FAMU President Marva Johnson recently marked her first 100 days in office. She started the job in August amid plenty of pushback.
Johnson came to the role amid a sea of controversy. Her critics pointed to her ties to Governor Ron DeSantis and her lack of leadership experience in higher education.
“I think for many reasons I am the right leader right now for Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University because I do bring business acumen that is different than your traditional academy-based leadership,” Johnson said during a recent interview for WFSU's Speaking Of.
Johnson has a Bachelor of Science in business administration. She then earned an MBA and a Juris Doctor (J.D.).
Before coming to FAMU, she was Group Vice President of State Government Affairs for Charter Communications, a cable and broadband company.
On Speaking Of, Johnson talks about her efforts to strengthen relationships with faculty and how it felt to have people turn their backs on her during public meetings before she was named president.
Here is a snippet of our chat:
WFSU: What kind of music really gets you going in the morning?
JOHNSON: I like gospel music, but I also like rap music. So I have found gospel rap, and it is very uplifting. It is soul stirring, and it is as good to work out to as hip hop.
WFSU: How are you measuring your success so far? Have you hit some milestones?
JOHNSON: I have hit some milestones, and truly the measure of my success for the first 100 days is whether I accomplished the things that I needed to accomplish, to fully listen, to immerse myself in the culture of the institution, and to make some immediate actions where we could — but really to gain the framework and understanding that I need in order to position the university for success long term.
WFSU: Can you talk more about how the presidency of a university or a college perhaps has changed in modern day, like how has it evolved do you think?
JOHNSON: I think that one of the biggest changes is truly in managing the fiscal responsibilities for the enterprise, as we think about where our funding sources are coming from in order to advance our mission. Some of it is coming, of course, from our tuition and fees to our students, but we as a state have really focused on keeping the cost of attendance low. So we have to be very creative in generating revenue to help grow the enterprise and to help advance the mission of the university...
As a president, you should care about the academic content and about the curriculum, but you are the leader in terms of driving revenue and creating partnerships that are going to give your students experiential learning opportunities. You're going to have to be the chief cheerleader, the chief fundraiser, and also the chief steward of the enterprise.
WFSU: You were described as being an ally of Governor Ron DeSantis. Can you tell us what that means?
JOHNSON: I am not sure what it means because it's not a term that I created. What I would say is Governor DeSantis is the governor of the state of Florida. He's been elected twice. He's invested a lot in higher education. He's continued our trajectory in terms of being the number one state for higher education in the country. Under his leadership, he's invested more in higher ed, I believe, than any governor before him, as well as in HBCUs in the state. So if that is what it means to be an ally, then it sounds like he's working to advance things that are supportive of our mission.
Johnson answers more questions, like how it felt when opponents turned their backs on her at public meetings and whether she ever had doubts about pursuing the job of FAMU president.
"I listen to God because if I listened to my gut, there would be so many things in life that I never even challenged myself to do because of fear and doubt," Johnson says.
Click LISTEN above to hear the full segment of Speaking Of.
