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FAMU Named Best School for Blacks

By Carnell Hawthorne Jr.
Black College Wire

Photo credit: FAMU Office of Public Affairs Representatives of Black Enterprise magazine came to Florida A&M University to announce the school had been named the top university for black students.

Florida A&M University has been named the top university for black students by Black Enterprise magazine.

The list was based on a survey of nearly 500 African American higher education professionals. The variable given the heaviest weighting was black graduation rates, followed by average academic and social environment scores, the magazine said.

In 2004, FAMU ranked sixth. This year, FAMU was rated more highly than Howard University, North Carolina A & T State University and Harvard University which ranked second, third and fourth, respectively.

At an Aug. 28 news conference on the stairs of Lee Hall, Alfred A. Edmond Jr., senior vice president and editor in chief of Black Enterprise, presented FAMU Interim President Castell V. Bryant with a plaque recognizing the university's success.

"FAMU was selected based on two criteria: academic and social environment," Edmond said. The board also reviewed graduation rates and total black enrollment. Edmond emphasized FAMU competed with a variety of schools.

According to government figures, FAMU graduated 1,850 students during the 2004-05 school year.

Black student enrollment reached 11,117 during the fall 2005 semester and 10,311 in spring 2006. The university also awarded more than 850 academic degrees at the close of the spring 2006 semester.

Of those, 545 were bachelor's degrees and more than 200 were master's and higher. Total enrollment for this school year is expected to reach more than 11,000.

Phillip Agnew, Student Government Association president, attributed FAMU's distinction to several changes that have been implemented.

"We've been in transition," Agnew said. "We've been filling vacant dean positions, placing focus on our School of Pharmacy, and we've even begun restoring the Black Archives," a reference to the Florida Black Archives, Research Center and Museum on the FAMU campus. Agnew, a fourth-year business administration student from Chicago, said FAMU was still highly regarded around the nation and said he believed other institutions aspired to reach FAMU's status.

Guests at the news conference included Tallahassee Mayor John Marks, members of the Board of Trustees and Board of Governors, and John Winn, Florida's education commissioner.

Carolyn Roberts, Florida Board of Governors chairwoman, said, "FAMU's commitment to students never changes. We all know that it is No. 1, and we're gonna keep it No.1."

She added that the board was building relations with the National Science Foundation and already has 300 active grants in place.

Cherline Pierre, 24, from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., was one student at the news conference. "I'm glad to see that after 10 years, we're still No. 1," Pierre said. "This shows that our legacy is truly a part of our university."

The Rev. R.B. Holmes Jr., chairman of the Board of Trustees search committee, encouraged students to continue to excel.

"Wow to the greatest university on planet Earth," Holmes said. "Students, you are the best. This is a high moment in our history. Let's continue to strike, strike and strike again!"

Carnell Hawthorne Jr., a student at Florida A&M University, writes for the Famuan.

Posted Sept. 5, 2006