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FAMU, Penn State Student Protests Misdirected
Around the State
When did student protests, once incubators of social and political change in America, become little more than cheering sections for criminal behavior?
Recent protests involving students at Florida A&M and Pennsylvania State University make me wonder.
Let's have a quick look at Penn State first.
Penn State football's defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky is a guy facing 40 counts of sexual abuse on underage boys.
Between 1994 and Nov. 5, 2011, when Sandusky was arrested, all kinds of Pennsylvania household names -- including the legend, Coach Joe Paterno -- were made aware more than once of Sandusky's lifestyle. But they did nothing, they let it happen, coddled Sandusky's lascivious secret without reporting him to the police.
Yet, what do Penn State students care about? Not the victims, it seems, just their own Shangri-La, their university's reputation and the loss of their beloved Coach Paterno.
Student protesters trashed their campus. They tore down lamp posts, flipped a news van, threw stones and bottles at reporters and blitzed Facebook with notes of support for their beloved Penn State.
And the alleged victims? What about them? It took weeks before alleged victims, members of an organization Sandusky founded for underprivileged kids, got a second look from university students.
The FAMU student protest a month later follows the murder of Florida A&M drum major Robert Champion.
The 26-year-old student was beaten so badly from the chest down that he died from shock caused by internal bleeding -- the victim of a suspected hazing incident within the school's famed marching band.
If you didn't know better, you might think student protests at FAMU over a thing like this are a natural. After all, a little righteous indignation for the brutal culture of hazing at their school, involving their friends and classmates, is a good reason for students to get angry. So is the university administration's blind eye to a practice students acknowledge has been a way of life within the Marching 100 for many years.
But, no.
Curiously, FAMU students are protesting Gov. Rick Scott's recommendation that the university's president, James Ammons, be suspended while authorities conduct an investigation of problems and allegations at the school -- particularly within the band.
What we've got here is a mind-your-own business protest. It's a what-happens-in-Vegas kind of protest.
Apparently Scott was supposed to look the other way.
Apparently the death of a state university student in Florida falls exclusively under the jurisdiction of the Board of Governors and that's what fires up students these days -- not a fellow student's death, but jurisdictional geography. So, for butting in, Scott gets placard-carrying students chanting slogans and finding the time and the outrage to march on the governor's mansion.
Scott explained himself in some detail Sunday night.
“Following reports of the beating of one student and the death of another associated with hazing activities, I asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to provide any and all assistance necessary to help find answers through an investigation. After financial irregularities were discovered, I committed resources of our Inspector General to assist at the request of the Board of Governors.
“The FAMU Board of Trustees has already publicly reprimanded Dr. Ammons. This week, I learned of reports of at least one child molestation case that took place on campus, an incident Dr. Ammons told me in my office he was not made aware of until months after its occurrence. Based on all of these facts, I merely suggested it would be wise for Dr. Ammons to step aside until these investigations are completed."
Comments (13)
What a racist.
Do you know how absolutely insulting your post is? I believe, you sir or ma'am, are the racist.
What many should acknowledge is that he was not President when the other cases happened. The hazing of the young woman happened at one of the guys' apartment and she chose to go there twice. I'm sorry it happened to her and the drum major, but students are not supervised 24 hours. If that's the case then parents should also be held responsible if anything happens to their children regardless of where they are 24/7. None of the hazing incidents happened on campus, and the students all have to sign anti-hazing pledges. If students choose to pledge underground, the University should not be held responsible.
I truly hope all hazing ends, because it's ruined the lives of many good people.
He should be fired - FAMU has been nothing but a disgrace. The Marching 100 should be permanently disbanded.
As a Penn State Alum I take offense to your article. Like most of the rest of the media the primary focus was to trash Penn State and not focus the attention on the people that were the cause of this travesty. Were you there the night of the riots when maybe 100 of the couple thousand students that gathered outside took place in the so called actual riots with some students actually being egged on by some of the media to cause trouble so they could get something on film? Were you there the night when over 10,000 students showed up at a candlelight vigil in support of the victims? Penn State is a world class institution that has been tarnished by the acts of certain administative individuals and smeared by the media to the point where everything Penn State is guilty. Hopefully, someday you will learn that a good writer will see both sides to the story. By the way, all catholic priests are pedophiles, right?
Now, Nancy this article is void of any real substance what so ever, but then again in todays world FOX is regarded as news. For example, where was the outrage from the Gov. concerning the death of a UCF freshman in August of this year at a fraternity party of alcohol poisoning? Where was the Gov. then or more importantly where were you as a "journalist" searching for the truth? Where was the Board of Governors in 2008 when a UCF student died from hazing also at UCF? Where was the media and the GOV. calling for the head of the President of UCF?
It is clear that the state of Florida has a system of higher education and a process. That is what had the students protesting outside of the Gov. residence. The blatant disrespect of the system and the fact that never before has it been made in the face of tragedy as a back door attempt to circumvent the established processes and rule of law.
And contrary to the weak and lame attempt of the outside forces who attempt to disregard the role of race in the politics of Florida at every level, I ask you to simply Get Real.
No rather than do the right thing and demand answers and holding those who violate the law, they prefer to use this as an opportunity to attack Scott.
They couldn't care less about misuse of school funds, a beating of a female, a death of a student and the rape of a child. They the students and the media are as guilty as those who committed the crimes if they are not outraged.