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A very public spat between Florida A&M’s President and Board of Trustees came to a head Friday as the board was set to decide the president’s future and evaluate her contract.  As Matt Galka tells us, the power struggle has divided the campus and alumni.

Nearly 30 people spoke for nearly an hour Friday morning – frustrated and angry about the state of affairs at Florida A and M University.

“I pray to God, that you will search your heart and do what is in the best interest of faculty, staff, students, and the future of FAMU,” said Rev. RB Holmes.

“All of our President’s for the past 15 years have inherited a problem one way or the other, but they didn’t blame the next one that came in,” said Kenneth Webster, a FAMU alumni.

“But what is the purpose, the value of stability at the very top if it creates and fosters instability at the bottom,” said Elizabeth Davenport, FAMU chapter president for United Faculty Florida.

FAMU president Elmira Mangum has been butting heads with the board of trustees for nearly all of her two years on the job.  Her three year deal expires in 2017 with some past trustees and presidents calling for it to not be renewed. The board chose not to take up her future Friday.

Mangum didn’t talk about the public comments while addressing the board, instead she focused on the future of the school.

“We have to transform, we have to change the way we do things,” she said.

Board chairman Kelvin Lawson doesn’t think the turmoil will have a lasting impact.

“No I don’t think it’s disheartening for the school, and the reason I say that is because the school will survive after I’m gone, after the President’s gone, after a new or even a second or third board is here,” said Lawson.

If the board takes no further action, Mangum and the University part ways when the deal expires in April of 2017.