FAMU: A Legacy To Live For

Presidents of the past and present posed with Trustee Board Chair Rufus Montgomery and Rev. R.B. Holmes.
Photos by Ceseann Carroll

By Diamond Hunt-Coleman
Senior Outlook Writer

With something that can only be described as a FAMUly reunion, Florida A&M University and The Bethel Empowerment Foundation Inc. came together on Aug. 27 to put on the Legacy Banquet.

 
FAMU`s Grand Ballroom was turned into something befitting of kings and queens and the guest list was nothing short of that. The event honored all former living presidents, interim presidents and the current president.

 
With a live band playing in the background, FAMU legends such as Walter Smith, Frederick Humphries, Henry L. Lewis III, Fred Gainous, Castell Vaughn Bryant, James H. Ammons and Larry Robinson entered the newly renovated Grand Ballroom as if they`d never left The Hill.

 
In a press conference prior to the banquet, President Elmira Mangum explained how the night was not just an opportunity to honor those who came before her. However, she explained that the night served as a stepping stone in continuing FAMU`s legacy and to raise funds for the athletic department.

 
“It is an honor to be here as the 11th president but also to have all the living presidents standing here with us in support of our institution and especially our athletics,” said Mangum. “Supporting our institution is what we are here for. Moving it forward for the next decade is certainly extremely important and letting our students know that the community stands behind them.”

 
As the guests of honor were being served, the FAMU Jazz Combo provided dinner music and Rattlers from near and far took this time to catch up with one another and to share stories about “the old days”, their families and how wonderful the event had turned out to be.

 
Although Amy Barnes is not a FAMU alum, she supports the university because they make her feel right at home and a part of the family.

 
“It is a grand idea that everyone has come out to support the athletic department,” said Barnes. “This is a fantastic money-raiser and to be able to talk with the people who still have an interest in the university and to celebrate the life and the legacy of FAMU Rattlers is a great thing.”

 
After a buffet style dinner was complete came the moment that everyone was waiting for, it was time for the past to meet the present. It was time for the presentation of the former presidents.

 
As each one stepped up and gave their speech, the ballroom broke out into immediate applause. And as each one gave their speech it became even more clear that the night wasn’t about honoring the former presidents. Rather it was about honoring FAMU for what the university gave them and to honor her undying love.

 
“George W. Gore was the man who placed his signature on my degree. A degree earned by a young man who was a flunk out in the first grade, a drop out in high school (who) didn’t know how to do anything but pick cotton, cut okra, shake peanuts and strip sugar cane,” said Walter L. Smith, FAMU`s seventh president. “But FAMU took me in and I can`t tell you where I went from there.”

 
And as he looked out into a crowd of attentive listeners, Smith pointed out the accomplishments of his family thanks to FAMU and continued his speech “that is what FAMU has done for my family. Never mind what I did as president, enough has been said about that.”

 
The banquet did more than raise funds for the athletics department. It certainly did more than honor the past and the present. On Friday FAMU continued down the path to preserving their legacy and Interim President Castell Vaughn Bryant put it best.

 
“During my tenure I had an impact study done, and it was revealed that… we were contributing more than $3 billion through our graduates,” said Castell Bryant. “That can be built upon we don’t have to start over anymore.”