Student body president, Gallop Franklin and vice-president, Calvin Hayes are nearing the end of their term. According to Franklin their platform is near completion.
However, a large number of platform points were not completed solely by the executive branch. Some points were completed by the office of the University president, Dr. Ammons, and his executive team.
Franklin said that although the points were not completed holistically by the executive branch, they should not be discounted.
“All of our efforts within Student Government are pushed and advocated for by Student Government, and respective stakeholders that understand our vision,” said Franklin.
Morris Hawkins, the comptroller of SGA, disagrees. He said that he can recount on more than one occasion when Franklin tried to take credit for work that he did not do. According to Hawkins, Franklin has been claiming projects that Hawkins did.
“He tried to take credit for the New Student Union. That was done under the Gillum-Bland Administration and was spearheaded by me,” Hawkins said. “He’s also trying to take credit for the intramural field. That was done under the Collins-Lumpkin Administration.”
Franklin was impeached on Nov. 16 for misfeasance and nonfeasance of duty. This was a result of Franklin not appointing a Chief Justice. Since that time, Kashif Smiley-Clark has been appointed as Chief Justice.
Clark was appointed last semester, but did not pass the Elections and Appointments (E&A) Committee. Clark said he then wrote an appeal to the office of student life. The decision of the E&A committee was overturned.
Now, Franklin has reappointed Clark. Clark said that personal feelings should not interfere with business, in regards to some disapproval.
“SGA is a business environment. Your personal feelings should stay at the front door, we’re all here for one cause and that’s to help the students,” Clark said.
Amber Gray, the chairwoman of E&A committee, does not believe the decision to fail Clark was personal.
“Both Franklin and Clark were members of the legislative branch. When Clark had to pass E&A before and he did successfully he had no problem with the committee,” Gray said. “Now that he didn’t get confirmed our committee is null and void. That says a lot about his character.”
Franklin has come under fire for a check he recently wrote for $5,666.66 to Clutch Strategies, LLC. Clutch Strategies is a full service personal management consulting firm. This firm is owned by Ramon Alexander. Alexander is a past FAMU SGA president.
When asked about the check written to Clutch Strategies, Franklin originally said, “The division of student affairs and office of the general counsel initiated a contract with Clutch Strategies LLC during the summer of 2009. They perform a myriad of services from long term strategic management. And general consulting services for the division of student affairs in regards to student life.”
However Dean Henry Kirby, dean of student life, tells a different story than Franklin. “We received the contract from the executive branch. It had to go through our office, as all documents do, before they get to General Counsel. However, those contracts were not initiated by the division of students-nor did anyone in student affairs initiate it,” Kirby said. Franklin later said that the check was “routed through” the office of student affairs not “initiated by the office.”