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Investigator says $237M fraudulent gift to FAMU was ‘invalidated’ due to procedural errors

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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.

In this photo taken from video provided by WCTV, Gregory Gerami, third from left, and Florida A&M University President Larry Robinson are seen posing with a ceremonial check, May 4, 2024, in Tallahassee, Fla. (WCTV via AP, file)

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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This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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Education

Howard University ranked No. 1 HBCU on Forbes America’s Top Colleges List

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Howard University, Forbes top colleges, HBCUs, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, theGrio.com

If ever there was a likelihood to return to the nation’s capital for Howard University’s Homecoming Dance, this could be it.

This yr’s festivities will likely be held not only to have fun the candidacy of considered one of the varsity’s distinguished graduates for the President of the United States, but in addition Forbes Magazine named the varsity one of the best amongst historically black colleges and universities.

Six HBCUs, including Howard, made the annual list of the five hundred, which is compiled from greater than 5,000 colleges and universities within the United States. The list recognizes the highest 500 schools that consistently “produce successful, high-earning, and influential graduates from all economic backgrounds, with less student debt.”

Howard was ranked 273rd, ahead of Spelman and sister school Morehouse in Atlanta, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (also referred to as FAMU), North Carolina A&T and Hampton University in Virginia.

“Howard University’s high standing among HBCUs adds momentum to our march toward higher standing as a national research institution,” he said in (*1*)release responding to the rating. “Howard’s singular impact on the intersection of intellectual discovery and global culture cannot be overstated, and we will continue to push the frontiers of knowledge to help the world solve its most pressing challenges.”

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Interestingly, the variety of HBCUs doubled from three last yr. The list also comes as highschool seniors begin preparing college applications in the brand new reality of an admissions process without affirmative motion. As a result, a growing variety of predominantly white institutions, including Harvard, are reporting significant declines in black enrollment. At least this yr’s list was intended to focus on schools with less exclusive admissions rates.

“While we don’t factor in acceptance rates in our rankings, this year we decided to ease some high school admissions anxiety by highlighting excellent schools that don’t have admissions rates below 10 percent, like Princeton, Stanford, and MIT,” the list’s authors wrote. “Thirty-eight of our top 100 schools accept more than 30 percent of applicants, and 16 of those accept 50 percent or more—in other words, great schools with less admissions stress.”

This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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Watch: How to Create Inclusive and Supportive Classroom Spaces | Life Hacks

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Bobby Morgan, Director and Founder of Liberation Lab, joins Life Hacks with Liana to discuss Liberation Lab and how to create inclusive and supportive spaces in classrooms.

“So I’ve been trying to build educators who can change the world through culturally responsive teaching and restorative practices,” Morgan continued. “I believe those are the 2 intersections where we are able to have probably the most impact, irrespective of what the external aspects could be: budgets might change, resources might change. But you possibly can still train teachers to be culturally responsive.

Watch the complete video and for more suggestions, click here.

This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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As the new school year begins, enrollment of black students at many elite colleges is declining

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Affirmative action, Black college enrollment, Black college admissions, college enrollment decline, Back-to-school, theGrio.com

The first-class of freshmen is entering college since the Supreme Court struck down affirmative motion last year — and many elite colleges have already seen declines in black student enrollment.

After the Massachusetts Institute of Technology announced a decline in black student enrollment, two more schools in the state reported the same. Amherst College and Tufts University, each in Massachusetts, in addition to the University of Virginia, reported declines in black student enrollment of various degrees. Boston schools were hit harder, with black student enrollment at Amherst falling by a full 8%, based on the report. New York Times (NOW).

Initially enacted in 1965 and updated in 1968 to incorporate gender, affirmative motion provided equal employment opportunities regardless of race, sex, religion, and national origin. Affirmative motion in higher education ensured that every one students received fair consideration for admission.

As the NYT further reports, many of the nation’s most elite and selective colleges haven’t yet released their data. Enrollment numbers for other races have also not been widely reported. But the data don’t bode well for what this might mean for black enrollment.

Meanwhile, based on a recent study conducted by Boys and Men’s Institute of AmericaHistorically, black colleges and universities have experienced declining enrollment of black men. The report found that black men now make up 26% of the HBCU student population, down from 36% in the mid-Seventies.

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According to the study’s authors, there are several aspects which have led to the decline in Black HBCU enrollment, including an absence of proper K-12 integration. “Targeted interventions in K-12 education in Black communities, increasing the representation of Black male teachers, and expanding funding opportunities for HBCUs and their potential students can all help increase Black male enrollment,” the authors wrote, adding, “Reforms in these critical areas can help HBCUs realize their full potential to support the educational and economic advancement of Black males.”

The study also found multiple advantages of an HBCU education, including the undeniable fact that HBCUs usually tend to enroll students from lower-income families than non-HBCUs, and such students are nearly twice as prone to advance economically.

As PWIs and other non-HBCUs grapple with the lack of affirmative motion, it’ll be interesting to see what impact this could have on HBCU student enrollment.

While more data is needed to completely understand the picture that is potentially being painted, college admissions are also bracing for a steep decline in enrollment across the country for a spread of reasons. Younger generations are selecting vocational programs as an alternative of four-year colleges in greater numbers. Many are dropping out of college and entering the job market, citing the high cost of higher education. Not to say the undeniable fact that falling birth rate in americathere’ll simply be fewer young adults.

When the positive discrimination ban was first introduced last year, many black leaders in higher education spoke out to warn of the potential consequences.

Carlotta Berry, a black professor living in Indiana, he said at that point“When I sit down and think about the amount of microaggressions and bias that I’ve experienced, even in a world where affirmative action is in place, I just don’t want to imagine what black and brown students might be experiencing right now, when they go from being one of two or three to possibly one of one.”

This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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