A battle over a would-be football coach’s pointed criticisms has roiled Bethune-Cookman University, heating up student protests over broken ventilation systems, inconsistent hot water and mold-infested dorms at the historically Black university.
Pro Football Hall of Famer Ed Reed said he wants his job at Bethune-Cookman University back after being ousted for alleging on social media that he arrived to find an unclean office and a trash-strewn campus.
A battle over a would-be football coach’s pointed criticisms has roiled Bethune-Cookman University, heating up student protests over broken ventilation systems, inconsistent hot water and mold-infested dorms at the historically Black university. Pro Football Hall of Famer Ed Reed was ousted from his job at the Daytona Beach, Florida, school last week before he had even formally started it, after he alleged in a profanity-laced social media rebuke that he had arrived to find an unclean office and a trash-strewn campus. Bethune-Cookman announced Saturday that it was parting ways with Reed, but student demonstrations calling for Reed’s return, as well as repairs to buildings, have only ramped up since then. On Tuesday afternoon, more than a dozen students launched a sit-in in White Hall, the campus chapel, and some stayed into early Wednesday morning. On Wednesday afternoon, roughly 40 students on this campus of about 2,700 marched to Daytona Beach City Hall to ask leaders for a meeting about their concerns.Janiya Jones, 21, vice president of the school’s Student Government Association, called Reed’s dismissal “the tipping point” for issues over living conditions that were already simmering. Jones said she has dealt with mold on the ceiling of her room and had her sleep interrupted by coughing fits. “He put it out there — what we put up with,” she said of Reed. “We’re just fighting for better. We know Bethune-Cookman is capable of giving us that, and we don’t know why we’re not getting it.” In recent years, the school has weathered accreditation issues, a credit rating dip and facilities battered by back-to-back hurricanes. Students accused the university of failing to repair air-conditioning units and malfunctioning elevators. Some students have shared photos on social media and withOn Wednesday morning, Jones and Wilbert Stubbs, president of the Student Government Association, met with the school’s interim president, Lawrence Drake, about a host of issues, from housing woes to scholarship needs. Jones said that Drake wrote down each of their demands on a whiteboard.Jones said she saw the sit-down as a crucial first step. But she and other students expect the demonstrations to continue until the university addresses their concerns. “We won’t stop until a change is made,” said Maya Walker, a senior who participated in Tuesday’s sit-in and Wednesday’s march. “It’s time to start changing. We had a protest five years ago — nothing has changed.” The university declined to make Drake available for an interview and referred to an open letter posted to its website Tuesday. Drake’s letter said the school has already begun projects to address hurricane damage and last year contracted with a construction company to determine which facilities should be renovated or torn down. “Many of our students chose to use this moment to voice their concerns,” Drake wrote. “This administration takes no issue with this. In the coming days, I will meet with student leaders to ensure that we address many of the students’ concerns and answer their questions as honestly as possible.”But Reed, a former safety who played most of his career with the Baltimore Ravens, isn’t ready to walk away. “I really do want the job back,” he said in a brief phone interview this week. “I didn’t come here to bash anything.”
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