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FAMU president forced to hit ‘pause’ on historic $238 million gift from mystery black donor as wave of skeptics question gift’s legitimacy

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Gregory Gerami

One of the most important donations to a historically black college or university is now being withheld after scrutiny by some HBCU alumni and supporters due to the donor’s confidential background.

Investor Gregory Gerami is behind the historic nine-figure donation to Florida A&M University. His $237.75 million gift is one of the most important awards ever received by an HBCU from a single donor, according to the anonymous donor. FAMU edition from May 4.

But the gift raised concerns amongst some alumni and university board members who were unfamiliar with the Gerami name and company. That, combined along with his connection to a botched $1 million donation to one other university, raised more suspicion, a lot in order that a university official called a news conference on Sunday to dispel that skepticism.

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In response to the growing confusion, a gathering was held on Thursday throughout the FAMU Foundation Management Board meeting, attended by, amongst others, according to WCTV. The meeting was broadcast via the Zoom platform. FAMU President Larry Robinson confirmed that officials will “pause” the donation “pending additional information as I become aware of it.”

Adding: “It is in our best interest to put this case on hold.”

Gregory Gerami's donation to FAMU called a fraud and scam by skeptics due to his low profile online
FAMU officials received a $237 million gift from the Issac Batterson seventh Family Trust and CEO Gregory Gerami. (Photo: WCTV video screenshot)

Gerami, 30, heads Batterson Farms Corp, a hydroponic farming and hemp plastics company that produces bioplastics and fresh organic products. He founded the corporate in 2021.

Although he didn’t share his fortune, he stated that the majority of his wealth was inherited from his adopted family. According to The Sun News, before the CCU deal fell through, school administrators said his 2020 net value was about $600 million and his money assets were nearly $260 million.

Unlike many millionaire entrepreneurs, Gerami has no online presence, so his dealings are shrouded in secrecy. But he said the skepticism and scrutiny he has faced since news of his donation to FAMU became public explains why he doesn’t share much online.

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“This is a prime example of why I don’t have an online presence and don’t care about having one” – Gerami said the Tallahassee Democrat. “People take things out of context. They are running away, harming and hurting people with information that is incorrect and simply inappropriate.”

The need to protect his family also motivates him to determine to stay behind the scenes. “I have a family, younger children and I come from a large family,” Gerami told an area portal. “I was born one of eight children and have nine siblings, even in my adopted family. As a parent and a family person, I have to protect my family and their safety is the most important thing.”

FAMU’s gift was funded by the Isaac Batterson Family seventh Trust, which contributed 14 million shares value not less than $239 million and can contribute a further $61 million over 10 years, according to a set schedule.

According to FAMU’s Sunday announcement, these shares were sent a month ago.

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“Mr. The $237,750,000 transfer of Gerami shares was received in the same manner as we accepted all other shares donated to the University through FAMU Foundation Inc.” FAMU wrote. “As with any non-monetary gift received, such as cryptocurrency, real estate and stocks, it will be converted to cash and recorded accordingly.”

While Ivy League colleges across the country, such as Harvard, Yale and Princeton, receive massive gifts running into the billions annually, gifts to historically black colleges and universities pale as compared.

In 2019, foundations gave $5.5 billion to Ivy League schools, while 99 HBCUs contributed a complete of about $45 million. Typically, schools like Spelman, Morehouse, Hampton and Howard capture a bigger share of donations to HBCUs annually.

According to a report by ABC 27, the donation is meant for scholarships and programmatic enhancements to the college’s Disability Access and Resource Center, FAMU’s Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, the College of Agriculture and Food Sciences and the School of Nursing.

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It also features a general fund to support student success initiatives and special needs of the university on the president’s discretion, according to the local outlet.

As for why Gerami selected FAMU, he said the college’s focus and research opportunities in hemp production align along with his company’s goals.

While the colleges’ statements suggest the validity of the agreement, questions remain about its transparency, that are compounded by the consequence of its latest commitment to one other university.

According to The Sun News.in 2020. Gerami was an anonymous donor who made a $95 million donation to Coastal Carolina University that fell apart inside 4 months of the announcement. Like FAMU, Gerami has no affiliation with CCU, but was reportedly dating someone from the university on the time of the donation.

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The CCU award was announced in July 2020. In the next months, Gerami and the college were at odds after university officials expressed uncertainty about whether Gerami had the resources to finance the donation.

Gerami also claimed that a CCU official made racist and offensive statements towards him before his relationship with the college completely disintegrated. During negotiations with CCU, Gerami also considered making donations to other HBCUs, including FAMU.

Board vice president and FAMU alumnus Deveron Gibbons told the Tallahassee Democrats he was unaware of the donation to a Florida HBCU until the college announced it publicly throughout the commencement ceremony, where Gerami spoke.

“As Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees, I have a responsibility to protect the integrity of the university I value, but I have deep concerns that this process is moving too quickly to accept a gift without appropriate oversight.”—Gibbons he said in a press release to Democrats.

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Gibbons called for extraordinary board meeting which can happen on May 15.

“We are fully aware of the skepticism that sometimes accompanies such a large gift,” FAMU said in its statement on Sunday. “As expected, some people in the public are and will continue to conduct research into Mr. Gerami. We would like to inform you that FAMU has exercised due diligence in this matter. Additionally, Mr. Gerami has conducted and continues to conduct due diligence on matters that have occurred and are occurring at FAMU.”

Another HBCU alum wrote a viral article with a provocative headline questioning the validity of the donation. Jerell Blakeley, a graduate of Howard University, published a column in: Education News Flash’s HBCU Digest on May 6 under the title “For the love of money, was FAMU deceived?”

Blakeley couldn’t come to terms with the low status of the Gerami, which seems to be at odds with the more famous donors.

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“It’s not like Mackenzie Scott and the hundreds of thousands she gave to a number of HBCUs. People know who she is, where her wealth comes from, and the way HBCUs have grow to be a focus for her donations. Robert Smith is the richest black man in America, and since of one gift, Gerami, as a virtual unknown company he founded three years ago, outweighs Smith’s donations?

Blakeley called on all university management to resign “if this turns out to be a fraud”.

Gerami, nonetheless, stays confused by the entire ordeal.

“The stock has been held by the university for over a month now, so I don’t know where there would be any confusion or skepticism since the company is already in the university’s financial account,” Gerami told the Tallahassee Democrat.

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This article was originally published on : atlantablackstar.com
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Politics and Current

The White House responds to the rumors of the pardon of Trump Derek Chauvin among the renovated connection Marjorie Taylor Greene

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Despite the earlier releases of President Donald Trump and the White Federal House of Pardoning for Derek Chaubin, a former police officer in Minneapolis sentenced to the murder of George Floyd, rumors with potential pardon were renovated.

When this month this month is approaching the fifth anniversary of Floyd’s murder, Governor of Minnesota Tim Walz and Minneapolis officials indicated that they were preparing for the possibility of presidential pardon for Chauvin and later anxieties in the city.

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“I think we are prepared for it. Thanks to this presidency, it looks like it could be something they would do” – according to reporters, the Governor Walz recently told journalists Minnesota Star Tribune.

Walz, who was against Trump as the vp of Kamali Harris in the 2024 election, said that his office received “without an indication” whether the White House would give a pardon to Chauvin, who was convicted Up to 21 years after admitting federal allegations for violating Floyd and a youngster in a separate incident. Chauvin was too convicted Up to 22.5 years in prison for the second -cycle murder at the state level.

“If Donald Trump exercises his constitutional law, whether I agree-and I definitely disagree with him-if it seems pardon, we will simply transfer Derek Chauvin to take his 22 and a half years in prison in Minnesota,” Walz said.

Commissioner for the Security of the Community Minneapolis Todick Barnette admitted that city officials heard rumors about potential pardon; Similarly, nonetheless, he emphasized: “Derek Chauvin would remain behind bars, having a state sentence, even if his federal allegations are pardoned.”

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He said in an announcement that “there is no reliable intelligence about any pardon or planned interference here in Minneapolis.”

Discussions about Trump potentially pardoning chauvins have been consistent since he returned to the White House in January. Conservatives are continually calling the president to pardon the disgraced officer. Republican US representative Marjorie Taylor Greene renovated the public campaign to pardon Chauvin on Wednesday, writing On X: “I definitely support the pardon of Derek Chauvin and release from prison.”

Marjorie Taylor Greene, Thegrio.com
United States-6 February: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., Says during a press conference at Capitol Visitor Center on the resolution “Stating that President Donald Trump was not involved in the uprising”, on Tuesday, February 6, 2024.

The conservative fire brand also falsely claimed that Floyd “died of drug overdose”, despite two medical examinations, determining that he died by murder. Chauvin especially held his knee around Floyd’s neck for over 9 minutes until Floyd’s death, despite the multiple black man “I can’t breathe”.

In March, the press secretary of the White House Karoline Leavitt told journalists about the possible forgiveness: “The president was asked and answered this question. He said that he was not considering it at that time.”

Minneapolis agrees to browse police training and force politics after the murder of George Floyd

The president undertaking such an motion could be in the position he took in 2020 as a president when Floyd was murdered.

“It’s a terrible thing,” Trump he said In the White House in 2020, “we all saw what we saw. It’s hard to come up with something other than what we saw. It should never happen.”

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The Prosecutor General in Minnesota Keith Ellison, who managed the prosecution of the State Criminal Case Chauvin, said in an announcement that President Trump has no right to forgive the state belief of Chauvin, “and” the only possible goal could be to express even greater disrespect for George Floyd.

He said clearly: “Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd in front of the whole world.”

(Tagstranslate) Donald Trump (T) Trump administration (T) George Floyd

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Maryland Governor Wes Moore signs 170 bills to the right

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Maryland Governor Wes Moore


Maryland Gov. Wes Moore It takes the state to latest heights After signing 170 bills in state law, it informs CBS News Baltimore.

Bills, signed on May 13, relate to various topics, from the range of abortion to reckless driving.

The subsidy program for public health abortion (HB 930) concerns the financing of reproductive healthcare, establishing a fund coping with improving access to abortion take care of the inhabitants of Maryland, specializing in people without advanced financial resources.

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The first black state governor also signed the Chesapeake Bay Legacy Act (HB 506), which is targeted on ways to improve popular water so as to increase economic growth in the region.

After the Chesapeake Bay Foundation announced concern about Trump’s administration plans for exceeding budget cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa), Moore signed provisions that can support farmers in the development of more efficient methods of agriculture as well as to improving oyster aquaculture.

Senate Bill 590, Sergeant Patrick KEPP, corrects the regulations regarding Maryland motorized vehicles to strengthen penalties for a reckless and aggressive driving. Named in honor of a police officer of Montgomery, who was paralyzed from impact by a reckless driver, the Act adapts the system of status of the driver’s points, increasing to two points for neglected driving of the vehicle and 6 points for the transition by 30 km / h or greater than limiting speed.

According to the latest law, aggressive driving might be marked as behaviors, comparable to not compliance with traffic control devices, a dangerous passage and never being lifted by pedestrians.

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The state account 901 is directed to the environment by increasing the recycling speed, reduced waste and emphasize the use of a sustainable packaging. Manufacturers will now be obliged to submit a five -year plan by July 2028, which identifies the recycling and recycling content goals.

Other bills are intended for such issues as real estate, public security, medical debt and wild nature.

Viewers consider that signing bills increases the light of Moore’s headlights in the Democratic Party as a possible presidential candidate in 2028.

The democratic strategist of Jon Reinish called Moore “one of the most fresh faces of the party, the most dynamic leaders”, but according to Moore, whose name He was once mentioned As a possible colleague from the former vice chairman of Kamali Harris on a democratic ticket in 2024, he told co -hosts ABC that there have been no plans to search for an oval office.

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“I’m not running,” said Moore. “I am now very excited about work that is now happening in the state of Maryland.”

However, some democratic analysts feel movements that he does in another way.

“He does not do much to discourage this speculation at 2028 … his schedule was contrary to his message,” said the democratic strategist with Maryland Len Foxwell.

Moore recently provided the start address of the Lincoln University, HBCU in Pennsylvania, in addition to the major address of democracy at the Brennan Center Awards in New York.

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Reinish said people should give attention to Moore.

“It happens in well-known television programs. It goes to the early states,” said Reinish. “I think that most people at this stage would be a cursory denial. But again look at what they do, not what they say.”

(Tagstranslat) gov. There was moore

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This article was originally published on : www.blackenterprise.com
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Politics and Current

FEMA limits emergency training before the hurricane season

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In the Hurricane season for lower than two weeks, the Federal US FEMA FEMA disaster limited training for state and native rescue managers.

Sources acquainted with this case informed Reuters that a reduction or Cutting training can leave communities vulnerable to a storm less prepared to handle the consequences of hurricanes.

The forecasts predict the intensive season of hurricanes in 2025 and claim that the forecasts already indicate the amazing similarities to the destructive season 2024. One of the key indicators of this 12 months’s forecast are warm waters in the Persian Gulf and the Caribbean, which drive the development of the storm.

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reports that AccuWeather provides 13-18 named storms in 2025.including seven to 10 hurricanes, three to five fundamental hurricanes and three to six direct effects on the United States.

Another disturbing AccuWeather forecast is that the season is to start out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out quickly. Forecasts predict that the season, which could start on June 1, will then have a stake, after which pickup from September to November, like last 12 months’s pattern.

“Don’t get my way,” warns the acting director of FEMA

FEM’s decision to limit training couldn’t is vulnerable to be present in a worse time.

Season 2024 was one amongst the costliest record -breaking. AccuWeather estimates it Storms in 2024 caused about $ 500 billion in total compensation and economic losses.

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President Donald Trump was recently released by the head of FEM, Cameron Hamilton, the day after Hamilton told the legislators that the agency must be preserved. His sentiments appear amongst unprecedented dismissals in federal agencies, because the administration prioritizes the federal workforce.

Hamilton’s successor, David Richardson, reportedly told FEMA employees that he would “escape”, every staff against his implementation of Trump’s vision for a smaller agency. On the phone, tHee Associated Press reportsHe warned that 20% of the employees he estimated may resist the changes.

“Don’t bother me if you are 20% of people,” said Richardson, in accordance with AP. “I know all the tricks. I am just as inclined to achieve the President’s intention as I made sure that I performed my duties when I took maritime infantry to Iraq.”

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(Tagstranslate) fema

This article was originally published on : www.blackenterprise.com
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