Already under fire and being sued over the hazing death of a drum major in November 2011, Florida A&M University, Tallahassee, got news today that an accrediting group for colleges was putting it on probation, CNN reports.
“It is important to emphasize that FAMU remains an accredited institution, even while under the probation sanction from [the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges],” interim university President Larry Robinson said in a statement. “We are committed to addressing the areas of concern, and ensuring that FAMU is compliant with all SACSCOC accreditation standards.”
Simply put, the areas of concern are as follows:
- A 26-year-old drum major died last year as a result of a hazing carried out by the marching band, in which he was essentially beaten and later died from injuries sustained in that beating.
- The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is conducting a separate investigation into financial irregularities in the marching band.
University officials turned a blind eye to the hazing activity in the marching band to the extent that even students who were beaten and nearly died accepted it as a required buy-in to the community of marchers.
In fact, several marching band websites listed the FAMU marching band as one people should see before they die. Which would be great hype and publicity for marching band and music education in general—if only the band members didn’t get murdered just to be a part of the organization.
Now, thousands of students at FAMU will lose their financial aid if the school loses its accreditation. Look, when officials at a university ignore repeated reports of student-on-student violence within an officially sanctioned activity at the university, our tax dollars cannot support this.
My advice to students at FAMU: start looking for another school immediately if you want to earn a degree. FAMU is going to lose this case (it was going on far too long for the university to say they didn’t know about it), lose its accreditation, and lose all the Pell grants and other financial aid.
Get out now, before this university turns you into a victim as well. Officials have shown a blatant disregard for the precious life of students, and they don’t deserve your money anyway.
