University Leader Cheers on New Trustees Board at Alumni Convention in Florida.

Byline: Melanie Yeager

Aug. 12--ORLANDO, Fla.--Fighting for Florida A&M University during his 16 years as president, Frederick Humphries said, left him feeling "very lonely a lot of days."

"There were plenty of days I felt like we had no support and we were on our own," Humphries said.

But all that has changed, he said, thanks to the creation of the FAMU board of trustees, which along with 10 other individual university boards replaced the statewide Board of Regents on July 1.

"Now FAMU's got 13 people who are working for nobody but FAMU," Humphries said. "I feel advantaged. We are definitely better off."

And Humphries chastised …