FAMU sets giving initiative to support campaign for building Humphries statue

By Andrew J. Skerritt
FAMU Office of Communications

Florida A&M University started this week hoping to cap off a strong fundraising fall with a successful Giving Tuesday.  

The focus for this year’s initiative, which kicked off on Tuesday, is to raise donations to design and construct a statue for the late Frederick S. Humphries, Sr., FAMU’s eighth president who died this past June at age 85. Humphries is credited with leading FAMU through its golden age, from 1985 to 2001. Many of the most prominent and active alumni were personally recruited as scholars to FAMU by Humphries during his tenure.  

Humphries’s second son, Laurence Humphries, said a statue is a fitting tribute to his father’s legacy. 

“It’s important that Florida A&M remembers the rich legacy of this great university. That’s why I am proud to support this effort to raise money for a statue of my father,” said Humphries, the third of his father’s three children. “We are launching a campaign to ‘honor our heroes’; it is our intention that this effort be the first of many statues for those who have come before us.”  

Prospective donors are asked to visit www.FAMURising.com to donate toward the President Humphries statue. FAMU Foundation board member Marcelia Freeman will be extending her match to all new donors to the FAMU Foundation through June 30, 2022, with a particular focus on those individuals who graduated in the last 10 years. 

To give on the global day of giving or any time, text FAMURISING to 41444.  

“Giving Tuesday” follows on the heels of a successful Homecoming 2021 and Florida Classic.  According to Shawnta Friday-Stroud, vice president of University Advancement and executive director of the FAMU Foundation, the university received more than $1 million in donations in the week around Homecoming, which was highlighted by the live broadcast of ESPN’s First Take from the newly unveiled Will Packer Performing Arts Amphitheater.  

Nearly 32,000 fans filled Bragg Memorial Stadium for the Homecoming game against Grambling State University. The recent Florida Blue Florida Classic matchup against Bethune-Cookman University attracted 54,198 spectators to Camping World Stadium in Orlando.  

While the University raised a record $13.6 million in 2020-2021, the annual campaign fell short in its goal to increase the percentage of alumni who donate to their alma mater. The university’s goal is to increase the number of alumni who give for scholarships, athletics, laptops and other student needs.  

“We appreciate the generosity of our alumni and corporate supporters in this time of great need,” Friday-Stroud said. “Giving Tuesday offers another opportunity to stand with us as we raise funds toward a statute for Dr. Humphries and other initiatives on campus.”