An image of Florida A&M’s main campus (Adobe Stock / Chad Robertson)
Florida A&M’s legacy of political engagement and advocacy carries on after a student-led gubernatorial town hall turned into a lengthy Q&A-session between Republican candidate Byron Donalds and university students.
The town hall was initially announced by the university as a gubernatorial debate between Donalds and his democratic opponent David Jolly but became an opportunity for students to listen and speak to Donalds one on one after Jolly publicly declined the invite to debate.
The main goal of the townhall, according to FAMU’s student government, was to give students an opportunity to hear firsthand the policies of their future representatives, and to serve as an example for other institutions.
“I’m proud to say that FAMU is the first HBCU to do an event like this, [during] this election season,” Student Government president Kennedy Williams said, “but it’s always important to have poignant conversations with the people who are set to govern your state.”
Students took full advantage of that conversation and did not hold back when presenting questions and frustrations.
This is not the first time, however, that FAMU students have been at the forefront of political advocacy. In fact, some of the most notable instances of student involvement date back to the 1950s during the civil rights movement.
Two FAMU students, Wilhelmina Jakes and Carrie Patterson, started the bus boycott movement in Tallahassee after they refused to give up their seats one Saturday in 1956. They were soon joined by the rest of their peers who quickly gained support from the Tallahassee community. Their efforts eventually led to the integration of the buses the following year.
“We’ve always been a school that is heavily civically engaged. We did the bus boycott in the 1950s, we hosted candidate Andrew Gillum in 2018, and so now we’re doing this in 2026 it’s really full circle,” continued Williams.
The same passion once shown by former students was displayed by those in attendance at the town hall, who jumped out of their seats for a chance to talk to Donalds directly.
Sarah Tinord, a third-year environmental studies major from Broward County, Florida, shared how being at the town hall and speaking with Donalds made them feel.
“I was very frustrated,” said Tinord, “I felt very emotional at times because of how frustrated I became, especially because a lot of these problems, growing up in South Florida, I know very intimately.”
Tinord is one of many students who showed up to gain more insight on Florida’s possible new governor and emphasized the value of being able to hear from someone directly amidst the influx of articles and headlines.
Eight years before Donalds’ visit, FAMU welcomed former gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum to campus as part of his ‘Bring it Home’ tour . There, he celebrated the last day of his campaign before elections and invited several artists to send one message to students: Vote!
Preceding Gillum, FAMU hosted former President Barack Obama who gave a speech one year before he was elected as the first Black president in the history of the United States of America.
“Since I’ve been here, students have always been politically engaged, starting with student government, and they’ve been marching, they’ve protested, they’ve written letters and all kinds of things,” professor and associate director of FAMU Essential Theatre, Luther Wells said.
Wells, an alum, witnessed the evolution of political engagement on campus since the late 1970s, first as a student and then as an educator.
Wells expressed concern about what he referred to as growing apathy from students of this generation but ultimately attested to students’ consistency with staying involved.
“From my perspective, it’s just good to see young people who are engaged, and it makes you feel good about the future of the country,” he said, hopeful from his lived experience and events of the town hall. Wells encouraged students to stay active and to vote in all elections, as the world and legislation continue to change.
“I think the campus is a reflection of those larger societal changes that are taking place,” said Wells in a final reflection.
FAMU will host a second gubernatorial town hall at Lee Hall Auditorium for democratic candidate David Jolly on Oct. 12. It will take place at 7 p.m. and will be open for all students to attend.