The Florida A&M board of directors voted 8 to 4 to hire Marva Johnson as president.
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After a controversial selection process, Florida A&M University hired a new president who had no experience in higher education but had a long-standing connection with Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Charter Communications lobbyist Marva Johnson faces sharp opposition from students and alumni, who calls it “Maga Marva”. But despite her lack of experience, the Florida A&M board voted 8-4 at a Friday meeting to make her the next president.
Johnson has also been criticized by salary requirements from community member and board chairman Kristin Harper, which included a base salary of $750,000 plus performance bonus. (Two other candidates are required to be paid within the $500,000 range, while the other one can be trademarked.)
Harper was one of four trustees who voted against Johnson.
“In an era of performance-based recruitment decisions, how to settle for candidates who do not meet all positions? Or turn a blind eye to abnormally qualified candidates?” Harper asked.
She added that FAMU community members were “very clear” about the feedback.
But other trustees highlighted Johnson’s experience in the political world. Board member Senate Chairman Jamal Brown argued that the FAMU needed a president with “access and political connections” to ensure the university’s financial success. In voting for Johnson, he argued: “This moment requires someone who understands funding and managing our systems because now our survival depends on how we browse those systems.”
Although Johnson never worked in higher education in any capacity, she spent eight years on the Florida Board of Education, including time as chairman. During the recruitment process, critics stressed her lack of experience, as did some trustees who voted against her.
Johnson beat Donald Palm, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Florida A&M, who won four votes. Other candidates include Rondall Allen, Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs at East Coast University in Maryland, and Gerald Hector, Vice President of Management and Finance at the University of Central Florida.
The internal candidate Palm (Palm) has received the vast majority of recognition from FAMU’s alumni association.
During a tense meeting with Johnson on Wednesday, the candidate assured the university community that she was “not a Trojan” and promised she “will fight for FAMU.”
However, critics believe she failed to express a clear vision for the university.
Other dramas accompanied by hiring when the board removed Harper from contract negotiations. Although the board chair traditionally negotiates a contract with the Florida A&M’s incoming president, the trustees voted to delegate the responsibility to another member at the meeting on Friday.
“I take a personal offense about what is going on,” Harper said in the discussion.
In the search, it was supposed that Johnson was added to the last minute to the three final list, which caused another controversy. Last month, trustee Ernie Ellison called for a reboot of the search and said: “There are too many clouds in the process.” He resigned earlier this month and was quickly replaced by a new Desantis appointee who voted to hire Johnson.
Johnson entered FAMU jobs, which is currently held temporarily, as he resigned for fraudulent gifts when he led the university from 2017 to 2024.
Last spring, Florida A&M announced at the start of school that the university had received $237 million in donations from Greg Gerami, a relatively unknown businessman who had nothing to do with the institution. Florida A&M seems to have overlooked the warning sign that Gerami also promised $95 million to Coastal Carolina University in 2020, although there is no other CCU connection except for dating employees who have previously dated. Gerami donated the donation because he believes officials in the coastal Carolina region think it is disrespectful. Gerami’s FAMU donation later became invalid.
Despite opposing her candidacy, Johnson has been favored by the board of directors of Florida public institutions in recent years, which highlights non-traditional applicants. Johnson is one of several presidential hirings with DeSantis or GOP since 2022, when the state legislature passed a bill that allows colleges to mask applicant status until the hiring process is over and breaks down with a long tradition of keeping those names publicly publicly. State lawmakers recently proposed injecting more transparency into searches, but this effort failed.
Other political staff include former Republican Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska, who held a brief presidency at the University of Florida. Jeanette Nuñez, former Florida Governor, Florida International University; and former state legislator Adam Hasner of Florida Atlantic University and Richard Corcoran of the New Florida College. Former Republican Congressman Ray Rodrigues was also hired to lead the Florida State University system.
The University of Florida is currently using the interim appointment of Sasse after a sudden departure. The only finalist, Santa Ono, is a traditional scholar who left the University of Michigan to work at the University of Florida, which certainly marked a reversal compared to recent staff. However, Ono’s candidacy has sparked criticism from some conservative power players.
