FL college president resigning as fallout from failed CCU donor’s dubious gift continues

The president of Florida A&M University announced Friday he plans to resign, months after the historic gift he touted quickly fell apart.

Larry Robinson has served as the Tallahassee school’s leader since Nov. 2017 and will return to FAMU as a distinguished professor within its environmental program after a year-long sabbatical, according to a news release.

“As you can imagine, this decision come with many emotions — pride, joy, gratitude, some sadness, of course, but at the same time, hope and anticipation,” Robinson wrote in a letter to the university community.

Neither the news release, nor the letter mention the $237 million gift announced during May’s commencement ceremony, but Robinson is now the second high-ranking FAMU official involved with that donation to resign in its wake.

Shawnta Friday-Stroud resigned as vice president for university advancement and executive director of the FAMU Foundation shortly before the school’s board of trustees initiated a still ongoing independent investigation of the doomed donation.

Gregory Gerami, the CEO of a Texas hemp farming company, presented the university a $237 million check during graduation that would have represented the largest gift ever made to a historically Black college or university. But excitement surrounding the gift was brief after questions surfaced about the financial capacity of Gerami , who The Sun News previously identified as the anonymous donor that failed to deliver a $95 million donation pledged in 2020 to Coastal Carolina University.

FAMU officials then admitted Gerami’s gift, which came in the form of private stocks in his hemp company, could be worthless , and the university began backing away from its affiliation with Gerami. Robinson later took full responsibility, telling FAMU board members — who were kept in the dark about the donation until it was announced — that he “wanted it to be real and ignored some warning signs along the way.”

The university initially doubled down on the value of the gift, issuing a press release the day after the donation was announced to assure the public it had done its due diligence on Gerami. The Sun News received internal text messages from FAMU through an open records request showing the language in that press release was created by Friday-Stroud and approved by Robinson.

That’s after both they and other university officials received a letter from Raymond James Financial Services retracting previous assurances of the value of assets in Gerami’s accounts.

Gerami told The Sun News Monday that he was sad to hear about Robinson’s resignation. He said he’s sure the criticism surrounding his gift played a role in the decision, but there are likely other factors involved, including recent threats by the Florida Board of Governors to eliminate the school’s nursing and law programs for poor performance.

Next steps for FAMU regarding Robinson’s tenure and a search for its future president will be determined during the university’s next Board of Trustees meeting, which has yet to be scheduled.