[mpoverlay]Officials from Florida A&M University today made the case for more than $800,000 to be cleared for a re-branding effort for the university. The initiative would include the hiring of a new executive director of communications and the retention of an outside marketing firm, all moving the university towards a five-year, $50 million capital campaign.

The amount would be in addition to a request for more than $200,000 to hire a special anti-hazing official for the campus and a compliance officer for the Marching 100.

Trustee Belinda Shannon said the rebranding campaign must include a comprehensive communication strategy as the university works to reinvent its image in the wake of the November hazing death of drum major Robert Champion and other persistent institutional problems.

“We are facing a crisis of historical proportion,” Shannon said Trustee Karl White warned that the money the advancement office is asking for to fund the rebranding campaign may not be enough.

“I am confident we have more than an $800,000 problem,” White said.  (Tallahassee Democrat)[/mpoverlay]

Florida A&M University