Following an internal dispute over the recent announcement of William C. McCormick, Jr. as the next president of historically Black Florida Memorial University, a judge has ruled in favor of McCormick’s appointment, according to a report from The Miami Times.
On September 5, Judge Javier Enriquez of Florida’s 11th Judicial Court denied the lawsuit submitted by FMU board member, Brandon Dumas, who claimed he was supplanted as board chairman and excluded – alongside seven other board members – from the decision to elevate McCormick from interim president to the HBCU’s official president.
According to Enriquez’s order, Dumas “failed to show how he has personally been injured by Mr. McCormick’s appointment. Mr. McCormick was the interim president of FMU prior to being appointed full-time president. Whatever his title may be, Mr. McCormick’s actions as full-time president, as opposed to interim president, of FMU pose no threat to irreparable injury.”
Additionally, Enriquez denied Dumas’ claims that McCormick’s appointment would violate the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, stating, “there is no actual or imminent threat, from SACSCOC or anyone else, that FMU would suffer any repercussions from SACSCOC because of actions taken by the board. Additionally, there would not be an adequate remedy at law given the nature of the dispute.”
