Florida Senate - 2022 SR 1956
By Senator Jones
35-01829C-22 20221956__
1 Senate Resolution
2 A resolution recognizing February 24, 2022, as “FAMU
3 Day” in Florida.
4
5 WHEREAS, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University
6 (FAMU), this state’s only public historically black college and
7 university (HBCU) institution, was founded on October 3, 1887,
8 named a land-grant institution in 1891, and designated a
9 university in 1953, and
10 WHEREAS, academic components of the university consist of
11 more than 95 undergraduate, graduate, postgraduate, and
12 professional degree programs, 7 colleges, and 7 schools,
13 including the Colleges of Agriculture and Food Sciences;
14 Education; Engineering; Law; Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical
15 Sciences; Science and Technology; and Social Sciences, Arts, and
16 Humanities; and the Schools of Allied Health Sciences;
17 Architecture and Engineering Technology; Business and Industry;
18 the Environment; Graduate Studies and Research; Journalism and
19 Graphic Communication; and Nursing, and
20 WHEREAS, under the leadership and commitment of President
21 Larry Robinson, Ph.D., and the FAMU Board of Trustees, FAMU is
22 dedicated to providing an exceptional student experience and
23 remains the highest-ranked public HBCU for the third consecutive
24 year, moving up 13 places to reach 104th in the nation and 13th
25 on the list of top performers in social mobility, according to
26 the U.S. News & World Report 2022 Best Colleges Ranking of Top
27 Public Universities, and
28 WHEREAS, with more than 9,000 students, 80,000 alumni, and
29 the top-ranked HBCU engineering program, the FAMU-FSU College of
30 Engineering, FAMU is the leading provider of degrees to African
31 American graduates in several disciplines at the baccalaureate,
32 professional, and graduate levels, and
33 WHEREAS, during the 2021-2022 academic year, FAMU continues
34 to elevate student success through retention, graduation rates,
35 and degree productivity and in the 2020-2021 academic year
36 awarded 2,098 degrees, and
37 WHEREAS, FAMU achieved its highest-ever total points under
38 the Florida Board of Governors’ Performance-Based Funding model,
39 scoring 79, up from 73 in 2020, and
40 WHEREAS, the 2020-2021 FAMU Student Bar Association
41 celebrated the 20th anniversary of the FAMU Law School with a
42 student-led preservation initiative to rename Beggs Avenue as
43 FAMU Law Lane, and
44 WHEREAS, with 14 National Collegiate Athletic Association
45 (NCAA) programs, FAMU became the first team in 24 years in the
46 Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) to be selected for the
47 NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision playoffs; six
48 FAMU football players were named BOXTOROW All-Americans, the
49 most of any HBCU in the nation; and FAMU earned national
50 recognition by being ranked 25th in the CBS Week 11 Football
51 Championship Subdivision Power Rankings, and
52 WHEREAS, FAMU Women’s Volleyball Team won the 2021 SWAC
53 Volleyball Tournament Championship and qualified for the 2021
54 NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship for the first
55 time in 12 years, and
56 WHEREAS, School of Journalism Professor Kenneth Jones
57 released his third independent movie, “My Music,” in honor of
58 National Family Caregivers Month, which debuted at the 2019
59 Sedona Film Festival, and David Teek, a coordinator in the
60 Office of Technology Transfer and Export Control, co-wrote and
61 co-produced “Woman in Motion,” which was screened for the
62 National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and
63 WHEREAS, FAMU’s Center for International Agricultural Trade
64 Development Research and Training will help lead global efforts
65 to advance production, handling, and consumption of fruits and
66 vegetables as part of a 5-year initiative with the United States
67 Agency for International Development’s Feed the Future
68 Innovation Lab for Horticulture, and
69 WHEREAS, FAMU has partnered with the Chevron Corporation
70 and the Fab Foundation to create a digital fabrication lab at
71 the FAMU Developmental Research School to foster student
72 innovation, learning, and invention in the Tallahassee area, and
73 WHEREAS, since April 25, 2020, FAMU’s free COVID-19 testing
74 and vaccination site has served the Big Bend, addressing vaccine
75 hesitancy and providing more than 550,000 tests and 23,000
76 vaccines, and workers at the site were collectively recognized
77 as the Tallahassee Democrat’s 2021 “Person of the Year,” NOW,
78 THEREFORE,
79
80 Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
81
82 That February 24, 2022, is recognized as “FAMU Day” in
83 Florida.