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The Florida A&M University Summer Virtual Commencement Ceremony
August 1, 2020
Time: 10 A.M.
Location: Via Zoom
Tune in to celebrate the Summer Class of 2020 during the Virtual Commencement Ceremony August 1 at 10 a.m. on FAMU’s YouTube page – FAMUTube1887.
For more information: www.famu.edu/.commencement
Commencement Regalia for students: herffjones.com
Once on the page select Graduation and type in Florida A & M to search for school.
St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter III Is FAMU Summer Commencement Speaker
Florida A&M University (FAMU) alumnus and St. Paul, Minnesota Mayor Melvin Carter III will be the keynote speaker for the University’s virtual Summer Commencement ceremony 10 a.m. August 1.
The celebration for 400 graduates will be aired live on the FAMU Facebook page and YouTube channel.
“FAMU helped shape my life and leadership,” Carter said. “I am honored to speak at this year’s summer commencement.”
Carter was elected as Minnesota capital city’s 46th and first African American mayor in 2018. Since taking office, his accomplishments include raising the city’s minimum wage to $15/hour; tripling free program in recreation centers; eliminating late fines in public libraries; reestablishing an Affordable Housing Trust Fund; expanding immigrant and refugee support resources and launching an Office of Financial Empowerment.
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Carter launched the St. Paul Bridge Fund to provide emergency relief to St. Paul’s lowest-income families and small businesses most vulnerable to the economic impact of the pandemic. The fund provided more than $4 million of direct aid between April and June. He has also been in demand on national media in the wake of protests following a Minneapolis police officer’s killing of George Floyd.
“It is an honor to welcome Mayor Carter to address FAMU’s summer graduates. He is one of our own and, furthermore, a Rattler who has been on the frontlines battling racial injustice and speaking truth to the nation in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death,” said President Larry Robinson, Ph.D. “He is a seasoned leader of this day and time and will be a voice of inspiration for our graduates.”
The son of a retired St. Paul police officer and a Ramsey County commissioner, Carter graduated from the city’s public schools before entering FAMU. He earned a bachelor’s in business administration from the FAMU School of Business and Industry in 2002 before completing a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Minnesota.
Chire “VantaBlack” Regans believes that her role as an artist is to allow pertinent societal concerns to inform her practice and to amplify the voices of those she engages with through her work. Over the past decade, VantaBlack has become immersed in community advocacy and social narratives depicted without distortion in a variety of mediums. As a Saint Louis native, the birth of the Black Lives Matter movement triggered a sense of urgency in her practice and it has continued to expand, allowing for a wider range of accessibility and scale. Locally, VantaBlack continues to pair her artistic practice with community led activism with a variety of goals including prioritizing the art of story-telling informed by unfiltered interactions amongst the community.
Home is where the art is for five faculty art collectors!
The FAMU Foster-Tanner Fine Arts Gallery is pleased to present Home is Where the Art Is, an exhibition featuring selections of home art collections of local college faculty and administrators (on view February 11 – April 24). As many of us are spending more time at home, our creature comforts, such as art, have become increasingly vital to our little doses of happiness. Home is Where the Art Is celebrates the big and small artworks, the local and international artists, and much more in this intriguing glimpse into each person’s collection.
This exhibition also exclusively features works by Black artists, underlining the value of seeking and supporting Black artists by learning more about and acquiring their work. Home is Where the Art Is is arranged by each collectors’ works of art. We are excited to feature part of the art collections of Valencia Matthews, Ph.D. (Dean of FAMU’s College of Social Sciences, Arts, and Humanities), Evelyn Tyler (FAMU Professor of Theatre), Harris Wiltsher (FAMU Professor of Art), Aja Roache (FAMU Foster-Tanner Fine Arts Gallery Director), and Joshua Johnson (TCC Professor of Behavioral Science). Join us in celebrating the joy of art collecting this semester!
Home is Where the Art Is will be open to the public on February 11 – April 24, 2021. Visitors are welcome to visit the gallery Thursdays and Fridays, 10 a.m. until 5 p.m., Saturdays, noon until 4 p.m., or by appointment. To ensure everyone’s safety, wearing a mask is required to enter the gallery. For more information, contact the gallery at (850) 599-8755 or fostertannergallery@FAMU.edu
We are located on the campus of Florida A&M University at 1630 Pinder Street in the Foster-Tanner Fine Arts Complex.
Elwood’s Tallahassee: Colson Whitehead’s The Nickel Boys”
13th Annual Spring Literary Forum Series
Department of English and Modern Languages and the Literary Guild
College of Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities
Florida A&M University
Thursday, February 25, 2021
Location: Zoom
9:15 AM to 4:30 PM
The FAMU Essential Theatre Writing for Life
Play Reading Series presents
Calming the Man
Written by Anthony Lamarr White
Directed by Luther D. Wells
February 26 – 27, 2021
Daddyo, a middle-aged black man imprisoned by his memories, whose heart is weighted with anger, sadness, and hatred as he struggles to live in the present with his two sons, Michael and Tracey. Ultimately, this causes him to push one to succeed and neglect the other.
Suggested Audience: Ages 13 and above.
Live Virtual Performances
Friday, February 26, 2021, at 7:30 p.m. EST
Saturday, February 27, 2021, at 2 p.m. EST
Admission is FREE (No ticket is required)
· To support the Essential Theatre, you may give what you can by donating CLICK HERE
How It Works
Live Virtual Performance
Visit the FAMU Essential Theatre webpage on the day and time of the performance to view. Performances will happen in real-time. The virtual house will open 15 mins prior to showtime. CLICK HERE
What You Need
To give you the best viewing experience, we recommend you watching the performance from your computer or tablet. You will need internet access.
Questions
Please call the Box Office at 850.561.2425 or send an email to famuessentialtheatre@famu.edu.
Florida A&M University Spring Commencement 2021
April 23 – April 25, 2021
Location: Bragg Memorial Stadium
Time: See Schedule
For more information: CLICK HERE
FAMU Announces Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III To Headline Lineup of Spring Commencement Speakers
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin III will deliver the keynote address at the Florida A&M University (FAMU) in-person Spring 2021 Commencement ceremony at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, April 24.
Saturday evening’s ceremony will feature students from the College of Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities. Austin, the first African American to head the Defense Department, will also officiate at the commissioning ceremony for 17 officers, members of FAMU’s largest Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) graduating class for a single semester in three decades.
“Florida A&M University is honored to have Secretary Austin address our graduates. His life and career have been an inspiration to us all. He is part of an impressive lineup of speakers who have agreed to celebrate our graduates with us,” said President Larry Robinson, Ph.D., referring to the other speakers – former state Senator Arthenia Joyner, Florida Board of Governors Vice Chair Brian Lamb and media entrepreneur Keith Clinkscales. “Commencement is an important ritual in the life of our University. We are delighted to host in-person ceremonies again and urge all attendees and participants to adhere to health guidelines to ensure a safe commencement season.”
Austin, who grew up in Thomasville, Georgia, will headline a group of four speakers for the University’s first in person commencement ceremonies since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. More than 1,000 students have applied for spring graduation.
A native of Mobile, Alabama, Austin retired in 2016 as a four-star Army general after 41 years in uniform. On January 22, 2021, he was sworn in as the 28th secretary of defense.
His four-decade Army career included command at the corps, division, battalion, and brigade levels. Austin was awarded the Silver Star for his leadership of the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division during the invasion of Iraq in 2003. In 2010, he became commanding general of U.S. Forces – Iraq, overseeing all combat operations in the country.
After a tour as the Army’s vice chief of staff, Austin concluded his uniformed service as the commander of U.S. Central Command, responsible for all military operations in the Middle East and Afghanistan. In this assignment, he led U.S. and coalition efforts to battle ISIS in Iraq and Syria.
Austin graduated from the United States Military Academy with a Bachelor of Science degree and a commission in the infantry. He holds a master’s in counselor education from Auburn University, and a master’s in business management from Webster University. He is also a graduate of the Infantry Officer Basic and Advanced courses, the Army Command and General Staff College, and the Army War College.
Commencement ceremonies kick off at 6:30 p.m. Friday, April 23, when former state Senator Joyner will address graduates from the School of Allied Health Sciences, School of Environment and the College of Education. Joyner, who received her bachelor’s and law degrees from FAMU, represented Tampa in the Florida Senate for a decade.
At 9:30 a.m. Saturday, April 24, Board of Governors Vice Chair Brian Lamb will address students graduating from the College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Institute of Public Health and the School of Business and Industry. Lamb, who earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of South Florida, is the global head of Diversity & Inclusion at JPMorgan Chase & Co.
At 9:30 a.m. Sunday, April 25, Keith Clinkscales, a FAMU graduate and founder of The ShadowLeague.com (TSL), will address students from the College of Science and Technology, the College of Agriculture and Food Sciences, the School of Architecture and Engineering Technology, the School of Journalism and Graphic Communication, the College of Engineering and the School of Nursing.
Since founding TSL, a sports and culture website, Clinkscales was CEO of Revolt Media & TV, a company founded by Sean Combs. He was also an ESPN executive.
Commencement ceremonies will be held at Bragg Memorial Stadium. In the event of inclement weather, they may be moved to the Al Lawson Jr. Multipurpose Center or the Gaither Gymnasium. Each graduating student is allowed up to four guests for the ticketed events.
The University will adhere to all Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Board of Governors guidelines during commencement ceremonies to ensure the health and safety of all participants. The FAMU College of Law will hold its commencement ceremony at 9 a.m. Monday, May 10 in Orlando.
For more information, visit the Commencement website at www.famu.edu/commencement.
Florida A&M University Summer
Commencement 2021
VISIT FAMU.EDU/COMMENCEMENT for more details.
FAMU Announces Commencement Schedule for Summer 2021 and 2020 Graduates
Florida A&M University will hold commencement ceremonies for summer 2021 and 2020 graduates the weekend of July 30-August 1.
According to the schedule, a commencement ceremony for all summer 2021 graduates will be held at the Al Lawson Jr. Multipurpose Center 6 p.m. Friday, July 30.
The 9 a.m. Saturday, July 31 commencement ceremony will celebrate 2020 School of Business & Industry, College of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences, Institute of Public Health, and School of Environment graduates.
A 3 p.m. Saturday, July 31 ceremony will feature College of Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities 2020 graduates and a military commissioning ceremony.
On Sunday, August 1, at 9 a.m., 2020 graduates from the College of Science and Technology, College of Agriculture and Food Sciences, School of Architecture and Electrical Technology, School of Journalism & Graphic Communication, School of Nursing, and the College of Engineering will be celebrated.
The final ceremony of the summer commencement season will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday, August 1 when 2020 graduates of the College of Education, College of Law and the School of Allied Health Sciences will be celebrated.
Summer 2021 grads need to apply by July 9. All 2020 grads need to register to participate by June 18. 2020 graduates can register at :
https://famu.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0UIqbnFfgD0Hw10
Key Details:
Tickets are not required to attend Commencement.
Clear bag policy is strictly enforced.
Strollers, balloons and horns are not permitted in the arena.
The Commencement program is available by scanning the QR code posted throughout the arena.
Learn more here: http://famu.edu/students/commencement/index.php