Famu and the search for stability after Nichole Murry’s exit
At an April 15 board meeting held on Zoom, the question around FAMU was not abstract: who will steady the university’s finances next after Nichole Murry steps away? The answer is still pending, but the resignation of the acting senior vice president for finance and administration and CFO has made the search more urgent. Murry formally resigned on March 30 and is leaving for the Glades County School District in Moore Haven, her hometown, where she will serve as CFO.
What changed for FAMU this week?
The immediate change is a vacancy at the top of the university’s finance operation. Board of Trustees chair Deveron Gibbons made the announcement during the April 15 meeting, saying Murry had been a strong leader and praising the work she did while in the acting role. Her departure comes after she served as acting CFO beginning in July 2025, a period when FAMU’s finance office was already under close attention.
The timing matters because the university has been working through financial and operational audit issues that drew scrutiny from the Florida Board of Governors. In that context, the loss of a senior finance leader can slow momentum even when the underlying work continues. For Famu, the challenge is not only filling the job, but doing so without losing the progress that administrators and board members have said has been made.
Why does Murry’s departure matter now?
Murry’s resignation arrived just days after the Florida Board of Governors praised FAMU’s finance team for progress in resolving damaging financial and operational audit report issues. That public confidence matters, but it does not remove the pressure on the university to keep its corrective work moving.
Johnson said Murry had applied for the permanent CFO role but later withdrew her application. In a March 31 email to Gibbons and university officials, Johnson shared the personnel update and the next steps in the search. The university has completed final rounds of interviews for the permanent CFO role, and Johnson said those next steps will be communicated soon.
For students, faculty, staff, and trustees, the finance office is often distant until it is not. Budget decisions, audit recovery, and operational planning all depend on leadership continuity. That is why the departure of an acting CFO can feel larger than a single personnel change. In a university already under tight oversight, Famu must now manage transition and reassurance at the same time.
Who said what inside the board meeting?
Gibbons, who attended the meeting from a conference room at the FAMU College of Law in Orlando with FAMU President Marva Johnson and trustee John Crossman, thanked Murry publicly for her work. “You have been not only a great leader for FAMU, but… you inspire me because you are the epitome of what a Rattler is, ” he said. He added, “I know you’ve got the role as CFO in your county down there, but don’t forget where you started. ”
Johnson also spoke directly to Murry, saying, “You will absolutely be missed. ” She added that Murry had shown “what exceptionalism looks like” and thanked her for always acting in FAMU’s best interest. That kind of public acknowledgment signals respect, but it also reflects how much the finance office has mattered during a difficult stretch for the university.
Outside the university, Glades County School District Superintendent Alice Beth Barfield announced Murry’s new appointment in an April 8 Facebook post on the school district’s page. Her start date there is still unclear, and her last day at FAMU is May 1.
What comes next for Famu?
The next step is a permanent hire, but the timeline is still not fully set. Johnson said the university has completed final interviews and will share next steps soon. Until then, the finance search remains central to Famu’s broader effort to keep correcting past problems and protect the gains that board members say have been made.
The situation is both practical and symbolic. On one hand, Famu needs a qualified finance leader in place. On the other, the university is trying to show that its current administration can carry hard work forward even as key people move on. Murry’s exit does not erase that progress, but it does test it. In the board room, the thanks were heartfelt. In the months ahead, the real measure will be whether the next finance leader can keep the institution steady enough to make those words hold.
