By: Donald V. Watkins October 25, 2023 An Editorial Opinion On July 13, 2022, Alabama A&M University Alabama A&M University proudly announced the appointment of Dr. John D. Jones to the position of Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. After a review of dozens of qualified applicants, the university selected Dr. John Jones for the position. Dr. Jones was serving as Alabama A&M’s interim Associate Vice President and Dean of Graduate Studies. Like President Daniel K. Wims, Dr. Jones has a history of improper sexual conduct on campus. Like Wims, Jones had been forced out of top-level administrative positions at three universities. Dr. Wims was fired or otherwise removed from his position as Executive Vice President at Fort Valley State University. Wims was also asked to leave his position as Director of the Division of Agricultural Sciences and Associate Professor at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, Florida. Finally, Dr. Wims was forced out of his position as Director of the Small Farm Research and Resource Development Center at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Dr. Jones was forced out as provost and vice president for academic affairs at Fisk University (May 2021 to April 2022) and Lincoln University (Missouri). Dr. Jones does not even list the Lincoln University job on his LinkedIn page. Dr. Jones was also reportedly forced out as Dean of Education at South Carolina State University, a position he does not list on his online biography at Alabama A&M. Dr. Jones, who is married, was reportedly named as a respondent in at least one sexual harassment complaint at Alabama A&M and South Carolina State University. According to the complaints, Dr. Jones pressured female faculty members for sex in exchange for tenure and/or promotions. Dr. Jones reportedly denied the allegations. Dr. Wims, who also worked at South Carolina State, reportedly knew of Dr. Jones’ propensity to solicit sex from female colleagues at the time Jones was hired for both positions at Alabama A&M. Yet, Wims did not disclose this information to his board of trustees prior to Jones' selection for either administrative position at Alabama A&M. Wims and Jones join Alabama A&M trustee Kevin Ball in the growing cabal of male administrators and trustees who have documented histories of inappropriate advances toward women and who have nested within the university’s governance hierarchy under the protection of Daniel K. Wims. Dr. Wims’ complaints of inappropriate sexual conduct encompass three woman and at least one male. It appears that Alabama A&M has become the hotspot for sexual predators at HBCUs in America, thanks to a notoriously weak and compromised board of trustees. Coming up -- Dr. Wims’ well-known “close personal relationship” with one of his trustees. It’s been an open secret in Huntsville for years. Stay tuned!

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on October 25, 2023 An Editorial Opinion On May 18, 2010, a federal judge in Birmingham found that Alabama A&M University Trustee Kevin Ball made inappropriate comments of a sexual nature to a female employee of Ball Healthcare Jefferson, Inc., d/b/a Cherry Hill Heathcare Center. [A copy of the judge's Order may be viewed here.] LaTanya Tanniehill was the female employee who caught Kevin Ball's unwanted sexual attention. Tanniehill worked at Cherry Hill Healthcare Center as a Certified Nursing Assistant when she said Ball made appropriate sexual comments to her from about November or December 2006 to August 2007. Cherry Hill was a residential nursing home, operated by Ball Healthcare, that provided professional nursing and rehabilitation services for the elderly. Kevin Ball’s father, Clarence Ball, was responsible for the corporate management of Ball Healthcare Services and its subsidiaries, including defendant, Ball Healthcare-Jefferson, Inc. Kevin Ball, who is married, was the administrator of Cherry Hill Healthcare Center during the period of time in question. Ball has been an Alabama A&M trustee since 2014. LaTanya Tanniehill’s federal court lawsuit alleged that in September 2006, Kevin Ball started sexually harassing her and offered her increased compensation and privileges in exchange for sex. Tanniehill said she rejected Kevin Ball’s advances and reported him to Ball Healthcare Services' corporate office. On September 21, 2007, Tanniehill was fired, and she contended that her termination was without cause but based on her complaints about Kevin Ball. Tanniehill asserted legal claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for sexual harassment, maintenance of a sexually hostile environment and retaliation. Federal Court Findings Regarding Kevin Ball’s Inappropriate Sexual Comments The Court made the following findings regarding Kevin Ball's inappropriate sexual comments to LaTanya Tanniehill: According to Tanniehill, around November or December 2006, she was walking to a local night club (The Platinum Club) after work one evening when Kevin Ball pulled up beside her in his car and asked if she was supposed to be at work. When she responded “no,” he asked if she had his cell phone number. When she again responded “no,” he allegedly stated that she “should have it.” On another occasion in 2006, Tanniehill was talking by cell phone with a male friend, who handed Ball the telephone. Ball then asked Tanniehill “if [s]he had any friends that he could talk to” and, when Tanniehill said “no,” he stated that “[t]here was a lot of people he was considering talking to at the nursing home, but he had too much to lose.” . . . . After Tanniehill clocked out after her shift on August 28, 2007, she visited Kevin Ball’s office. She was still upset with [Director of Nursing Judy] Mason over her work schedule. At the end of the meeting, Tanniehill asserts that Ball stated, “As pretty as you are, I know you are not going to worry about the number of hours you will get, because you can get paid off your looks.” She also claims that he asked her if she would meet him at the local night club and “see what it leads to.” Later in the evening of August 28, 2007, Tanniehill telephoned [Director of Human Resource] Sharon Prince-Moore to complain about Kevin Ball’s “sexual harassment” under Cherry Hill’s EEO Policy. She reported that, when she visited Administrator Ball to discuss her work schedule, he “blew her off” and commented on her good looks and her hair style. Moore then called President Clarence Ball to report Tanniehill’s complaint. . . . Moore conducted an examination and completed a report for Clarence Ball. Moore advised Clarence Ball that she could not confirm that Kevin Ball engaged in sexual harassment but that some of his comments were not appropriate. She recommended that [Kevin Ball] be provided with in-service counseling and training on the EEO Policy, particularly on sexual harassment. . . . Moore met with Kevin Ball on September 14, 2007, and provided the instructions regarding Tanniehill’s supervision and conducted the in-service training on the EEO Policy. Also, on September 14, 2007, Moore met with Tanniehill and informed her of the results of the investigation. Moore assured Tanniehill that she would not be subjected to any further unwelcome comments by Kevin Ball. . . . Kevin Ball Voted to Hire Daniel Wims as Alabama A&M’s President Kevin Ball is one of the seven Alabama A&M University trustees who voted to hire Dr. Daniel K. Wims as the university’s president in October 2021. The allegations that Dr. Wims engaged in sexual misconduct involving three women and one man did not faze Ball when he cast his vote for Wims. After all, Ball had faced his own sexual misconduct allegations in the LaTanya Tanniehill's case. Ms. Tanniehill lost her Title VII case on a summary judgment motion filed by Ball Healthcare’s August 5, 2009. For reasons that are unexplained in the record, Tanniehill's lawyers failed to timely file a response in opposition to the motion. When her lawyers tried to correct this legal faux pas nine moths later, the judge declined to give them permission to file a nine-months late response to the motion. As such, Ball Healthcare’s motion for a judgment without a trial was deemed to be "unopposed." Additionally, the judge also cited the fact that Tanniehill’s lawyers failed to name Kevin Ball as a defendant in the case and failed to assert any companion state law claims against Ball in his personal capacity. This combination of lawyer failings and miscues allowed Kevin Ball to escape liability for his sexual comments in Tanniehill's case. Meanwhile, in 2021, Kevin Ball requested and received an advisory opinion from the Alabama Ethics Commission on how he could own an equity interest in, and benefit from, a sports promotion company that promotes an annual Classic football game in Mobile, Alabama that features Alabama A&M as one of the participating universities. On August 4, 2021, the Ethics Commission provided guidance and restrictions to Ball on this question, nearly two months prior to his vote in favor of Wims for president. We will have much more to report on Kevin Ball's sports promotion business in an upcoming article. Kevin Ball and Daniel Wims now enjoy a symbiotic relationship on (a) successfully escaping sexual misconduct charges and (b) their mutual desire to “grift” from the Alabama A&M University platform. Ball is a staunch supporters of Wims, and all that this entails.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on October 24, 2023 An Editorial Opinion At first blush, Alabama A&M University President Daniel K. Wims looks good -- on paper. His resume appears to be impressive. However, Dr. Wims’ online biography has been crafted and spun in a way that intentionally obscures the fact that he was fired from or otherwise forced out of three high-level university administrative positions listed on his resume. Gov. Kay Ivey knows this important fact about Dr. Wims and uses it to her advantage in controlling his actions as the university president on matters of concern to Alabama's MAGA Republicans. I learned about this fact while preparing my investigative articles on the $527 million the state of Alabama owes to Alabama A&M, which the university refuses acknowledge or collect. Somehow, this critically important employment information about Dr. Wims escaped the attention of the presidential search committee that recommended Wims for president in October 2021. It is unknown whether the 7 members of the board of trustees who voted Wims in as president over the 4 "no"votes knew this information. In the world of higher education, this kind of intentional obfuscation of an applicant's employment history may be viewed as resume fraud. University presidents have been fired because of it. Alabama A&M's weak board of trustees may try to excuse it. Wims Was Asked to Leave Three Jobs We have confirmed that Dr. Wims was fired or otherwise removed from his position as Executive Vice President at Fort Valley State University. He was allowed to remain at Fort Valley as Vice President for Academic Affairs. The Executive Vice President acted on a wide range of executive decision-making matters for Fort Valley's president. Dr. Wims was also asked to leave his position as Director of the Division of Agricultural Sciences and Associate Professor at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, Florida. Additionally, Dr. Wims was forced out of his position as Director of the Small Farm Research and Resource Development Center at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Dr. Wims attached himself to President Andrew Hugine at South Carolina State University and followed Hugine from that university to Alabama A&M, where he served as Provost and Vice-President for Academic Affairs and Research, and Professor of Agricultural Sciences at the University prior to assuming the presidency. Dr. Wims applied for several presidential positions and was passed over for these jobs. Dr. Hugine delivered the Alabama A&M presidency to Wims, via a passionate September 30, 2021, "character witness" letter that asked university trustees to completely disregard allegations of sexual misconduct against Wims involving three women and a man. For all practical purposes, Dr. Daniel K. Wims appears to be Alabama A&M University's presidential version of Congressman George Santos (R-New York), mixed with a healthy dose of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' MAGA Republicanism.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on October 23, 2023 An Editorial Opinion On September 18, 2023, the U.S. Departments of Education and Agriculture notified Gov. Kay Ivey that the state of Alabama owes Alabama A&M University $527,280,064. According to the letter of notification: “Unequitable funding of the 1890 institution in your state has caused a severe financial gap, in the last 30 years alone, an additional $527,280,064 would have been available for the university. These funds could have supported infrastructure and student services and would have better positioned the university to compete for research grants [ ].” Alabama A&M is a land grant institution that was founded to fulfill the state’s obligation to provide a "separate, but equal" educational opportunity for black students who were excluded from admission to Auburn University's land grant academic programs. Auburn was founded as the land grant institution in Alabama for white students. Governor Ivey, a Donald Trump loyalist and MAGA Republican, says the state of Alabama does not owe this money to Alabama A&M. In her mind, the university can get by with the historically inadequate funding the state provides to the school each year. However, to pacify blacks in the state, Gov. Ivey did proclaim the month of October as "HBCU Month." Kay Ivey is the same MAGA governor who opposed the creation of a second black Congressional district in Alabama that was ordered by the U.S. Supreme Court on June 8, 2023, in the case of Mulligan v. Allen. Alabama A&M President Daniel K. Wims is a closet MAGA Republican who surreptitiously contributes campaign money to fellow MAGA politicians in Alabama using different variations of his name and different home addresses in Georgia. Wims privately agrees with Gov. Ivey’s position on this matter, albeit without any legal justification for this MAGA view. Reportedly, Dr. Wims has also promised Ivey that the university will take no genuine legal action to collect this $527,280,064 debt. Wims gaslights the Alabama A&M family and state’s black community whenever he is pressed for his views about this matter. However, Wims is firmly committed to taking no action against the state on this or any matter that will make Gov. Ivey mad at him. Alabama A&M’s Has a Weak Board of Trustees that Backs Wims Alabama A&M has a notoriously weak board of trustees that backs President Wims. Board members are more focused on pleasing Gov. Ivey and MAGA Republicans in the state than they are on protecting the university's interest in collecting its $527,280,064 debt from the state of Alabama. Board Chairman Dr. Roderick D. Watts is a staunch ally of President Wims. Watts has acquiesced in Wims' conversion of Alabama A&M into a hotbed for MAGA activists, operatives, and activities. As board chairman, Dr. Watts prepares the board meeting agenda in consultation with Wims. Dr. Watts has prepared a meeting agenda for October 27, 2023, at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Center Complex – Forum G at 8 a.m. in Birmingham, Alabama. By law, the meeting is open to the public. Chairman Watts’ meeting agenda completely omits any board resolution that authorizes the university to take strong and aggressive legal action to collect the $527,280,064 debt owed to the university by the state of Alabama. This agenda is a historic "sellout" of the university to MAGA political forces in Alabama. Gov. Ivey is very pleased with the board's agenda. Magic City Classic Parties Trump Collection of the University's $527,280,064 Debt As it stands today, Alabama A&M University would rather harass former students for unpaid student debts and beg alumni for individual donations than collect its $527,280,064 debt from the state of Alabama. The board meeting is set on the Friday of the Magic City Classic weekend. Alabama A&M's trustees honestly believe that the upcoming Magic City Classic football game is the perfect distraction for obscuring their complete failure to advance and protect Alabama A&M’s legal position in this debt collection matter. They obviously think the parties and VIP receptions in Birmingham this weekend are more important than collecting this $527,280,064 debt.

Part 1-- A Tangled Web of Lies and Deceit By: Donald V. Watkins Coryrighted and Published on October 22, 2023 An Editorial Opinion Alabama A&M University President Daniel K. Wims is caught up in a web of lies, deceit, and an ongoing coverup involving the highly questionable firing of former tenured professor Edward L. Jones. Wims was the university’s provost in 2015 when he organized, orchestrated, and oversaw the eventual termination of Dr. Jones as a university program director. Today, he is the university’s president. In October 2015, Dr.Wims placed Dr. Jones on administrative leave pending the resolution of unspecified administrative compliance issues. October 13, 2015, A&M's Chief Information Officer, accompanied by university police officer Brian Ruble and a locksmith, entered Jones’ on-campus office to seize his computer and change the locks on his office. Dr. Jones' on-campus office computer never became a pertinent issue in his case. On January 14, 2016, Dr. Wims sent Dr. Jones a "Intent to Terminate" letter, which failed to provide Jones a pre-termination hearing. On February 24, 2016, Dr. Jones sued Alabama A&M, its board of trustees, president (Dr. Andrew Hugine), provost (Dr. Daniel Wims), and dean of the College of Education (Dr. Curtis Martin) in federal court (N.D. Ala., Case No. 5:16-CV-00326) to stop the university from firing him. Jones also included two Fourth Amendment claims regarding the unlawful search and seizure of his personal property. On March 16, 2016, Provost Wims sent Dr. Jones a termination letter that stated, "There is convincing evidence that you have engaged in sexual conduct below minimum standards of professional integrity and misused university computing/electronic assets in gross violation of well-established university policy." Based upon Officer Ruble's search of Dr. Jones' on-campus office, the university also claimed that about 10 items of school property that were assigned to Dr. Jones' program were either stolen or missing. According to Wims, Jones' alleged sexual misconduct and misuse/theft of university property constituted grounds for his termination. The so-called “convincing evidence” of sexual misconduct consisted of videos that were purportedly found on an old school laptop recovered at Jones' home after Alabama A&M police officers executed a search warrant. Dr. Jones’ personal cellphone was also seized from his home. Even though the laptop at Dr. Jones' home had an A&M logo on it, the computer was broken and never contained pornographic images of any kind, according to Dr. Jones. In February 2017, the federal judge assigned to Jones's case dismissed his search and seizure claims, with prejudice. In a September 9, 2022, Order, the judge wrote that the Court “erred when it dismissed Dr. Jones's Fourth Amendment damages claims with prejudice, and the Court regrets the error.“ Yet, the judge did not correct this error. The judge's denial of Jones’ search and seizure claims is presently an issue on appeal in Jones’ case. Alabama A&M opposed Dr. Jones' request for injunctive relief by submitting an affidavit from Officer Brian Ruble. In his affidavit, Ruble stated that he searched the residence of Jones and found a missing university laptop. Ruble said he seized this laptop and secured it during his investigation. Ruble also stated that he personally viewed three pornographic videos that were found on this laptop. According to Ruble's affidavit, one video depicted Dr. Jones masturbating and showing off his penis on Alabama A&M property. A second video depicted Jones receiving oral sex from a young male on Alabama A&M property. The third video depicted Jones receiving oral sex from another young male on Alabama A&M property," according to Ruble. We have confirmed that Dr. Wims personally viewed these videos, as well. It is not clear why this video evidence was shared with Wims. We have also confirmed that the videos referenced by Officer Ruble were never downloaded onto the laptop prior to its seizure at Dr. Jones' home. If any pornographic images were extracted from this laptop, they were downloaded onto the device after it was taken into police custody by Officer Ruble. The university has never permitted Jones' legal team to access this laptop for the purpose of forensic testing. The federal judge refused to stop the university from firing Dr. Jones. However, she ordered Alabama A&M to provide Jones a post-termination hearing. The university set a hearing date. Dr. Jones did not attend the hearing because the university would not provide his legal team with access to the laptop and his personal cellphone that were seized by Officer Ruble. On March 16, Dr. Wims fired Dr. Jones. After he was fired, Dr. Jones filed a second lawsuit in 2017 in the same federal court (Case No. 5:17-cv-01723). This lawsuit alleged that Alabama A&M discriminated against Dr. Jones based upon his sexual orientation. It also alleged that Jones was fired after years of harassment and only when Jones attempted to bring to light certain administrative issues and concerns involving Dr. Wims. On March 10, 2021, the judge dismissed now-President Daniel Wims and the other individually named defendants from the case. She also confirmed her earlier dismissal of Jones’ retaliation claim against the board of trustees. What Really Happened in the Edward Jones Case, and Why? We have independently investigated Edward Jones’ legal claims and the university's defenses based upon the pertinent court filings by the parties, witness interviews, court orders, and forensic evidence. Part 1 of this series of investigative articles focuses on whether the university’s allegation that Dr. Jones engaged in the theft or misused university property has any merit, or whether this allegation was a pretext for his firing. Part 2 will focus on whether Alabama A&M has subjected Dr. Jones to disparate treatment in firing him for sexual misconduct. The Search for Evidence Alabama A&M's allegation that Dr. Jones stole or misused of university property (i.e., a University-issued laptop) is predicated on lies, fraud, and a massive, ongoing, coverup by the university into what happened to Dr. Jones, and why. What is more, Dr. Wims appears to be directly implicated in the university's ongoing coverup of Officer Ruble's bungled search and seizure of electronic devices from Jones' home. Here are some of the university's faux pas, lies, and coverup in Dr. Jones' case. First, Officer Brian Ruble searched Dr. Jones’ on-campus office in October 2015, without a search warrant and in apparent violation of standard operating procedure for the university's police department. Ruble was later rewarded for his work in Jones' case with a promotion to captain on the university’s police force. Second, on February 12, 2016, Ruble led Dennis Gardner, Timothy Dawkins, and Captain Amard Martin (who was second in command at the university police department) on a search of Jones’ off-campus home, car, and off-campus office for evidence of his sexual relationships. A Huntsville police officer (Julian Johnson) joined the university police officers' search of Dr. Jones’ home. The Huntsville police officer left the premises about 15 minutes after the search began. In announcing his sudden departure, this officer said the search did not seem to be lawful. Third, after the search of Dr. Jones’ home, car, and off-campus office was completed, Dr. Wims called Amard Martin to his office and told him, “You need to stay out of the Jones case.” Martin took that as a threat. Shortly after Wims’ threat, Martin was terminated as a captain on the university’s police force. Fourth, Lt. Chris Coffey, the university police officer who often unlocked Dr. Jones's office when he worked on weekends, was promptly terminated at the conclusion of a meeting with Vice President for Student Affairs, Dr. Gary Crosby, officer Brian Ruble, and two university attorneys in May 2016. These officials appeared to be miffed with Coffey when his answers to their questions did not implicate Jones in any sexual improprieties. Even under duress, Coffey refused to provide false testimony on Jones. The university’s police chief – Monica Ray – was unaware of this meeting. She, herself, was later removed from the chief's job for questioning Crosby's excess intrusion into the police department's day-to-day affairs. Fifth, officer Dennis Gardner participated in the search of Dr. Jones’ home, car, and off-campus office. Gardner is listed as the author of certain police reports that Alabama A&M produced to Jones’ legal team in his federal court litigation. However, Gardner has testified, via an affidavit, that he did not write these police reports and they contained “false or misleading statements.” Gardner further testified that he never gave officer Ruble permission to use his name or credentials to prepare the false police reports in Edward Jones’ case. Gardner concluded his testimony by stating, “it is my position that the subject police reports were forged [ ]." Alabama A&M fired officer Gardner when he refused to participate in a police coverup of Ruble’s "forged" police reports in Dr. Jones’ case. Sixth, Officer Ruble claimed that Dr. Jones stole about 10 items of university property that were assigned to his university program -- The Teacher Service Center. At the direction of President Andrew Hugine and Dean Curtis Martin, Ruble met with Talbert Cox, Alabama A&M’s property manager, as part of his investigation. Cox took Ruble to the property room to see if they could locate the “stolen” items. Every item on Ruble’s list was accounted for. None of the items was stolen or missing. Despite this exculpatory evidence in Jones' favor, Alabama A&M persisted in claiming that Dr. Jones had stolen university property. Seventh, after denying Dr. Jones access to the two electronic devices Officer Ruble seized for more than seven years, Alabama A&M finally turned over Jones’ personal cell phone to him. This item of evidence had been tampered with after the seizure. Alabama A&M failed to follow standard forensic procedures for preserving digital evidence. Specifically, Officer Ruble did not immediately place the iPhone in airplane mode. What is more, a forensics expert hired by Dr. Jones has found evidence of significant and illegal manipulation of the data. In particular, some 419 files were modified and/or deleted from the iPhone and 36 phone calls were deleted. Further, the iPhone's internal clock had been rolled back--an effort that was both intentional and purposeful. An independent digital forensics consultant for donaldwatkins.com reviewed the same cellphone extraction data and reached the same conclusion -- the data on Dr. Jones' phone had been manipulated after its seizure by Officer Ruble. Eighth, there is no credible evidence to support Alabama A&M's contention that pornographic images were downloaded onto the old Alabama A&M-issued laptop prior to the search of Dr. Jones' home. Furthermore, Dr. Jones had a legal right to possess this laptop until his termination on March 16, 2016 -- the date of his employment termination. The list of university lies and acts of deceit perpetrated by Alabama A&M in Dr. Jones' case seems to be endless. What is more, the university successfully used these lies to achieve a strategic advantage in the first federal lawsuit Jones filed against the university, which the Court dismissed. Additionally, these lies were used to induce the Madison County District Attorney's Office to further punish Dr. Jones by indicting him on a theft of property felony charge on July 28, 2017. On September 24, 2018, Dr. Jones filed an "Alford" or "Best Interests" plea to a reduced misdemeanor charge and disposed of this criminal case by paying a $1,000 fine, only. No court costs were assessed against Dr. Jones and he made no restitution payment. The misdemeanor charge had nothing to do with the electronic devices Office Ruble seized during his searches of Dr. Jones' office, home, and car. This kind of disposition of a misdemeanor criminal case is equivalent to a nuisance value settlement of a civil lawsuit. Dr. Wims, who thrusted himself into the vortex of the Edward Jones case and threatened police Capt. Amard Martin, is one of the Alabama A&M employees who benefitted from preferential treatment in the face of sexual misconduct allegations. During the presidential search in 2021, allegations of sexual misconduct against Dr. Wims involving three women and one man surfaced publicly. Wims denied the allegations. The presidential search committee never independently investigated the sexual misconduct allegations against Dr. Wims. Likewise, there was no university police investigation, as was the case with Dr. Jones. Instead, outgoing president Andrew Hugine simply turned himself into a spontaneous character witness for Dr. Wims and declared him "fit" for the presidency. Thereafter, Alabama A&M’s ceremonial board of trustees promoted Wims from provost to president. Alabama A&M has been mired in controversy and scandal ever since Dr. Wims, a closet MAGA Republican who actually lives in Georgia, has been president. Part 2 -- Was Dr. Jones Subjected to Disparate Treatment? Part 2 of this series of articles will examine whether Alabama A&M subjected Dr. Edward Jones to unlawful disparate treatment with respect to: (a) allegations of sexual misconduct, and (b) the unequal application of personnel policies that benefitted certain high ranking employees who faced allegations of sexual conduct with women and men on campus, who were allowed to continue in their jobs, and who received promotions, while Dr. Jones was fired. Stay tuned!

By: Donald V. Watkins Coryrighted and Published on October 20, 2023 An Editorial Opinion Birmingham Southern College filed a lawsuit Wednesday against State Treasurer Young Boozer after he rejected the college's application for a $30 million loan under the newly created Alabama Distressed Institutions of Higher Education Revolving Loan Program. The program was created this year in response to requests by officials, alumni, and supporters of Birmingham Southern, a 167-year-old private, historically white college. Black Birmingham-area legislators led the fight to save Birmingham Southern. The city of Birmingham also kicked in an additional $5 million of taxpayer's money to aid the financially distressed college, which is walled off in a nearly all-black Birmingham neighborhood. In contrast, not one black legislator has demanded that the state pay the $527 million debt the state of Alabama owes to Alabama A&M University due to 30 years of underfunding this land grant university. This $527 million debt was calculated by the U.S. Departments of Education and Agriculture. On September 18, 2023, both federal agencies notified Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey of the $527 million debt to Alabama A&M in a formal letter. Dr. Daniel Wims, Alabama A&M’s president, and Dr. Roderick Watts, the university’s board chairman, have been as quiet as a church mouse about any plans to collect this $527 million. Dr. Wims, a closet MAGA Republican, has privately sent word to his MAGA political friends in Montgomery that he does not plan to initiate a genuine effort to collect this $527 million because Wims does not want to make Gov. Ivey mad at him. Alabama A&M's trustees are afraid, as well. Most of them will NOT rock the boat because they want to be reappointed to the board by the governor and confirmed by the MAGA-controlled state legislature. The cost of their reappointment and confirmation is a de facto waiver of this $527 million debt. At some point, the university is expected to announce a series of phony debt collection gestures for the purpose of gaslighting its faculty, staff, students, alumni, and the state’s black community into believing it is seriously seeking its $527 million. Black state legislators have remained silent about this $527 million because none of them have the courage to fight for Alabama A&M’s money. What is more, these legislators NEVER fight for their black constituents as hard as they fight for white special interest groups that fund their political campaigns. The real reason the State Treasurer rejected the Birmingham Southern loan request is this: It is difficult to justify the state of Alabama lending a historically white private college $30 million in tax dollars, while refusing to pay a historically black university the $527 million that is legitimately owed to it by the state, without prompting the U.S. Department of Justice to file a racial discrimination lawsuit in this matter. Considering the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 8, 2023, judicial findings of ongoing and widespread racial discrimination by Alabama state officials against black Alabamians in the Milligan v. Allen redistricting case, Alabama would surely lose in a disparate higher educational funding lawsuit of this nature. The state would then have to pay Alabama A&M all of its $527 million in one payment. It will not matter to the Department of Justice that black state legislators aided and abetted the state in discriminating in favor of Birmingham Southern. In Alabama, it is a well known fact that black legislators rarely fight to advance and protect the political interests of black constituents. Absent prompt action by the full Alabama A&M board of trustees to restrain him, President Daniel Wims is poised to implement the most expensive sellout of blacks in higher education in Alabama’s history.

By: Donald V. Watkins October 18, 2023 BREAKING NEWS--- In a throwback to the Richard Nixon “Watergate” era of "dirty tricks" operations and coverups, Alabama A&M’s Daniel K. Wims reached out to one of the university’s allies (via an intermediary) and begged for help in attacking and destroying me. This outreach was immediately and flatly rejected. Dr. Wims is on the hot seat for the problems reported in my article this morning. As of today, 37,977 readers have viewed my series of investigative articles on Daniel K. Wims and Alabama A&M. This number of readers suggest there is significant public interest in the subjects covered by the articles. Dr. Wims’ wanted this ally to unleash its operatives in a campaign to attack, discredit, and destroy me, a move I had been pre-warned about from sources inside the university. Dr. Wims has no interest in solving the problems I identified in my articles because he created them. The only real solution to these problems is for Dr. Wims to resign, effective immediately. Instead, Dr. Wims is focused solely on shutting down my investigative reporting. This will not happen!

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on October 18, 2023 An Editorial Opinion I have said over and over again that Donald Trump's lawyers are losers. They are running a clown show. Today's letter from the Clerk of the U.S. Court of Appeal for the District of Columbia proves my point. Read it for yourself. This letter explains to Trump's lawyers they must be licensed in the court where they are trying to appear for the purpose of representing their client. This is elementary stuff. Who's running this clown show?

By: Donald V. Watkins October 18, 2023 An Editorial Opinion MAGA Republican Daniel K. Wims has created a hot mess at Alabama A&M University. Here is what we know so far: First, Dr. Daniel K. Wims got the presidency of Alabama A&M under false pretenses in a “rigged” 2021 presidential selection process. Second, Dr. Wims is a closet MAGA operative who has turned Alabama A&M into a landing pad for struggling MAGA operatives and a hotbed of MAGA political activity. Third, MAGA officials in Alabama are actual running the university, and not the school’s board of trustees. Fourth, President Daniel K. Wims blew the Magic City Classic negotiations and cost Alabama A&M an estimated $9 million in lost revenues in the process. Fifth, there is an ongoing coverup of Dr. Wims’ role in the university’s wrongful termination of tenured professor Edward Jones. University officials have told a lot of lies in this case to the public and a federal court. Furthermore, President Wims has an ugly conflict of interest in the Jones case that has not been disclosed to his full board of trustees or the public. This coverup is the subject of two upcoming articles. Sixth, President Wims has an undisclosed conflict of interest with a member of the university’s board of trustees. This conflict of interest is the subject of an upcoming article. Seventh, President Wims has failed to take aggressive action to collect the $527,280,064 debt the state of Alabama owes the university, as described in a September 18, 2023, letter from the U.S. Departments of Education and Agriculture to Gov. Kay Ivey. Eight, President Wims has created federal tax issues for the university and a group of employees who lived in university apartments for free, as directed by Dr. Wims. The university never issued these employees 1099 forms for the dollar value of their free housing for tax reporting purposes. This tax faux pas is the subject of an upcoming article. Nineth, Dr. Roderick D. Watts, Alabama A&M’s board chairman, is a staunch Wims ally who has turned a blind eye to the myriad of problems at the university that were created by Dr. Wims. We will tell you why in an upcoming article. It's one hot mess at Alabama A&M University! This mess was created by Dr. Daniel K. Wims, and Dr. Roderick D. Watts appears to be part of the ongoing coverup. Stay tuned for more explosive stories in the Daniel K. Wims series of investigative articles!

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on October 16, 2023 BREAKING NEWS --- There are reports tonight that Alabama A&M President Daniel Wims is rushing to settle a federal lawsuit brought by former tenured professor Edward Jones against the university and several top officials for $10 million. In 2016, Dr. Jones sued the university’s board of trustees, president (Dr. Andrew Hugine), provost (Dr. Daniel Wims), and dean of the College of Education. The lawsuit alleges that the defendants discriminated against Dr. Jones based upon his sexual orientation. It also alleges that Jones was fired after years of harassment and only when Jones attempted to bring to light administrative issues and concerns. The rush to settle the lawsuit for $10 million appears to be an effort by President Wims to head off what he expects are new revelations in the case that will be presented in my upcoming articles. A news summary of Dr. Jones' lawsuit appears in a March 16, 2016 article by AL.com reporter Paul Gettis titled, “Alabama A&M fires professor over sex acts committed on campus.” Here is part of what Gettis wrote: Alabama A&M University fired a tenured professor in March after the school discovered videos of him participating in sexual activity with two students on campus, according to court documents. The school severed ties with Edward Jones, who has worked more than 20 years at Alabama A&M. Most recently, he worked as director of Office of Teacher Education and Certification. According to court documents filed in federal court by Alabama A&M, videos of Jones were discovered on a school laptop that recorded the professor in three sex acts, including twice having oral sex with two different male students. All three instances occurred on the Alabama A&M campus, the school said. Jones filed a lawsuit against Alabama A&M in February after the school began termination proceedings after what the lawsuit described as years of harassment when Jones attempted to bring to light administrative issues and concerns. . . . The videos were found on a school laptop recovered at Jones' home after Huntsville police and Alabama A&M police executed a search warrant, according to court documents. Once the videos were discovered, Alabama A&M informed Jones he would be fired. "There is convincing evidence that you have engaged in sexual conduct below minimum standards of professional integrity and misused university computing/electronic assets in gross violation of well-established university policy," school Provost Daniel Wims wrote in Jones' March 10, 2016 termination letter, which was included in the court file. According to a memo from Alabama A&M police investigator Brian Ruble, two of the videos were made in 2011 and the third in 2012. Jones previously received a letter outlining the school's intention to terminate him after sexually-graphic photos were discovered on the professor's work computer. In the lawsuit Jones filed, he criticized the Alabama A&M administration for ignoring "red flags" he raised concerning the Office of Teacher Education and Certification. School officials retaliated toward Jones, his lawsuit said, because he wouldn't "play ball and keep his mouth shut about Dr. Jones' previous warnings that AAMU had dropped the ball in several areas of fiscal grant management and implementation." "Dr. Jones' whistleblower speech and signed statement regarding AAMU's illegal conduct in charging students for services it did not provide and mismanaging federal and state funds designed to implement teacher certification information management system was met with a retaliatory attempt to terminate him, prosecute him and humiliate and ruin Dr. Jones' reputation," the lawsuit stated. In a statement to AL.com, Alabama A&M denied the allegations in the lawsuit. The statement said Jones was guilty of "gross professional misconduct. As we will explain in upcoming articles, there is much more to the Ed Jones story. Is Dr. Wims attempting to buy Dr. Edward Jones' silence for $10 million? Stay tuned!

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on October 15, 2023 An Editorial Opinion On November 2, 2021, Skipper Group received a $30,000 payment from Alabama A&M University for “contract services.” This payment was the first installment of $220,000 in university payments to this two-man, Auburn University-based, GOP lobbying and public relation firm between November 2, 2021, and August 8, 2023. The Skipper Group was founded in 2013 by Tripp Skipper, a former Congressional aide to U.S. Representatives Mike Rogers (R-Alabama) and Robert Aderholt (R-Alabama), as well as former U.S. SenatorJeff Sessions (R-Alabama). The firm is one of the several gateways into Donald Trump's MAGA world in Alabama. While Skipper Group’s MAGA political outreach work for Alabama A&M is fairly easy to document, the firm’s public relations work for the university is murky and remains shrouded in secrecy. Skipper Group was reportedly retained in September 2021 to help Alabama A&M manage the raging public relations crisis that engulfed Dr. Wims after he was announced as one of the three finalists for the presidency of the university. At that point, allegations of sexual misconduct against Dr. Wims involving three women and one man had surfaced publicly. Wims denied the allegations. Despite his denials, the nature and scope of the sexual misconduct allegations soiled Wims' reputation and threatened to doom his chances of succeeding President Andrew Hugine. It was an open secret that Dr. Wims was President Hugine's preferred candidate to succeed him. At least four trustees of the university believed that Wims' objective qualifications for the presidency paled in comparison to the other two finalists -- Dr. Colette Pierce Burnette, President, Huston-Tillotson University (Austin, Texas), and Dr. Roderick Smothers, President, Philander Smith College (Little Rock, Arkansas). As reported by Josh Moon in the October 1, 2021, online edition of the Alabama Political Reporter (APR), Dr. Hugine sent three letters to university trustees during the search process. The first two Hugine letters could be justified under some limited set of circumstances. The third letter, however, could not be justified under any set of circumstances for a sitting president who pledged to remain neutral in the search process. The merits of the sexual allegations against Dr. Wims (or lack thereof), and the weight to which these allegations should be given in the selection process, fell within the purview of the trustee search committee and/or full board of trustees, and not President Hugine. The committee had access to legal counsel and investigators to assist it with any desired confidential fact-finding inquiries related Dr. Wims. The committee did not seek or need President Hugine's intervention in the process. Dr. Hugine’s third letter, dated October 1, 2021, was a passionate defense of "The Daniel K. Wims that I Know." With this third letter, Dr. Hugine abandoned any pretense of neutrality and turned himself into a full-fledged "character witness" for Dr. Wims. With his advocacy, Hugine effectively engaged in the act of handpicking his successor -- to the detriment of Drs. Burnette and Smothers. Unlike Burnette and Smothers, Dr. Wims had no prior experience as a college or university president. What is more, Dr. Wims had applied for the position of president at several colleges and universities and was passed over for these opportunities. Realizing that Dr. Wims had no presidential experience, Dr. Hugine used the third letter to cloak Wims with the garb of his (Hugine's) presidential legitimacy at a time when Wims was dripping with allegations of sexual misconduct. With the stroke of his pen, President Hugine absolved Wims of all wrongdoing in these complaints. Once Dr. Hugine issued his third letter, the trustee selection process became structurally “rigged" in Wims' favor. It was impossible for Drs. Burnette and Smothers to overcome the last-minute, unexpected, powerful lift that President Hugine provided to Dr. Wims by his generous act of "character witnessing" for Wims. Why Was Skipper Group on the Scene at the Time Wims Needed Help? Insiders report that Skipper Group was hired to advise Dr. Hugine in managing the public relations nightmare that had been created by the sexual misconduct allegations swirling around Dr. Wims. The allegations were disrupting and dooming a pre-planned Hugine to Wims succession plan. Skipper Group also reportedly helped Dr. Hugine: (a) craft the "character witnessing" themes in his controversial October 1, 2021, letter, (b) format the letter as an Op-Ed article for widespread public consumption, and (c) distributed Hugine's Op-Ed article to members of the press and public on September 30th and October 1st. Thereafter, Skipper Group orchestrated a full media blitz for the benefit of Wims' candidacy. Dr. Wims did not pay for Skipper Group's PR/crisis management services, even though he was the direct beneficiary of them. Instead, Alabama A&M paid $30,000 for this personalized assistance for Wims, who was the university's provost and wannabe president. Dr. Hugine's PR/crisis management campaign was intended to keep a majority of the board of trustees on track to appoint Dr. Wims as president during its October 2, 2021 meeting, without independently investigating and assessing the merits of the sexual misconduct complaints against Dr. Wims. APR reporter Josh Moon made this astute observation about Dr. Hugine’s October 1st "character witness" testimonial letter and Skipper Group's PR work: “It’s also worth mentioning that the letter from Hugine was distributed by a PR firm — a PR firm presumably hired by the university. If that’s the case, it creates quite an odd dynamic — a university hiring a PR firm to defend a candidate vying to be that university’s president.” Skipper Group's PR/crisis management plan worked. Wims was selected as the university's 12th president on October 2, 2021, on a 7 to 4 vote. The sexual misconduct allegations against Dr. Wims were never independently investigated by the search committee prior to his appointment as president. In response to my direct question to Dr. Jerome Williams (Alabama A&M's board chair at the time) on whether Skipper Group had any involvement in the presidential search that led to Dr. Daniel K. Wims’ appointment, Williams said, "No.” When asked why the university paid Skipper Group $30,000 on November 2, 20221, Dr. Williams said he was not aware of this payment. University trustees hired Academic Search, a presidential search firm, to assist the ad hoc presidential search committee established by the board of trustees. Academic Search received applications and conducted the initial vetting on all applicants for the job. It does not appear that the full board of trustees was made aware of Skipper Group's crucial PR/crisis management role in the selection process. There is no disclosure of Skipper Group’s role in the selection process in any of Dr. Hugine’s three letters. Skipper Group’s work for this $30,000 payment had to occur at least 45 days to two months prior to the November 2, 2021 payment, or around the time the three finalists were announced on September 6, 2021. Before the payment could be made, Skipper Group needed: (a) a fully executed contract with a defined scope of work and pricing for the services rendered, (b) a vendor number, (c) performance of the work, (d) submission of an itemized invoice, and (e) approval of the invoice for payment. The university had a procedure in place for processing and paying invoices. It normally took a new vendor like Skipper Group about 45 days to two months to complete this cycle of transactions required before a payment would be issued for services rendered. It is unclear whether President Hugine or Provost Wims authorized the $30,000 payment to Skipper Group. Either way, the payment is highly questionable, given the personal nature of the services rendered and Wims' status as the finalist who directly benefitted from these services. On October 12, 2023, we emailed Tripp Skipper a list of questions that sought clarity about this $30,000 payment. He never responded to our questions. Wims' Sin of Ingratitude Dr. Andrew Hugine came to Dr. Daniel K. Wims' rescue during a critical time in the presidential search process. Wims candidacy for the job appeared to be doomed. Dr. Wims thanked President Hugine for this life-altering personal favor by completely disassociating himself from Hugine after he assumed the presidency. Wims' loyalty to Dr. Hugine lasted only as long as it took for him to get the Alabama A&M University presidency. In most educational, religious, political, and business circles, the greatest sin of all is the sin of ingratitude. Stay tune! We will introduce our readers to the real Daniel K. Wims. Today, the public only knows the polished and spit-shined image of Dr. Wims that Skipper Group helped to create and continues to manage. We will present Dr. Wims, raw.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on October 12, 2023 An Editorial Opinion Shannon Frank Reeves, Sr., is the man Alabama A&M University President Daniel K. Wims tapped in July 2022 to lead the university's foray into Alabama's MAGA wing of the Republican Party. Reeves is the university’s Associate Vice President for Governmental Affairs. Prior to assuming his Governmental Affairs position, Reeves owned and operated a one-man lobbying firm called Reeves Strategies, LLC, from October 2021 to July 2022. On December 5, 2020, Shannon Reeves was elected to the Louisiana Republican State Central Committee as the member for the 29th Senatorial District, Division A, according to election records obtained from the Louisiana Secretary of State's office. At the time of his election, Reeves was the Executive Director of the Office of Alumni Affairs at historically black Grambling State University. By the time President Wims hired Shannon Reeves for the university's Government Affairs position in July 2022, Wims had already embarked on a course of action to embed Alabama A&M deep into the heart of Alabama’s MAGA movement. Shannon Reeves is Wims' co-pilot on this journey. Dr. Wims privately justifies his foray into MAGA politics by saying it is necessary to get funding for Alabama A&M. In truth, Wims has gotten nothing from his MAGA friends in return but meaningless trinkets that stroke his ego and make him feel good on a personal basis. Dr. Wims has completely distanced himself from black members of the Alabama Legislature. Reportedly, Wims has no respect for black elected officials, individually or as a group. Dr. Wims' documented personal campaign donations have been made to white Alabama MAGA Republican candidates, exclusively. Alabama A&M's board of trustees has not stated publicly whether it approved Dr. Wims' foray into the state's MAGA political movement or whether Wims acted in this politically sensitive territory without seeking board guidance or approval. The minutes of board of trustees meetings do not reflect any specific approval of Wims' concerted actions to make Alabama A&M a trusted ally of the state's MAGA movement. Alabama A&M Paid Big Bucks for GOP Trinkets In October 2021, Wims hired Auburn-based Skipper Group, a two-man GOP lobbying firm, and paid the company $220,000 to pal around with the likes of Alabama U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville, Gov. Kay Ivey, former House Speaker Mack McCutheon, state Sen. Sam Givhan, and a host of other Republican officials in Alabama, all of who are devoted followers of Donald Trump’s MAGA movement. In exchange for the hundreds of thousands of dollars Alabama A&M has poured into courting Donald Trump’s MAGA devotees in Alabama, Dr. Wims and the university have received nothing but token gestures of support. For example, Alabama A&M received a nice Proclamation from Gov. Ivey declaring October as “HBCU Month.” Former Alabama House Speak Mike McCutheon gave Dr. Wims the state flag that flew over the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery on the day of Wims’ Investiture as Alabama A&M’s new president. Finally, Alabama A&M received about two dozen positive news stories in Yellowhammer News, the unofficial MAGA Republican news site in Alabama. The university reportedly paid for this favorable coverage with money that was funneled through the Skipper Group to Yellowhammer News. Buying favorable news coverage is an emerging trend in Alabama and Florida. None of Dr. Wims' new, expensive, “bought and paid-for” MAGA political friends has offered to help Alabama A&M collect a dime of the $527,280,064 that the state of Alabama owes the university. In fact, all of them are opposed to the state paying Alabama A&M this money. Wims, himself, has been publicly silent on this matter. What is more, each of Wims' new MAGA political friends supported the Alabama State Legislature’s willful, open, and proud defiance of a U.S. Supreme Court order issued on June 8, 2023, in Milligan v. Allen that required the creation of a second majority black Congressional district in Alabama to remedy racial gerrymandering against black voters in the state's redistricting map. Equitable Funding for Alabama A&M Has Always Required a Court Order Equitable funding for Alabama A&M and Alabama State University has never occurred, absent a federal court order. Only Alabama A&M is the beneficiary of a letter from the U.S. Department of Education and Agriculture to Gov. Ivey confirming that the state of Alabama owes the university $527,280,064 due to chronic underfunding as a land grant institution during the last 30 years. ASU does not have such a letter. MAGA officials on Goat Hill in Montgomery are convinced that Dr. Wims lacks the intestinal fortitude and presidential commitment to Alabama A&M that is required to collect the $527,280,064 that is owed to the university by the state. They are also convinced that Dr. Wims does not want to cause any discomfort for his MAGA political friends in the state. Today, Alabama A&M is mired in MAGA Republican politics with no way to extricate itself, short of its board of trustees firing Dr. Wims. [Publisher's Note: DonaldWatkins.com does not sell ads or require subscription fees to read our news content. We do not accept money from any source to publish favorable, neutral, or negative news articles. We are truly "unbought" and "unbossed." This is the only way to bring our readers the hard, cold, truth about matters of significant public interest.]