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FAMU Presidents and student leaders attend Founders\u2019 Day wreath laying ceremony. (Yerimiah Evans\/The FAMUAN) <\/p>\nFAMU Presidents and student leaders attend Founders\u2019 Day wreath laying ceremony. (Yerimiah Evans\/The FAMUAN) <\/p>\n
On Oct. 10, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University paused its normal routine as students, faculty, staff, and alumni gathered for the annual Founder\u2019s Day ceremony on the Quad. Classes were suspended from 10:10 a.m. to 12:10 p.m., giving the campus community time to honor the visionaries who established the university in 1887.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Founded with just 15 students and two instructors, FAMU has grown into Florida\u2019s only public Historically Black College or University carrying forward a mission rooted in resilience, access and excellence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Student Government Association President and Trustee Zayla Bryant and Vice President Kennedy Williams presided over the event, declaring the celebration represents \u201cFAMU\u2019s pride and purpose.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Essential Theatre students offered a historical presentation, beginning with the singing of \u201cLift Every Voice and Sing,\u201d. The spoken-word performance urged attendees \u201cto pause and remember [the] founders who showed resilience during a time of hardship and oppression,\u201d and to \u201cgather around the noble shrine to recommit ourselves to excellence with caring and deep love for FAMU.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
President Marva Johnson delivered the keynote, marking her first major address since her appointment earlier this year. She thanked former presidents Larry Robinson and Frederick Humphries Beard for their attendance and leadership and acknowledged the university\u2019s seven-year streak as the No. 1 public HBCU, crediting faculty and staff for their commitment. \u00a0<\/p>\n
She emphasized FAMU\u2019s mission statement to \u201cenhance the lives of its constituents and empower communities,\u201d highlighting its role in changing the lives of Pell Grant students and preparing them to pour back into their own communities.\u00a0<\/p>\n
While the ceremony emphasized tradition and pride, it also unfolded against a backdrop of student advocacy. After Johnson\u2019s remarks, some student organizers distributed pamphlets voicing concerns about political influence over FAMU, including challenges to student autonomy and opposition to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives.\u00a0<\/p>\n
. One advocate, who came specifically to distribute the flyers, stated their effort was \u201cfor the order of the flame,\u201d a reference to the ceremonial setting.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The pamphlet listed several student grievances including disregarding student voices and external political influence. \u00a0<\/p>\n
For many, former President Robinson\u2019s presence carried mixed meaning\u2014some saw it as a hopeful reminder of his continued commitment to FAMU, while others wondered if it signaled him quietly passing the torch. \u201cHe gives back to FAMU and the Black community, even outside of his presidency,\u201d one student advocate said. \u201cI hope he\u2019s here to encourage us and still speak on our behalf.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FAMU Presidents and student leaders attend Founders\u2019 Day wreath laying ceremony. (Yerimiah Evans\/The FAMUAN) On Oct. 10, Florida…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13240,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[232,234,233],"class_list":["post-13239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee-headlines","tag-tallahassee-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13239"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13239\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}