Some Rattlers are raising eyebrows about a historic donation to their beloved institution.
Source: Zack Wittman for The Washington Post via Getty Images / Getty
So, if you haven’t heard about this by now, Florida A&M University, arguably one of the most well-known HBCUs in the country, recently received a nine-figure donation from a Black CEO that has people, to say the least, skeptical about the legitimacy of the donation. Meanwhile, Gregory Gerami, the CEO of Isaac Batterson Seventh Family Trust, appears to be confused as to why so many people, particularly Black people, are having such a hard time believing his whopping $237,750,000 donation to FAMU is real.
In fact, folks have been buzzing about this grand gesture of generosity so much online that FAMU Vice Chair Deveron Gibbons had to issue a statement calling for an emergency meeting on the matter that basically said: Yeah—this is nice, but we’re going to have to do some detective work before we take it to the bank.
“The recently announced donation would truly be transformative for Florida A&M University, an institution that is helping to shape the next generation of leaders,” Gibbons wrote, according to WCTV. “However, the reality is that little has been shared regarding the nature of the donation. A press announcement should be the final step in a vetting process, not the first, and significant questions remain unanswered.”
“FAMU is already the finest HBCU in the nation, and we all hope this gift bears fruit for generations to come,” he went on to say.
Of course, with all the skepticism regarding the donation, another question will inevitably be brought into the conversation: What—a Black person with money can’t give a Black college close to $300 mil without everybody thinking it’s a scam? After all, large donations to PWIs don’t generate this much controversy. You see a headline about a wealthy white donor busting their wallet wide open for Harvard and all you think is: Oh, a rich white man gave a rich white institution a lot of money? Is water also still wet, or nah? So, it’s a legitimate point to make that much of this skepticism would be nonexistent if we weren’t talking about Black donors, Black institutions, and Black money, but, at the same time, there are other reasons to be unsure about Gerami and his generosity.
The Tallahassee Democrat reports that Gregory Gerami is a 30-year-old hemp farmer, investor and entrepreneur “but little is known about him, his business, or the Issac Batterson 7th Family Trust that put up the money.”
The Democrat also notes that Gerami previously pledged an enormous amount to Conway, South Carolina’s Coastal Carolina University, but it ultimately didn’t happen.
They have a remarkably small online footprint, and news that his $95 million “transformational” planned gift to Coastal Carolina University fell through last year has further fueled alumni concerns.
Still, Gerami insists that everything is on the up and up, and he doesn’t understand what reason anyone has to believe otherwise.
“The stocks have been held by the university for over a month now, so I don’t know where the confusion or the skepticism would be since it’s already in a financial account with the university,” Gerami told the Democrat.
Gerami didn’t directly address the large donation to Coastal Carolina that reportedly fell through, but he did appear to address the online controversy, at least to say that the very nature of it is why he isn’t online like that.
“This is a main example why I don’t have an internet presence, nor do I care to have one,” Gerami said. “People take things out of context. They run and they damage and hurt people with information that’s incorrect and just not appropriate.”
Hopefully, when all is said and done, whatever investigation FAMU conducts into Gerami and his money reveals that the funds are real. HBCU funding is already a perpetual uphill battle. The last thing these institutions need is scammers giving them false hope.