Florida Gov. Rick Scott
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Gov. Rick Scott said Thursday he wants the president of Florida A&M University suspended amid multiple investigations spurred by the death of a drum major in a suspected case of hazing.
Scott, who just returned from a seven-day trip to Israel, called the chairman of the FAMU board on Thursday and asked him to suspend James Ammons immediately.
Scott said he doesn’t have any evidence that Ammons did anything wrong, he thinks a suspension is warranted.
“I think it is in the president’s best interest and the school’ best interest that he step aside,” Scott told reporters as he arrived at Tallahassee Regional Airport. But he said he told Ammons he didn’t think he needed to resign until the investigations into the death of drum major Robert Champion and the FAMU band’s finances are finished.
The board last week discussed suspending Ammons, but instead voted to publicly reprimand him. The board meets again Monday.
It was Scott who ordered Florida’s law-enforcement agency to join an investigation into Champion’s death. The Marching 100 band member died after a FAMU football game last month in Orlando and hazing is suspected in his death.
