Last week, FAMU Trustee Torey Alston introduced the motion to reprimand President James H. Ammons during the Board of Trustees meeting. Alston said Ammons did not do enough to communicate with trustees following the November 19 death of Marching 100 drum major Robert D. Champion, which has a suspected link to hazing.Alston is no stranger to FAMU hazing controversies. In 2007, he was publicly criticized by a victim of hazing.
Former FAMU student Marcus Jones, who attempted to join the Alpha Xi Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi while Alston was the chapter president, was paddled with wooden canes and punched during unauthorized rituals.
Jones did not directly accuse Alston of participating in the hazing. But he did mention Alston’s name in an account of the early stage of the pledging process that he told the St. Petersburg Times:
-----
Jones claimed fraternity members demanded loyalty and gifts. Over a four month period he said he spent $1,500. One member, whose job it was to clean a local car dealership, collected his paycheck even as Jones and other pledges did the man's work for him. Another asked Jones for the shoes off his feet. Jones refused. Fraternity brothers cursed and scolded him.
Jones called Alston, the chapter president.
"What am I supposed to do?" Jones asked.
"We all went through it," Alston said. "It's just a process."
-----
Jones' accusations suggest that Alston knew of the fraternity's activities and turned a deaf ear.
Jones later filed hazing charges against five FAMU Kappas: Brian Bowman, Cory Gray, Marcus Hughes, Michael Morton, and Jason Harris.
Bowman, Gray, and Hughes pled no contest to misdemeanor hazing and received probation.
Morton and Harris pled no contest to felony hazing and were sentenced to time served (two years).
“I wound up in prison for two years for a stupid tradition,” Morton said in a public statement.
The fraternity was placed on suspension for seven years.
