Larry Robinson, the president of Florida’s only public historically Black university, has resigned following outrage over the school’s failure to vet a suspicious multi-million dollar donation from a questionable donor.
According to Tallahassee Reports, Robinson submitted his official resignation from Florida A&M University last week. He was in the role at the HBCU for seven years. The controversy started in May at a graduation ceremony, where Robinson revealed a $237 million oversized check from donor Gregory Gerami.
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If valid, it would have been the largest private donation to an HBCU ever. Robinson told the university’s trustees on May 15 that he didn’t execute due diligence. “I saw in this unprecedented gift the potential to serve our students and our athletic programs in ways unimaginable at that time,” he stated.
“It would truly be transformational, I believed. I wanted it to be real and ignored the warning signs along the way. There was no personal gain, but the impact on our students and our university would have been extraordinary.”
The school’s trustees are expected to provide a departure date for Robinson and start planning the search for a new president when it meets on July 23. Robinson is planning to go back to his role as a professor in FAMU’s School of the Environment after taking a year-long sabbatical.
In a letter addressed to “FAMUly and Friends,” Robinson described how difficult it was to leave his presidency. “The chance to serve our students, the state of Florida and our nation in this unique role has me more convinced than ever of the transformative power of education,” Robinson wrote.
“To play even a small part in this is the privilege of a lifetime.” Before becoming president in 2017, his past roles included provost and vice president of academic affairs, chief executive officer and vice president for research.
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