![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AdobeStock_340506636-1024x683.jpeg\")
Black model with natural hair (Adobe Stock)<\/p>\nBlack model with natural hair (Adobe Stock)<\/p>\n
As students navigate identity and campus life,\u00a0they say\u00a0access to Black hair care resources has grown in importance at Florida A&M University.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For many students, college marks a turning point in their hair journey, as on-campus hair services and organizations help challenge stigmas that frame Black hair as not \u201cdone\u201d or unprofessional. Those experiences often shape how students build confidence and express themselves on campus.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Shania Marshall, a third-year political science student, founded\u00a0We\u2019re\u00a0So\u00a0Loc\u2019d\u00a0In\u00a0at FAMU to normalize education and community around natural hair.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile FAMU celebrates black excellence, there was still a huge gap when it came to intentional education,\u00a0resources\u00a0and community around Black hair, especially locs and natural styles,\u201d\u00a0Marshall said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Marshall emphasized that ideas about\u00a0professionalism often lead students to believe their hair needs to be changed to fit certain spaces.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think a workplace or a professional place is somewhere where you\u2019d have to cut your locs to fit in,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Versailles Harrell, a third-year psychology student, said coming to FAMU changed how she viewed and cared for her natural hair after seeing other students confidently wear natural styles.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI started taking care of my hair and now it\u2019s amazing;\u00a0I love my hair,\u201d\u00a0Harrelll\u00a0said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Physical access to hair care has become a part of daily life at FAMU. Rattlers Edge includes an on-campus hair salon, barbershop and hair store, giving students a convenient place to\u00a0maintain\u00a0their hair without leaving campus.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can have an interview or a headshot you need last minute, and being so close to those resources is perfect,\u201d Marshall said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kira Brown, a fourth-year criminal justice student, is the co-founder of Organically Crowned, which supports\u00a0students\u00a0feeling comfortable wearing their natural hair through education and community-based events on campus.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHair is definitely one way you could express yourself,\u201d\u00a0Brown\u00a0said. \u201cIt\u2019s an extension of your personality.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The\u00a0organization hosts workshops and service-focused events that provide students with supplies and styling support while challenging the idea that natural hair must be in a certain style to be considered done.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNatural is done,\u201d Brown said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For students, access,\u00a0education\u00a0and community helped shift conversations around Black hair away from stigma and toward pride.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope that they look in the mirror and see the kinks and the curls and the coils in their\u00a0hair\u00a0and they feel good about what\u2019s looking back at them,\u201d Brown said.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Black model with natural hair (Adobe Stock) As students navigate identity and campus life,\u00a0they say\u00a0access to Black hair…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":161670,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[232,234,233],"class_list":{"0":"post-161669","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tallahassee","8":"tag-tallahassee","9":"tag-tallahassee-headlines","10":"tag-tallahassee-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161669","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=161669"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161669\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/161670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=161669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=161669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=161669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}