FAMU AD Tiffani-Dawn Sykes and Shawn Gibbs, her proposed candidate for its football program, were both given clear votes of no confidence by the Florida A&M National Alumni Association Executive Board.
The National Alumni Association held a nearly-two hour long emergency meeting held on Wednesday. It had a call in session with former players as well as former administrators and a parent of a football player.
The FAMU NAA executive board returned a vote of “no confidence” in Shawn Gibbs as the candidate. The motion passed 19-1.
The second notion regarded Sykes and her ability to lead the department.
The motion was debated on the floor as it was initially stated that Sykes had not spoken with stakeholders in regards to raising prices on ticket and parking packages, pulling out of the Orange Blossom Classic, and the search that led to Gibbs being identified as the top candidate. It was brought to the group’s attention that Sykes is a regular in meeting with the FAMU boosters. The motion was amended to state that she had not communicated with the NAA, though there was a debate as to whether there had been a reach-out.
The motion against Sykes passed with just three dissenting votes.
This comes hours after the FAMU Boosters recommended that the coaching search be suspended.