McAllister Letter

• From: JULIUS MCALLISTER <juliusmcallister@****.com>
  Date: June 23, 2024 at 5:37:55 PM EDT
  To: Larry.Robinson@famu.edu
  Cc: Kristin Harper <kristin@driven******.com>, Ezzeldin.aly@famu.edu, Otiscliatt@famu.edu, jcrossman@cross****ervices.com, natlie@******law.com, kelvin.lawson@famu.edu, sga.president@famu.edu, belvin.perry@famu.edu, craig.reed@famu.edu, kenward.stone@famu.edu, nicole@we**.com, mwhite@*****.com, patrick.crarey@famu.edu, proctorb@leoncountyfl.gov
  Subject: URGENT CONCERNS
• Dear Dr. Robinson:
• It is my sincere hope that all is well with you and your family!
• Let me begin by thanking you for the sterling and stupendous leadership you have provided as the president of the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (henceforth referred to as the university or the institution) over the past seven years. Your leadership prowess is well documented throughout the nation and abroad as demonstrated by the thousands of graduates who are making a difference in the life and culture of America and states abroad.
• As the senior minister of Bethel AME Church for nearly 16 years, I have had the opportunity and pleasure of being pastor to the late former president, Dr. Walter Smith, former president, Dr. James Ammons; and family members of the late former president, Benjamin L. Perry, Sr. I have also been privileged to enjoy a very valued relationship with former president, Elmira Magnum. I only mention these affiliations because I want you to know that I am familiar with the great demands, responsibilities, and expectations placed upon the university presidents. Therefore, this communication is written with complete humility and ultimate respect for you and the position you hold.
• This letter explains my personal concerns about recent events associated with the university’s basketball program. Specifically, I wish to speak to the decision made by the new Men’s Basketball Coach, Patrick Crarey, to abruptly dismiss the entire basketball team void of sound judgement, insight, and blatantly antithetical to the institution’s acclaimed motto, “Excellence with Caring.” Coach Crarey’s decision, and especially the callous method that he chose to convey it to the 16 members of the basketball team have provoked a high level of internal frustration and indignation. In full disclosure, please be aware that one of the players effected by Coach Crarey’s egregious decision is my son, Colin McAllister. However, I also speak for the other 15 basketball players who have been shamelessly and unfairly treated and who must work through a season of disappointment, along with their parents, that could have been easily avoided.
• My initial inclination was to ignore the incident and move forward. However, the decision rendered by Coach Crarey continued to gnaw at my conscience and ultimately I decided that, just as over the years, I have advocated for more affordable and accessible housing, equal justice before the law, access to voting rights, assistance for substance abusers, COVID-19 vaccine accessibility, and other causes to benefit those who are unfairly treated or provided for, I should also advocate for my own son and the 15 other basketball players who are being unjustly and, might I say, unlawfully treated. Therefore, President Robinson, I would greatly appreciate it if you would take time to read and consider the concerns I have expressed herein.
• The Promise
• • In March of this year, after the culmination of Robert McCollum’s six-year tenure as the men’s basketball coach, Athletic Director (AD) Tiffani-Dawn Sykes, met with the basketball team in the locker room at the Lawson Center. She asked the young men to name some of the characteristics each of them were looking for in their new coach. One by one each player was given the opportunity to share one salient attribute in a coach that was important to them as they began a new chapter in the life of the program. One player stated that he was concerned that a new coach would bring new players into the program. AD Sykes assured them that competition would give everyone an opportunity to prove themselves to the new coaching staff.
• • On Thursday, April 18, 2024, Coach Patrick Crarey was announced the new basketball coach. On the same day,Coach Crarey and AD Sykes met with the basketball team minutes prior to the press conference that would announce his appointment. The coach told the young men that he was excited to have the opportunity to become their coach and that he looked forward to meeting with them. He added that his level of enthusiasm was at an all-time high concerning their future.
• The Decision to Dismiss
• • On the evening of April 27th, nine days after the coach’s April 18th initial meeting with the team, without once meeting with team members and without having been given the opportunity to prove themselves to the coach via “competition,” as promised by AD Sykes, Coach Crarey called the sixteen (16) young men via telephone during their final exams and informed each of them that their relationship with the team was terminated.
• My Direct Responses to Coach Crarey’s unwarranted decision to abruptly dismiss the university’s entire Men’s Basketball Team without cause and Coach Crarey’s replyto my concerns.
• • On Sunday, April 28th, around 11:00 a.m., under the impression that my son was the only person dismissed from the program, I called Coach Crarey. Learning that the entire (16 out if the 19 players) team had been dismissed, I shared my disappointment of his actions. By his own admission, he quickly responded that he was told by the athletic director that a new NCAAA rule was implemented and each collegiate team could only keep 15 players. Without any provocation, Coach Crarey shared with met that he released 16 student-athletes (He kept one walk-on student athlete and two reserve scholarship players) to satisfy the NCAA rule and to, have ample time for each student to enter their names into the transfer portal. (By the way, the deadline was within two days). Coach Crarey further stated that he would personally help them by finding new opportunities for them elsewhere. However, that was only a political ploy to help ease the pain these boys felt from the Coach and he helped no one find and a new school to attend.
• • I expressed to Coach Crarey that I thought that his decision was egregious and that it didn’t line up with the university’s credo, “Excellence with Caring,” and that to release these young men on a Saturday night while they were taking their final exams was extremely thoughtless. Out of curiosity, Dr. Robinson, to what extent do you think this devastating news might have negatively affected the performance of these young men; how many of them might have even failed an exam as a result? Such repercussions did not enter the mind of the new coach.
• • Nine days after leaving an NAIA to a Division 1 program, Coach Crarey didn’t have the decency to meet with the team, in person, to discover their skill set for himself. The coach did not have any practices or basketball drills, nor did he ask members of the team to participate in summer workouts during the second session of summer school. Nine days after being named our coach, he potentially made a unilateral decision to release an entire program that is now struggling to find persons to become members of the basketball team.
• • I asked Coach Crarey if he would meet with me and my wife in person and to give our son and the other players an opportunity to prove their basketball acumen during the summer. Coach verbally agreed to meet with me and my wife, but he would not change his mind about the players he released. I asked him if our son could work out this summer; he quickly responded by saying no. I then asked if he could give Colin a workout; he said he would but he would give him an opportunity to do this through several pickup games, and evaluate his playing ability. Dr. Robinson, who does that, evaluate kids from pick up games!!! I shared my displeasure with Coach Crarey and told him that I thought the position he was taking was unreasonable. However, I accepted his final thoughts on the matter.
• • On June 3rd, I went to the Lawson Center to see if Coach Crarey was in his office. I met with him for nearly 20 minutes From the very beginning he was rude and disrespectful, and he made it clear that his meeting with me was a distraction and a waste of his time since he was not receiving compensation from the institution. Again, I expressed that my preference for a meaningful meeting which would include my wife. Although during our April 28th phone conversation, he agreed to include Mrs. McAllister in a meeting, on June 3rd, he insisted that we meet without her and so, we did just that.
• • Once more, I expressed my concerns about his dismissal of 95 percent of the basketball team. He responded that the program has been a bad program for more than 20 years. He added that the program has not been operating as a Division one program and it is one of the worst programs in the SWAC. I quickly expressed that his assessment of the program and team was not accurate and reminded him that Coach McCollum had a winning MEAC Conference record for three years and was Coach of the Year at least once during that time frame. It wasn’t until the university entered the SWAC that it changed. I further shared with him that everyone thought the new conference was only a football conference and we quickly discovered that the other athletic programs were competitive as well. The 2023–2024 team was competitive in the SWAC; however, injuries was the reason we did not reach our potential this past year. Nevertheless, Coach Crarey maintained that the talent on the team was not representative of Division one. Therefore, he dismissed the entire team which, by the way, included the team representative who voted for him to become our next coach.
• Questions and Concerns
• • How does a coach who is not a contracted employee, a person who does not have a contract from Florida Agriculture & Mechanical University, have the latitude to dismiss men from an athletic program? By Coach Crarey’s own admission, he is not being compensated for his services. Furthermore, at a Thursday Morning Breakfast Club meeting at Earley’s Kitchen a few weeks ago, AD Sykes stated that Coach Crarey’s contract with the University would not begin until September 4th.
• • Are Coach Crarey’s unauthorized actions considered violations of Athletics and FERPA as well NCAA regulations? It is clear that Coach Crarey acted on his own volition. The email we received stating that our son will not be a member of the men’s basketball program for the 2024–2025 season is signed by Patrick Crarey as the coach of the institution’s Men’s Basketball team. Although, to this date, according to my understanding, he is not a contracted employee of the university.
• What I hope what will come from this experience
• Dr. Robinson, please be assured that I am expressing my feelings in writing because I genuinely believe that sixteen (16) student athletes were dismissed without an opportunity to show the new administration their gifts and graces. Moreover, the dismissal was administered unprofessionally and VOID of even a modest concern for the well-being of our students whom we famously claim to “care” for.

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• • It is my strong opinion that If Coach Crarey and AD Sykes have made decisions to release players from their scholarships and forced them to transfer two days before the closing of the portal (the portal closed on May 1, 2024), Mr. Crarey should not be hired as the next coach of the university’s Male Basketball Team and AD Sykes should be required to answer tough questions and thoroughly explain the circumstances surrounding the authorization of the dismissal of an entire basketball team, including questions pertaining to the intolerable treatment of our most precious investments — our young African American men. If her answers are inadequate, she too should be released from her contract.
• • Being new hires, it is obvious that Coach Crarey and AD Sykes have little understanding of the importance of the University’s motto, “Excellence With Caring” and the message it conveys. Even before I came to Tallahassee, I was aware that while the university’s main goal is to prepare students to compete with the best of the best; however, the excellence preparation they achieved was to be exhibited and validated with great care for people and communities. In fact, I remember reading words similar to these in an article about you published in the Tallahassee Magazine, a few years back. No doubt, hundred s of concerned parents, searching for an excellent institution of higher learning, while faced with the uncertainty of sending their children off from home for the first time, are persuaded to enrolled them at Florida A&M university based on the “with caring”element of our famous credo.
• • Finally, it is my expectation that my son will not be maligned or treated unfairly in the future at FAMU due to his father highlighting alleged inappropriate behavior by the coach.
• 4. I believe that Coach Crarey and AD Sykes would benefit from taking time to consider how their attitudes toward others can harm the reputation of the university. For example, during the football coach debacle, I went to AD Sykes’ office to offer a word of prayer. I was told by her administrative assistant that she was busy and she could not see anyone. I asked the person who relayed the message if I could speak to the assistant to the AD. Her assistant came to the desk, I explained I was thereto only offer a word of prayer. She responded that the AD was busy and I could email her (the assistant) and she would schedule a meeting in the coming weeks. In my mind, I believe that this situation could have been handled more professionally and humane.
• • Other concerns with the Athletic Department have been documented by the media should be given attention.
• • It is my hope that, in the future, other parents will not experience what my family and I have encountered along with other members of the basketball team.
• Let me add one small addendum concerning AD Sykes. During the Basketball seasonCoach Sykes informed the former coach that we had too many players on the bench and it looked bad during a TV timeout. So four to five players who were members of the team were told they had to sit in the stands during the home basketball games. Dr. Robinson, do you know how embarrassing that was for these young men to sit in the stands just like their parents. Coach Crarey, mentioned in our meeting that my son was a problem for the team. I told Coach please don’t try to say negative things about a kid who has 3.7 gpa, he never missed a practice from the summer months to the end of the year, and one who has his entire future ahead of him. For you see, Colin has two interns and is affiliated with one of the top PWI business schools in the United States that will prepare him for graduate school. However, Colin was concerned that he had to sit next to fans in the stands while being a member of the basketball team. All because Ms. Sykes believed it was a bad look to have 14 players on the bench during a time out. Mr. President imagine how would you feel watching your child playing collegiate basketball and midway through the season he or she has to sit in the stands with the fans.
• Thank you very much for your kind attention to the concerns I have expressed contained within. I look forward to hearing from you.
• Julius H. McAllister, Jr.
• Sent from my iPhone