The Florida Memorial University (FMU) Board of Trustees is making public its faith in interim President William McCormick after his six months in office.
The board on Friday released a press release announcing it had unanimously cast a vote of confidence in McCormick, who became interim president after the sudden resignation of former President Jaffus Hardrick in June.
“The Board is confident in President McCormick’s leadership and his ability to navigate FMU through this pivotal time,” Board Chair Walt Weatherington said in the press release. “His vision for the university not only aims to uphold our tradition of excellence, but also positions us to meet the demands of a rapidly changing educational landscape.”
“Leading FMU during this time has been a tremendous honor,” McCormick said in the press release. “I am deeply grateful for the support of the Board of Trustees and the entire university community.”
McCormick, a former FMU Board chair himself, is the founder and CEO of Americlaims Billing, Inc., a medical billing company based in Florida. He is also a former president of the Fort Lauderdale Branch of the NAACP. He has received various professional and community service awards, including the Florida Small Business of the Year Entrepreneurship Award, the NAACP Civil Rights Award, and the Florida Memorial University Alumni Hall of Fame Award.
During Hardrick’s tenure, several strides were made at FMU, including the creation of the first-ever TechNolij Innovation Center to close the racial wealth gap through technology education and a $1 million JPMorgan Chase donation to bolster existing technology degree programs. Hardrick is also credited with establishing The ROAR Marching Band.
However, there were also downfalls. The university suffered an INC Ransom cybersecurity attack, sexual harassment allegations made by student-athletes and employees, and a spread of COVID-19 on campus. Also during Hardrick’s tenure, the university discontinued 16 underperforming degree programs, eliminated 18 faculty and staff positions, and laid off four tenured professors to cut costs.
In 2021, a Change.org petition called for Hardrick’s removal. That year, more than two dozen faculty members via a Survey Monkey Poll cast a vote of ‘no confidence’ in Hardrick amidst a 12-month probation invoked by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) for FMU’s failure to comply with federal, state, and financial standard requirements, as reported in The Miami Times.
When he resigned in June, Hardrick cited an unspecified health reason as the cause. McCormick was appointed in the interim shortly after.
Florida Memorial University, located in Miami Gardens, was founded in 1879.
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