Education
Investigator says $237M fraudulent gift to FAMU was ‘invalidated’ due to procedural errors
A record multimillion-dollar gift to Florida A&M University (FAMU) was invalidated in May, an independent investigator said Thursday, because a third-party report found that university officials failed to confirm the “fraudulent” contribution and the donor’s self-assessment of his fledgling cannabis company was “baseless.”
A $237 million gift from Gregory Gerami, a little-known entrepreneur, was “voided” due to procedural errors in a move that got here 10 days after FAMU disclosed the big gift during its graduation ceremony, investigator Michael McLaughlin told trustees. FAMU is the one public historically black university in Florida.
Gerami violated the terms of his equity management account by improperly transferring 15 million shares early on, according to an Aug. 5 report from the law firm Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, PC. When the firm terminated Gerami’s contract on May 14, McLaughlin said, any stock certificates held by the FAMU Foundation were canceled.
Moreover, the muse never signed the donation agreement, regardless that on the day the agreement was signed each parties signed an incorrect version of it.
Thursday’s meeting got here three months after that celebratory event, with the university president posing on stage with a jumbo check alongside Gerami, who was invited to speak despite a documented history of questionable business ventures and failed donations to higher education.
It all fell apart soon after. After an almost immediate public outcry, the varsity withdrew its donation and the vice chairman left her position. President Larry Robinson resigned last month.
Gerami, who founded Batterson Farms Corp. in 2021, told The Associated Press he hadn’t read your complete report. He agreed that his internal valuation “doesn’t have any meaning,” but said he obtained a third-party valuation after the crash.
According to investigators, Gerami gave a FAMU Foundation official on June 28 the primary two pages of a valuation by Stonebridge Advisors Inc. The valuation suggests Batterson Farms Corp. is value $9.93 per share — well below the $15.85 in the unique donation agreement.
Gerami declined to provide the AP with any documents supporting that request, saying, “You don’t need a full report.” He also denied that he improperly transferred company shares to the FAMU Foundation. He said he followed “the process I’ve always followed.”
Millions earmarked for scholarships, athletic facilities, a nursing school and a student business incubator is not going to materialize. In their place, there was reputational damage and withheld contributions from previous donors who assumed the university’s financial windfall made additional donations unnecessary, according to the report.
The investigation blames administrators for failing to exercise due diligence due to their overzealous pursuit of such a transformational gift and misunderstanding private stock donations. Robinson repeatedly told employees “not to mess this up,” according to investigators. The ignored warning signs alleged within the report include:
- An April 12 email from financial services firm Raymond James retracting a previous review of Gerami’s assets. In an email to two administrators, a vice chairman on the firm said that “we do not believe the valuation of certain securities was accurate.”
- ‘Offensive’ information uncovered by communications director while writing Gerami’s commencement address. It included a failed $95 million donation to Coastal Carolina University in 2020. The report said the official “chose to ignore the concerns and did not report them to anyone else, assuming others were responsible for due diligence.”
- An anonymous tip from the ethics hotline on April 29 that the Texas Department of Agriculture could back up claims that Gerami is a fraudster. The Office of Compliance and Ethics reviewed the tip but took no motion since the secrecy of the gift meant the office had no knowledge of Gerami.
As the report concluded, the senior management team “were deceived by the Donor — Mr. Gregory Gerami — and allowed themselves to be deceived.”
“Neither Batterson Farms Corporation nor any of its subsidiaries had the resources to fulfill the promises made in the Donation Agreement,” the authors wrote.
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Education
Mississippi College changes name and eliminates football program
Mississippi College embraces its Christian ideology with a name change.
Mississippi College, a non-public institution, is changing its name to Mississippi Christian College. The decision was approved by the Mississippi Board of Supervisors on November 18.
The university can be eliminating its Division 1 football team in an effort to prioritize academic offerings. In an announcement, the university cited the upcoming bicentenary because the inspiration for the changes.
Mississippi Christian College wants to construct on its Christian ideology, in line with President Bake Thompson.
“These transformational and necessary changes are critically important to the future of this institution. As we look ahead to the institution’s bicentennial in 2026, we want to ensure that MC is a university recognized for academic excellence and commitment to Christ for another 200 years.”
The college is rededicated to making a space where Christian education stays a priority.
“The institution may even undergo restructuring. A brand new structure will likely be introduced, which can mix the College of Christianity and Art with the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, and the College of Pedagogy will change its name to the College of Pedagogy and Human Sciences. The chancellor was charged with evaluating the potential consolidation of a limited number of educational departments on campus.
Mississippi Christian Athletic Director Kenny Bizott reaffirmed his commitment to former student-athletes.
“We will support our current student-athletes who wish to continue their education at MC, as well as those who wish to transfer,” Bizott added.
Many may view these changes as extreme, but Mississippi Christian believes that every latest organizational change will help the institution fulfill its core functions.
Another Mississippi institution can be within the news for its failures on the legislative level. reported the Mississippi State Senate no payment Legislative Services Office (LSO) attorney Kristie Metcalfe is paid commensurate along with her peers.
The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the Mississippi LSO on Metcalfe’s behalf. An office investigation found that Metcalfe was earning half the salary of white LSO lawyers. The investigation also found that Metcalfe is the one non-white worker employed within the office’s 34 years of operation. Race discrimination violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Education
Florida education officials report hundreds of books pulled from school libraries, including Toni Morrison, Richard Wright and Maya Angelou
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye.” “Forever” by Judi Blume. “Slaughterhouse Five” by Kurt Vonnegut.
According to the newest information, all of them have been withdrawn from the shelves of some Florida schools list developed by the Florida Department of Education and containing books removed by local school districts.
Recent changes in state law have made it possible for fogeys and residents to take this motion challenge books to school libraries and required districts to submit an annual report to the state detailing which books were restricted of their schools. Florida continues to steer the nation in withdrawing books from school libraries, in accordance with an evaluation by the American Library Association and the advocacy group PEN America.
“Restricting access means limiting the freedom to read,” said Kasey Meehan of PEN America. “Students are losing the opportunity to access books that reflect their own life experiences, to access books that help them learn and to empathize with people who… have different life experiences.”
The list, published for the 2023-2024 school yr, includes titles by American literary icons similar to Maya Angelou, Flannery O’Connor and Richard Wright, in addition to books which have turn into top targets for censorship across the country as a consequence of LGBTQ+ characters, discussions about gender and sexuality and descriptions of sexual encounters, e.g. “All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George Johnson and “Gender Queer” by Maja Kobabe. Supporters of conservatism have described such content as “pornographic.”
The list of books removed from libraries also includes Holocaust accounts similar to “The Diary of Anne Frank: A Graphic Adaptation” and “Sophie’s Choice.” It’s an analogous story with the graphic novel, an adaptation of “1984,” George Orwell’s groundbreaking work on censorship and surveillance.
“Everywhere from Toni Morrison to Alice Walker to Slaughterhouse-Five to George Orwell,” said Stephana Farrell, co-founder of the Florida Freedom to Read Project, which tracks book challenges within the state. “If you take the time to look through this list, you will see that there is a problem with… this movement.”
In an announcement to the Associated Press, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Education maintained that no books have been banned in Florida and defended the state’s efforts to remove “sexually explicit material” from schools.
“Once again, far-left activists are promoting the book ban scam to Floridians. “The better question is why these activists continue to fight to expose children to sexually explicit material,” spokeswoman Sydney Booker said.
The list shows that the number of book withdrawals varies widely across the state, with some districts reporting no restrictions and others reporting hundreds of titles pulled from shelves. Farrell of the Florida Freedom to Read Project said that based on the group’s evaluation of public records, the department’s report is an undercount since it doesn’t include books removed in consequence of an internal staff review, only those withdrawn in consequence of a grievance filed by a parent or resident.
Farrell believes that almost all Florida parents want their children to have broad access to literature.
“We live in a country where parental rights should be recognized, heard and taken into account,” Farrell said. “We are asking for accountability and an accurate record of the impact of these laws on our children and what is available to them.”
Schools have restricted access to dozens of books by Stephen King, a master of the horror genre known for bestsellers similar to “It” and “Pet Sematary.” Clay County officials also found his book, “On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft,” inappropriate for college kids.
King, who spends part of the yr in Florida, talked about attempting to get his books out of students’ hands, urging readers to run to the closest library or bookstore.
“What the hell?” In August, King posted on social media reacting to the choice of some Florida schools to drag his books from shelves.
Multiple school districts in Florida have filed legal challenges for restricting students’ access to books, including Escambia County, which is being sued by PEN America and Random penguin housethe biggest publisher within the country.
Nassau County School District in September settled lawsuit brought by the authors of “And Tango Makes Three,” an image book based on the true story of two male penguins who raised a chick together at New York’s Central Park Zoo. Under the terms of the settlement, the district needed to return three dozen books to the shelves.
Education
Issa Rae meets with Georgia law students
Rae will speak to students about legal issues related to her success.
Georgia State University College of Law announced that Issa Rae will meet with students to debate the legal elements of her successful profession as a part of the course “The Legal Life of Issa Rae.”
On November 7, the producer-actress will hold a hearing at Rialto Art Center. The visit is the culmination of a course exploring Rae’s decades-long profession within the entertainment industry. Rae’s profession provides a wealth of legal diversity to explore as her profession extends beyond visual entertainment.
The classes are held as a part of the “Legal Life…” series. The series was created by George State University law professor Moraima “Mo” Ivory.
As a professor at Georgia State College of Law, Ivory curated a series that examined the legality of maintaining a prestigious profession. As reported, Rae is a course subject this semester BLACK ENTERPRISES.
The creator’s team worked with Ivory to take an in depth take a look at the contracts that helped Rae secure her deals.
“With the support of her team, we will also have the unique opportunity to analyze her real-world deals and discuss how her approach to deals is shaping today’s entertainment landscape. We are incredibly fortunate to have this opportunity,” Ivory told .
It was classy access for 10 years value of contractual agreements to be analyzed.
“This is the first class where every contract was an actual contract with the artist,” Ivory said. “Students can see how real deals actually happen and what real entertainment lawyer Issa Rae has been doing over the last 10 years.”
Ivory, a professor and Fulton County commissioner, believes that the language of the law is vital and that the power to see the language in connection with a noteworthy product allows students to beat the barrier of unfamiliarity.
“You have to look at what people are actually doing and what is happening at the moment. The more familiar they become with the language, the faster they will be able to master it and start representing clients.”
According to Ivory, Rae’s family and business partners were instrumental in checking out the complicated details of her business. The course was attended by “Rae’s mother, siblings, network executives and members of her staff.”
The longtime artist began her profession on YouTube with “The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl.” The show’s success led to a collaboration with host Larry Wilmore and a multi-show deal with HBO. Outside of television, Rae is a successful actress and producer of many shows including (2022). She also created her own media company HooRae media and music label Raedio.
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