On April Fool’s Day, few students knew who Lawrence Davenport was. But the day after the joke was on FAU: Davenport may have been out of a job, but he was over half a million dollars richer with student money.
The former executive vice president for university advancement resigned after nearly two years on the job and didn’t walk away empty-handed. He parted ways with a severance package including $577,952 in vending machine profits. Students, faculty and local media are still criticizing the handout.
Davenport’s six-year contract stated that he was entitled to a severance package if he was fired without cause. However, since Davenport resigned, President Frank Brogan was heavily criticized for handing over the money. In December, the FAU Board of Trustees – the 13-member group that oversees policy-making decisions – is now required to sign off on any employee contracts with severance pay.
The Board of Trustees weren’t the only ones who were taking action in response to the severance package. Two weeks after Davenport took a hike, over a dozen students boycotted the vending machines – the source of the severance package pay – and protested from the Breezeway to FAU President Brogan’s office to question him on his decision. Brogan stood by his decision and said that the details were strictly between him and Davenport.
Faculty and staff members didn’t take the decision lightly, either. Employee union United Faculty of Florida released the results of a survey that over 200 faculty members participated in. Out of a possible five, FAU faculty gave Brogan a rating of 2.83. Twenty-three respondents criticized Brogan’s payout of over half a million dollars and 12 faculty members called for his resignation.
In November, the State Auditor’s General released a 21-page preliminary audit that included a strong critique of the severance pay. Not only did the audit question the amount of money given to Davenport, but also why it was given to him in the first place. Davenport’s contract didn’t say that he would receive a severance package if he resigned, only if he were terminated without cause.
According to the audit by the Florida Auditor General David Martin, Brogan told him that Davenport had “claims against the university” that he was willing to make public.
“Because of the threat of such claims being made against the university,” Martin said in the audit, “it was decided that the University should offer employment termination terms to the Executive [Davenport] that were more favorable than those included in the employment contact in return for obtaining a release against the university.”
As of press time, FAU Administration still stands behind the severance package decision.
