On August 21, Florida Memorial University announced the appointment of William C. McCormick, Jr. as the HBCU’s fifteenth president. However, the next day, eight members of the university’s board of trustees and the president of the FMU National Alumni Association published a letter stating the appointment was illegal, referring to it as “a well-thought-out coup” by McCormick and other members of the board, according to a report from the Miami Herald.
“Let us be absolutely clear: this presidency was obtained illegally,” wrote Brandon Dumas, chair of the FMU board of trustees. “The meeting that facilitated this alleged vote, which none of us attended, was never properly noticed to the board, the matter of selecting a permanent president was never mentioned to the full board, and the action taken is in direct violation of our bylaws and the established processes for presidential selection.”
According to Dumas, he was appointed board chairman on May 9, following a month of service as interim chair. However, the FMU website lists Walter Weatherington, a director at the U.S. Department of Labor, as chair. In an injunction filed by Dumas, he states Weatherington convened a meeting on August 9 – an action that can only be taken by the chair or someone authorized by the chair – to discuss the appointment of the university’s next president. At this meeting, the “rogue” board members voted to install McCormick as president.
McCormick was named interim president of FMU in 2024. Before his interim appointment, he was the university’s board chairman. Over the past year, Dumas and his co-signers say they have been consistently pressured by McCormick and a faction of board members to drop his interim title.
“We made every effort to resolve these differences internally and to move forward in unity, but those efforts were met with obstruction,” the letter reads. “Instead, a rogue faction chose to abandon the bylaws and act outside of their authority. And here we are, facing the painful consequences of their reckless actions.”
Dumas’ primary concerns lie with the disregard for the board’s rules, rather than McCormick’s capabilities to serve as president.
“People are trying to make this about personality,” Dumas told the Miami Herald. “This has nothing to do with Mr. McCormick. Mr. McCormick has made a decision to side with the group of rogue trustees who are moving and acting counter to our bylaws. For me, this is not a conversation about his ability or his character or fitness to lead the institution. It is about blatant and willful, repeated disregard for the established rules and guidelines that govern this institution.”
