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22 in FAMU's ROTC Lose Room-and-Board Scholarships

Photo credit: The Famuan FAMU students in ROTC must now have a 3.0 average to be eligible for room-and-board scholarships.

By Nefertiti Williams
Black College Wire

Twenty-two Reserve Officers' Training Corps cadets at Florida A&M University have had their room and board scholarships withdrawn for not meeting the academic requirement of a 3.0 grade-point average.

In past years, ROTC's Presidential Scholar Award provided students with tuition and fees, including a stipend, and the university gave students a room-and-board scholarship. The students had to maintain a 2.0 GPA.

In 2002, FAMU changed the GPA requirement to 3.0, telling the students of the change in May and saying the new requirement would go into effect the following semester.

The change was being implemented as the university underwent a change of leadership along with financial crises that forced cutbacks in spending.

Maj. Willie A. Jackson, executive officer and a recruiter in the program, said ROTC had long overlooked students' GPAs. But this past August, after noticing that several students were not meeting the academic requirement, FAMU made a final decision to withdraw the housing scholarships of several who did not meet the standards.

"It was sloppily handled," said Peqwita Thornton, 22, a senior criminal justice student from Atlanta and a member of ROTC.

Thornton said she believed that ROTC does a lot for FAMU, but the favor is not returned.

"Students weren't informed in a timely manner," she added.

In September, Thornton, a member of the ROTC program, filed a complaint with the housing department, saying the students were not given adequate time to make other housing arrangements.

Most were forced to stay on campus because they signed a housing agreement from which the university would not release them.

Thornton went to Castell Bryant, FAMU's interim president, in October. Bryant said the issue was one for ROTC, Thornton said.

Some ROTC members owe the university for fall-semester housing and have had holds placed on their accounts, preventing them from registering for spring semester classes.

"This whole situation has put a financial burden on not only the students that were affected but their families also," senior Keith Farmer said.

Farmer said he noticed a decrease in the number of cadets showing up for physical training and other events.

"ROTC is suffering severely," Farmer said. "Several cadets had to pick up jobs in order to stay in school, which makes their lives 10 times harder than it was already."

He said many students chose FAMU's program because of the room-and- board deal, and that if students in the program had known what they do now, they would have chosen another school.

Jackson agreed that ROTC did not properly enforce the GPA rule, and said the academic requirement would be enforced from now on.

FAMU formerly offered 68 scholarships but recently reduced the number to 45. Of the 272 ROTC detachments, only 27 offer room and board with their scholarships, Jackson said.

Nefertiti Williams, a student at Florida A&M University, writes for the Famuan. She may be reached at [email protected]

Posted Feb. 3, 2006