By Vaughn Wilson
FAMU’s 12th President Dr. Larry Robinson resigned on July 12, 2024. It was an unexpected turn in the history of Florida A&M University. Robinson, who had three times served as interim president before being promoted to permanent president in November of 2017, led FAMU through murky waters literally his entire tenure.
Robinson over the years successfully navigated FAMU through treacherous circumstances. Though he is a scientist by education, he operated with surgical precision in many cases eliminating issues with laser efficiency. Too soon have some forgotten the circumstances that brought him to be interim president to begin with.
One of Robinson’s tours began in 2012 with the university on probation by the school’s accrediting body, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). FAMU’s provisional probation threatened the very existence of the university. Losing accreditation and the ability to attract federal funds is a literal death certificate for a public institution.
Robinson hired staff and presented a comprehensive plan to permanently eliminate all of the issues that SACS had presented in their findings leading up to the one-year probation. It was under his leadership that the focus, protocols, and operating measures of the university had to endure drastic changes. He led the university to a robust rebound with SACS and the school has not looked back since.
That came on the heels of having to deal with a major legal and compliance situation with the Marching “100,” in 2011. It was Robinson who decided that by hiring additional oversight, instituting a band compliance officer, and curating a new modus operandi in general for the Marching “100,” FAMU could lift the shroud over the band which led to its return.
Robinson would also go outside of the university to hire FAMU alumnus Dr. Sylvester Young to direct the university bands. Young came in with a fresh slate and guided the band back under the most stringent set of protocols that possibly any marching band leader would ever endure. Young would turn out to be the perfect choice for that task and the Marching “100” has returned to its glory with a glowing graduation rate to boot.
During Robinson’s tenure as permanent president, FAMU was propelled into the top spot in public HBCUs. Now in its 138th year, the university boasts its sixth consecutive designation as the No.1 public HBCU, according to U.S. News and World Reports.
The university also met one of Robinson’s long-time goals in 2023 of breaking into the Top 100 national public universities. In 2022, FAMU came close to the goal rising to the No.103 slot. It broke through the Top 100 and landed at No.91 in 2023. While that was momentous, it would eclipse that mark in 2024 by rising further to the No. 81 position. This has never been achieved by Florida A&M University in school history.
In November of 2017, obinson hired former FAMU All-American Dr. John Eason as interim director of athletics. He would later promote Eason to the permanent position. One of Eason’s first assignments was to hire a football coach. Eason decided to forego the search committee process. He would lure coach Willie Simmons from his head coaching position at Prairie View A&M to lead the Rattlers. That single decision would lift the profile of Florida A&M University through athletics.
Simmons would go 6-5 in his first campaign in 2018, but from there, he would never win less than nine games. Simmons would end his career at FAMU in 2023, winning the Black National Championship by way of the Cricket Celebration Bowl. It was FAMU’s first-ever Celebration Bowl opportunity after winning the first SWAC Championship in school history.
Unfortunately, in 2024 a failed donation from a Texas businessman would begin to derail Robinson’s legacy. The national attention to the situation would in many ways result in a black eye for the university that was riding high.
From Robinson’s side and those involved with the donation, it was initially valued by a reputable financial institution as plausible. Armed with that valuation the university team went forward. However, in the end, the financial entity began to see red flags and shortly before the whole situation fell apart they rendered a reduced-confidence valuation on the gift. Shortly thereafter, the bricks began to fall, leading to Robinson’s resignation and unwanted attention and embarrassment for the university.
It was a sad time….a dark time, but the university has rebounded in so many ways. Even with the failed donation, the university still raked in a record amount of donations in 2024.
While feelings were mixed about Robinson’s departure, it is very clear that the students and most alumni of FAMU were and are still to this day endeared to Robinson. He was engaged with the students possibly to levels unseen. He attended many of their events, put on ice cream socials, was always approachable, and probably most importantly to the students, he met them where they were. Robinson would partake in some of the most crafty social media campaigns of any university, starring in many of them. From dancing to skits to memes, Robinson connected with the students in a way unseen.
At Friday’s university Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Convocation, FAMU Interim President Dr. Timothy Beard presented Robinson with an award. When it was announced, a rousing chant of “Larry, Larry, Larry,” belted from the voices of the students in attendance for an extended period of time. It was a true indication that there was a connection with him that still stands strong to this day with those he was in charge of serving.
Robinson led in a manner that was always decent and in order. He had no scandals durin
