FAMU law dean put on paid leave

Interim president Castell Bryant offered little explanation except to say her decision involved an audit of the payroll.

Florida A&M University's law school dean was abruptly placed on leave Tuesday, adding to the financial and administrative problems that have plagued the historically black university in the last few years.

The move by interim president Castell Bryant comes amid a host of financial and management woes that have affected everything from student financial aid to employee travel.

Bryant refused to say why Percy Luney Jr., a Harvard-educated lawyer hailed by colleagues when he was hired in 2001, was put on administrative leave except to say it involved the university wide payroll audit.

"At this time, because of information that was gathered in an ongoing payroll audit, it was necessary to make this decision," Bryant said at a hastily called news conference at the law school's Orlando campus. She left immediately and would not speak to reporters later.

Luney, 56, who earns $201,000 a year, was placed on paid leave until further notice. He could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Bryant's decision came days after the St. Petersburg Times reported that she fired Shirley Cunningham Jr., a Kentucky lawyer who was found to have done no work in the $100,000-a-year job created for him after he endowed a chair at the law school.

This week, Cunningham denied the allegations against him, and said he was shocked at the accusations made by FAMU officials.

"It's an assassination of my character," he said after being reached on cell phone in Kentucky. "I have never been treated so unfairly."

Several law school professors and students said they have only seen Cunningham on campus once, and that was during the unusual payroll audit this spring in which Bryant had employees produce government-issued ID when picking up paychecks or pay stubs.

Cunningham, 50, who said he has never spoken to Bryant or her office about his job, found out Friday he was removed from the payroll after he received a certified letter.

"It's just devastating news," he said. "I'm disappointed."

As word spread Tuesday afternoon about Luney, Bryant was criticized for failing to share with school trustees, state legislators and others the reasons for the change at the law school.

"I have no idea what's going on," said state Sen. Al Lawson, a Tallahassee Democrat and a FAMU alumni. "Everything seems to be such a secret. This is very, very serious and it needs to be disclosed because it involves taxpayer dollars."

Barney Bishop, a member of the FAMU Board of Trustees, said he learned of Luney's leave through an e-mail at 12:14 p.m. that gave no details. He said he is concerned with Bryant's aggressive approach, usually without informing the trustees of any details.

"We know there is a house cleaning going on but we don't know why," he said.

Bryant appointed James Douglas, former president of Texas Southern University in Houston, as interim law school dean. Douglas was a consultant who helped develop and get legislative approval for the new law school. He began work Tuesday.

"My only responsibility is to act as a stop-gap to make sure that FAMU moves forward as it develops into one of the premier law schools in the country," Douglas said.

It's been a tough few years for FAMU, which just seven years ago was named the nation's College of the Year by Time magazine and the Princeton Review . The scandals have rocked the 117-year-old school of 13,000.

The school is mired in a financial and management mess with roots that stretch back to the presidency of Frederick Humphries, who ran the school for 16 years until 2001.

"I'm not discouraged," Bill Tucker, physics professor and president of the FAMU faculty union, said Tuesday. "We'll get to the bottom of it all."

Last week, state officials confirmed they were conducting a criminal investigation into the misuse of taxpayers money at the Institute for Urban Policy and Commerce on FAMU's main campus in Tallahassee.

"The problem has been going on for decades and so to think that this problem is going to be fixed in the short period is not logical," Bishop said. "I predicted ... two or three years. We're at two years now and I think we have at least another year to go."

The trustees fired president Fred Gainous last year for not fixing the problems quickly enough. Since Bryant was appointed in January, she has forced out other administrators and has cracked down on spending.

Carolyn Roberts, chairwoman of the Board of Governors that oversees the state's public universities, declined to comment on Luney's departure except to say she has great confidence in Bryant's decisions.

"I feel faith and confident the president is getting FAMU's fiscal house in order," said state Curtis Richardson, D-Tallahassee. "That's what she's attempting to do. No one said that would be an overnight process. These are issues that need to be worked through."

--Times staff writer Joni James and researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report. Anita Kumar can be reached at kumar@sptimes.com or 202-463-0576.

Tampa Bay headlines

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times 490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 Contact the Times | Privacy Policy Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright