The Florida A&M Rattlers have named Trayvon Martin‘s father, Tracy Martin, an honorary captain for the upcoming season. Martin spoke to the team during practice on Sunday, August 11, 2013 and he will also perform the pregame coin toss at the season opener versus Mississippi Valley State on Sept 1. “He had some inspiring words […]
(CNN) — Florida A&M University, under fire in the hazing death of a drum major and over its finances, was put on probation for one…
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Attorneys for Florida A&M University on Wednesday asked a judge to dismiss a lawsuit brought by the family of a drum major who died last year after being hazed by fellow band members, claiming Robert Champion was a willing participant in the ritual. University attorney Richard Mitchell said Champion wasn’t forced […]
The bands will not battle Saturday at half time during the Florida Blue Florida Classic clash between Florida A&M University and Bethune-Cookman University. The FAMU Marching 100 was suspended shortly after last year’s game when drum major Robert Champion Jr. died following a hazing incident on a band bus/ This year’s halftime show at the […]
Florida A&M University has offered $300,000 – the maximum it says it can offer without state legislative action – as a settlement to the family of Robert Champion Jr., the drum major who died after a hazing ritual last year, a university attorney said Thursday. However, the family’s attorney, Chris Chestnut, said that the offer […]
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The first of a dozen defendants to be sentenced in last year's hazing death of a Florida A&M drum major avoided jail time when he received his punishment Monday, but he will spend more than two years under close supervision. Brian Jones was given six months of community control, which strictly […]
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The first of a dozen defendants charged in the hazing death of a Florida A&M drum major entered a plea of no contest Tuesday to third-degree felony hazing. A judge didn't impose a conviction on 23-year-old Brian Jones, of Parrish, Fla., who switched his plea from not guilty. Jones isn't admitting […]
When it was founded on Oct. 3, 1887, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University was known as the State Normal College for Colored Students. Back then, the institution had 15 students and two instructors. Today FAMU, with its main campus located in Tallahassee, Fla., has more than 12,000 students enrolled. The 125th birthday celebration began on […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Education Department is awarding $228 million in grants to historically black colleges and universities. The five-year grants will go to schools in 19 states plus the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Schools can use the money to expand their campuses, acquire science equipment, develop counseling programs and train […]
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — As Florida A&M's Marching 100 quick-stepped across the grass, the stadium announcer's voice would boom through the speakers to remind those in the stands that no one could match the show they were watching: "Often imitated, never duplicated." This season, the words more commonly used to describe FAMU's famed marching band, […]
ATLANTA (AP) — Florida A&M University's insistence that it is not to blame for a drum major's death during a hazing ritual shows school officials are not taking responsibility for the safety of students, the band member's parents said Thursday. Pam and Robert Champion Sr. said at a news conference in Atlanta that they were […]
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida A&M University, which has been rocked by a hazing scandal for nearly a year, insists in legal papers filed Monday that it is not to blame for the tragic death last year of drum major Robert Champion. The university maintained that it was Champion, not the school, who bears the […]
