Finalist for FAMU Marching 100 band director job turns it down

TALLAHASSEE, Florida  --  Florida A&M University interim President Larry Robinson says the school will start from scratch in its search for a new Marching 100 band director.

Robinson admitted that North Carolina Central University band director Jorim Reid was in Tallahassee Tuesday and that Robinson had expected to name Reid as the new band director during a morning press conference. The event was delayed, then cancelled, leaving a room full of FAMU students and supporters buzzing.

Reid ultimately turned down the job after he was unable to come to agreement with the university on the structure of the music department and the role of the marching band director, Robinson said this afternoon.

The university also issued a press release saying the search would be reopened and FAMU would consider hiring a search firm.

A search committee had interviewed four fiinalists for the job. One of them, Pompano Beach high school band director Richard Beckford was later taken out of the running because he failed to meet certain qualifications, Robinson said.

That leaves two finalists remaining: Penn State assistant band director Gregory Drane and Shelby Chipman, FAMU's associate band director who has been groomed to assume the top position.

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2001: A Space Odyssey/ Carmina Burana by FAMU Marching 100;
Conductor: Dr. Shelby R. Chipman, Associate Professor and Associate Director of Bands, Florida A&M University

FAMU reopens search for director of Marching 100 band

TALLAHASSEE, Florida  --  FAMU announced this evening that it is reopening the search for a director of its famous marching band, which was suspended indefinitely after the hazing death of drum major Robert Champion.

Florida A&M University had been prepared Tuesday morning to name the new band director but abruptly canceled a press conference when it failed to reach an agreement with the finalist for the job.

Interim President Larry Robinson said Wednesday that there was a last-minute disagreement with finalist Jorim Reid, a FAMU graduate who is the director of bands for North Carolina Central University.

"We thought we were close to a decision on the band director and, turns out, there were some issues we didn't think we could get resolved," he said.

While Robinson did not go into detail about the disagreement, he said it had to do with the way the university was restructuring the music department in the wake of Champion's death in November, 2011.



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