’s ouster marked the end of a months-long clash with members of the board that at times amounted to a higher-education soap opera. An attempt to fire Mangum last year over renovations to the president’s residence and employee bonuses failed.
But her future came into question again as the end of her contract neared.
Over the summer, board members delayed a decision on extending her contract, which runs through March 31, then rejected a one-year extension.
Instead, the board voted to create a special committee to work with Mangum about the future of the presidency.
Some trustees complained of communication problems between the president and board members, as well as other university groups. Mangum was the first woman to serve as a non-interim president in FAMU’s 129-year history.
She enjoyed strong support from students, some of whom showed up at Thursday’s meeting to back her.
After the failed attempt to terminate Mangum last year, students marched to Gov. Rick Scott’s office to support her.