By Ernie Suggs
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The other shoe dropped Wednesday in the woeful saga of hazing among band members at Florida A&M University — two shoes, in fact.
Phil Coale, AP File Florida A&M President James Ammons has resigned.
Courtesy of Champion family, AP This 2010 photo provided by the Champion family shows Robert Champion, the Florida A&M University drum major who died in a Nov. 19 , 2011 hazing incident.
The family of Robert Champion, the drum major who died in November after a beating aboard a band bus, added the HBCU to the list of targets in a wrongful death lawsuit. And FAMU's president, James Ammons, resigned.
The school has been under intense pressure ever since Champion died after a band performance at a football game in Orlando. In their lawsuit, Champion's parents, who live in Decatur, charge that school officials put the money to be earned from band performances ahead of students' safety, despite growing evidence that hazing was rampant.
Sharon P. Saunders, a spokeswoman for FAMU, issued a brief response to the lawsuit, which did not address its allegations.
"We have known for quite some time that the family intended to file suit," Saunders said. "Our hearts and prayers still go out to the Champion family."
Speculation that Ammons would leave has been buzzing for months, and the writing appeared to be on the wall in June when the school's board of trustees gave him a vote of no confidence.
"All experienced university presidents are familiar with two processes they must go through," Ammons wrote in his letter of resignation, which he made public hours before the lawsuit was expanded. "One is 'transitioning-in' and the other is called 'transitioning-out.' My experience with transitioning-in at FAMU had to be cut short."
Solomon Badger III, chairman of the school's board of trustees, said he was disappointed that Ammons was leaving, but understood his motives.
"I am saddened by President Ammons' decision to resign, but it is his choice to do so," Badger said. "Given all that has transpired, it seems to be in the best interest of the university and I applaud him for putting FAMU ahead of his personal goals."
Ammons, who is a graduate of FAMU, will officially leave the presidency on Oct. 11 and work as a tenured professor.
"It is difficult to say what it means, and we don't know why he resigned, because he didn't mention the incident as a reason," said Chris Chestnut, the attorney for the Champions.
"The family said there need to be changes, so a new day is dawning and we welcome the change. We are optimistic that FAMU is about to get back to producing some of the best and brightest of America with new leadership."
In their lawsuit, an amendment to one filed earlier against the bus company, Robert and Pamela Champion said FAMU officials didn't take enough action to stop hazing throughout the lauded band program.
In the 33-page document, the parents, who live in Decatur, said school administrators knew about the Marching 100's history of hazing. Even so, the suit says, the school did not act on a key recommendation to suspend the band just days prior to Champion's death.
Champion and the band were in Orlando on Nov. 19 for the Florida Classic, which pitted FAMU's football team against Bethune-Cookman University.
Days before the game, former band director Julian White — who quietly retired in May — suspended scores of band members for hazing. According to the lawsuit, on Nov. 16, three days before Champion's death, FAMU Dean of Students Henry Kirby "proposed imposing an immediate long-term suspension of the FAMU Band to combat the egregious hazing."
"FAMU refused to suspend the FAMU Band prior to the Florida Classic, as suggested by Dean Kirby, due to the public notoriety and financial gain of participating in events during the three-day Florida Classic Weekend," the document claims.
Kirby's recommendation "shows that they knew or should have known the climate of hazing and violence was escalating," Chestnut said.
Ammons has said in the past that he did not know about Kirby's recommendation until January.
Police and several witnesses say Champion was beaten to death as part of a hazing or pledging ritual. Some band members told police he welcomed the beating in order to earn the respect he would need to become head drum major next season.
In more than 1,500 pages of transcripts and 49 audio recordings released in May by Florida prosecutors, several band members who witnessed the ritual described an evening of terror and chaos aboard the notorious Bus C. On that bus, which carried the band's percussionists, hazing reportedly was a custom, and fists, feet, drumsticks and straps were the tools.
Champion's death put a spotlight on hazing at the school and led to the suspension of the band until at least the 2012-13 academic year. Eleven of Champion's band mates — including four from metro Atlanta — are charged with third-degree felony hazing. The Atlantans are Jonathan Boyce, 24, Shawn Turner, 26, Aaron Golson, 19, and Lasherry Codner, 20. Two other students face misdemeanor charges.
"It has been a tough year for everyone in the FAMU family — students, alumni, instructors," said James McLemore, the president of FAMU's Atlanta alumni association. "A dark cloud was placed on the university because of this incident. The new president will have challenges too.
"We got to bring the band situation to a head, take care of it and move forward. The band is a large part of the university, but not the university."
Robert Champion's death reverberated throughout metro Atlanta, where several high schools have strong ties to the FAMU band program. From that day to this, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has explored every aspect of the widening hazing scandal and its implications for the university and the larger HBCU marching-band culture.
