Florida A&M University has put an announced $237 million donation from a Texas hemp farming businessman “on hold” as media and school administrators question the gift’s worth and origins.
President Larry Robinson revealed the decision during an emergency meeting of FAMU’s fundraising foundation on Thursday. Board members expressed strong reservations about the donation, which gained national notice as one of the largest ever made to one of the country’s historically black institutions.
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The school’s agreement states that FAMU has already received the donation, which came in the form of millions of shares of stock, but it’s unclear how the institution will move forward.
“With regards to the gift and the processing of it and so forth, in terms of future processing, we’ve already decided it’s in our best interest to put that on hold,” Robinson stated at the time.
The claimed windfall donation to FAMU came from Batterson Farms Corporation’s Gregory Gerami and the Isaac Batterson Family 7th Trust, and it would have nearly increased the school’s endowment, benefiting students and teachers for centuries. However, once the news was made with great hoopla during a Saturday graduating ceremony, suspicion immediately dampened the festivities.
Initially, Batterson Farms Corporation appears to be a modest company based in Texas, selling hydroponic hemp farm products, leading some to wonder how its stock could be worth millions. Reports concerning Gerami’s previous dealings, notably a $95 million contribution to Coastal Carolina University in 2020, which was terminated by school officials only weeks after it was officially publicized, have fueled suspicions.
FAMU foundation members highlighted these concerns during Thursday’s emergency meeting, as well as their displeasure with how school officials made a nine-figure donation without informing them or the board of trustees. Some board members claimed to have learned about the donation from the university’s press release or from graduate acquaintances. Prior to Thursday’s unexpected news, the board of trustees had scheduled a special meeting for next week to review the bequest.
“How did we get this far without knowing about the transaction or the donor?” wondered Chekesha Kidd, a foundation member who co-founded and runs Kinumi, a concierge business.
School leaders—including Robinson and Shawnta FAMU’s vice president for university advancement, Friday-Stroud, stated that they were unable to discuss the gift publicly due to a non-disclosure agreement. They defended receiving the donation from Batterson Farms Corporation, citing the possible benefits if the company went public. Batterson Farms did not respond to a request for comment on the stock’s future value.
Laurence A. Humphries, a member of the foundation’s board, stated at the meeting that the shares may be for “$500 million or zero.”
“Yes, there is clearly a risk, and we can see it in everything that has happened,” Friday-Stroud stated during the discussion. “But at the time, that was the decision.”
FAMU did not contact Coastal Carolina University while vetting Gerami’s gift, officials revealed Thursday.
Finance experts believe that the FAMU’s gift-vetting process should have highlighted several red flags, including a failed donation.
The Tallahassee Democrat, via a records request on Thursday, obtained an agreement that stipulates the payment of the present over the next decade. According to the deal, Gerami “donated 14 million shares of stock of intrinsic value worth at least $239,000,000” and will donate an additional $61,000,000 over 10 “years”—figures that differ from those revealed by the school only days earlier.
The agreement, however, does not mention a specific corporation, and it is unclear where and how the stocks were valued.
“Where does this valuation come from?” Rebel Cole, a finance professor at Florida Atlantic University, explained in an interview. “If I were a dog, I would raise my hackles.”
