The lawsuit challenging Florida A&M University’s presidential search ended in dismissal. On February 10, 2026, Leon County Circuit Judge Michael Beato threw out the FAMU presidential search lawsuit with prejudice, ruling that the ten alumni and student plaintiffs lacked standing to sue and that their claims failed on the merits as well. The case had been filed in June 2025 to block Marva Johnson’s appointment as FAMU’s thirteenth president, but it never stopped the confirmation and never reached trial.
Who Sued and What They Alleged
On June 16, 2025, attorneys Mutaqee Akbar and Ennis Leon Jacobs Jr. filed a 154-page civil complaint in Leon County’s Second Judicial Circuit on behalf of ten plaintiffs described as FAMU alumni and students, several of them significant donors to the university. The defendants were the eight FAMU Board of Trustees members who had voted to select Johnson, plus Florida Board of Governors Chair Brian Lamb and Vice Chair Alan Levine.1WCTV. FAMU Alumni, Students File Lawsuit to Halt Upcoming Presidential Vote
At its core, the complaint alleged that Johnson’s selection was “predetermined in violation of the state Constitution.”2WTXL. Lawsuit Filed Over FAMU President Selection Process The plaintiffs said the search process had been steered toward a chosen outcome, ignored the criteria the committee itself had set, and shut out meaningful input from students and alumni.
The Specific Claims
The complaint laid out several concrete factual allegations:
- Search committee chair Deveron Gibbons demanded that Johnson be added as a finalist even though she had not been selected during early deliberations and did not meet the committee’s established criteria.
- Board members engaged in “disruptive patterns of conduct,” including skipping meetings and replacing committee members who were “urging caution.”
- “Extraordinary pressure was exerted on the members of the search committee regarding secrecy, causing a deep chill among committee members,” alongside violations of nondisclosure agreements.
- Trustees voted in direct contrast to the wishes of students and alumni who had protested Johnson’s candidacy.
The plaintiffs called the final vote a decision that “defied all logic,” was “based on improper factors,” and failed to consider “essential criteria.”2WTXL. Lawsuit Filed Over FAMU President Selection Process
The Emergency Injunction That Failed
Timing was central to the plaintiffs’ strategy. The complaint was filed two days before the Florida Board of Governors was scheduled to vote on Johnson’s confirmation, and it sought an emergency injunction to stop that vote. The suit also asked the court to order the Board of Trustees to hire an independent consultant to investigate the search.1WCTV. FAMU Alumni, Students File Lawsuit to Halt Upcoming Presidential Vote
The court did not act before the scheduled meeting. On June 18, 2025, the Board of Governors met at Florida Atlantic University and voted unanimously to confirm Johnson.3WCTV. Marva Johnson Accepted as FAMU’s Next President by Board of Governors Her five-year term began August 1, 2025.4FAMU. Office of the President Bio Once the confirmation happened, the injunction request lost much of its practical purpose, a point the defense would later press.
The Motion to Dismiss
In October 2025, the FAMU Board of Trustees moved to dismiss the case with prejudice. The motion raised six grounds:
- The complaint was a “shotgun pleading,” meaning it was so disorganized that defendants could not tell which allegations supported which legal claims.
- The plaintiffs lacked standing to pursue an injunction.
- The complaint failed to establish the basic elements for injunctive relief.
- The case was barred by the separation of powers doctrine.
- The request for injunctive relief was moot because the confirmation had already occurred.
- The statutes cited by the plaintiffs did not provide for a private right of action.
The board also questioned why the plaintiffs had waited four months between filing the complaint and responding to the board’s arguments.5WTXL. FAMU Board of Trustees Files Motion to Have Lawsuit Dismissed The plaintiffs filed their opposition to the motion on January 8, 2026.6Tallahassee Democrat. FAMU Alumni Press On With Lawsuit on Presidential Search Process
The Ruling
Judge Beato dismissed the case with prejudice on February 10, 2026. Because the dismissal was with prejudice, the plaintiffs cannot refile the same claims.
The primary ground was standing: the ten plaintiffs, though alumni and donors, had no legal right to sue over the presidential selection.7Tallahassee Democrat. Judge Dismisses FAMU Group’s Lawsuit on President Search Process Standing is a threshold requirement that asks whether a plaintiff has suffered the kind of concrete, personal injury the courts can address. Beato found the plaintiffs had not.
He also went further, addressing the merits so the ruling would stand even if a higher court disagreed on standing. “Even if there’s standing, the plaintiffs failed to establish their request for mandatory injunctive relief and failed to establish their breach of fiduciary duties claim,” Beato said.8WCTV. Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Claiming FAMU Presidential Search Was Violation of State Constitution The case failed on every front the court considered.
Why the Search Was Contested
The lawsuit did not appear in a vacuum. Johnson was the outside candidate in a field of four finalists announced in late April 2025, and her selection by the Board of Trustees on May 16 came on an 8–4 vote, with Board Chair Kristin Harper among the dissenters voting for internal candidate Donald Palm.9WCTV. Marva Johnson Selected as Final Candidate for Florida A&M’s Next President
Johnson’s background was in telecommunications government affairs, most recently as a group vice president at Charter Communications, and she had held state education posts under Republican governors, including a term chairing the Florida State Board of Education under Governor Rick Scott and a role on Governor Ron DeSantis’s transition team. Critics said she had no academic administration experience. A Change.org petition opposing her candidacy gathered more than 12,600 signatures.10Tallahassee Democrat. Marva Johnson Named FAMU President Despite Protests Harper said Johnson’s “qualifications pale in comparison to others” and described her campus interview as showing “a lack of intellectual depth and a gap in cultural connection that was just painfully blatant.”11WLRN. FAMU Chooses Marva Johnson as President
Concerns about the search process had already surfaced inside the board. On April 24, 2025, trustee Belvin Perry moved to pause the search so an independent consultant could investigate allegations of premature salary negotiations, pressure to add a candidate to the finalist list, and private discussions among committee members outside public forums. If those allegations were true, Perry told the board, they “bring to question the credibility of this entire search process.”12Tallahassee Democrat. Tensions Rise as FAMU Board Rejects Pause in President Search Process Search committee chair Gibbons called the pause request “laughable” and the process “clean.”13WCTV. FAMU Trustees Vote to Move Forward With Presidential Search The motion failed 8–5. Roughly two weeks later, trustee Earnie Ellison, who had supported the pause, was effectively removed from the board when the Board of Governors leadership requested his name be withdrawn from Senate confirmation.14Tallahassee Democrat. FAMU Board of Trustees Earnie Ellison Resigns After Four Months His replacement, Raphael Vazquez, voted for Johnson.11WLRN. FAMU Chooses Marva Johnson as President These are the events the plaintiffs pointed to when they argued the search had been steered.
Separately, in April 2025, Board of Governors Inspector General Julie Leftheris wrote to the interim president that her office had “received concerns surrounding confidential information related to the FAMU Presidential Search” and was evaluating next steps. Board of Governors Vice Chair Alan Levine, who sat on the search committee, said the search had been conducted “100% by the book.”15Tallahassee Democrat. Alleged Leak Sparks Look Into FAMU Presidential Search Secrecy
Where Things Stand
Johnson began her term on August 1, 2025, succeeding interim president Timothy Beard, and was formally installed at an investiture ceremony on April 22, 2026, at Lee Hall. Board of Trustees Chairman Deveron Gibbons affirmed the board’s “full confidence” in her leadership.16FAMU News. FAMU Investiture Installs Johnson as FAMU’s 13th President In a spring 2026 interview, Johnson said of her critics, “I think that some people initially who didn’t understand who I was, didn’t understand what my vision was, who may have been reticent… I think they’re coming around.”17Florida Phoenix. Marva Johnson Provides Insight Into Her Experience as FAMU President So Far
With the case dismissed with prejudice, the courthouse route to unwinding the appointment is closed. Any further challenge to how FAMU chose its thirteenth president will have to come through politics, governance, or a different set of plaintiffs bringing different claims.