FAMU rescinded $15M Blueprint request for Bragg Stadium after now-paused $237M donation
Two days after Florida A&M University announced it received an eye-popping $237 million donation, President Larry Robinson notified the Blueprint board that the university was no longer interested in pursuing $15 million in additional funding for Bragg Stadium improvements.
The Blueprint board, made up of all 12 city and county commissioners, approved $10 million for major renovations to FAMU's football stadium in 2020. At the time, the stadium was in such disrepair it was unclear whether home games would be played there in the 2021 season.
Last year, FAMU asked Blueprint for $15 million more for Bragg improvements. The board in February denied the university's request for immediate funding but voted to explore the use of economic development funds rather than infrastructure dollars for the project.
Robinson, in a Monday letter to Leon County Commissioner Carolyn Cummings, who chairs the Blueprint board, thanked the agency for the $10 million and consideration of the additional $15 million.
"However, at this time we are withdrawing our request for additional assistance from the Blueprint Intergovernmental Agency for Bragg Memorial Stadium," Robinson wrote in the letter obtained by the Democrat. "We look forward to continuing to work with you, the Blueprint Board of Directors and Blueprint staff in other ways going forward."
The letter was dated two days after FAMU's spring graduation ceremony and surprise announcement of the purported nine-figure stock contribution from Gregory Gerami, CEO of Batterson Farms Corp, a little-known hemp company based in Austin, Texas. The gift would have been the biggest ever for FAMU or any historically Black college or university.
But on Thursday, FAMU put Gerami's donation on hold amid mounting questions about it. Gerami has a history of philanthropic overtures to other universities, including Coastal Carolina University and the University of Texas at Austin, that never materialized, according to reporting by the Myrtle Beach Sun News.
It's unclear whether FAMU's decision to backtrack on its most recent Blueprint request was directly related to Gerami's would-be donation. The gift agreement between Gerami and the Isaac Batterson Family 7th Trust stipulated that at least $100 million would go toward FAMU athletics.
A FAMU spokesperson was not available for comment on late Thursday on whether the now-paused donation would prompt the university to reconsider its abandoned request for $15 million in Blueprint funds.
Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com or 850-599-2180.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FAMU told Blueprint $15M not needed for Bragg after $237M donation
