“Hands off FAMU!” – Students protest Marva Johnson as FAMU president
By Emily Lu and Justin Jordan
Tallahassee, FL – On Saturday, May 24, a group of students and community members joined to oppose the appointment of Marva Johnson as the 13th president of Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU). FAMU is a Historically Black college and university in Tallahassee, Florida.
Tallahassee Students for a Democratic Society hosted a rally at Railroad Square near the Rattler statue, FAMU’s mascot. Kajari Sa-Ra, a junior at FAMU led the protest, exemplifying his school spirit and the student body's resistance to Johnson’s appointment. “I like my F in front of my A! My A in front of my M! My M in front of my U!” Sa-Ra chanted, “I love my HBCU, and we will not allow it to be taken! Hands off FAMU!”
Sa-Ra is concerned about potential cuts to curriculum under a Johnson administration, “One of the graduation requirements is that you learn African American history. Things like that being incorporated into the curriculum of the school help us maintain the spirit that a lot of FAMU students have to speak up on these things.”
President Marva Johnson has been criticized for her close affiliation with Donald Trump and Florida Governors Rick Scott and DeSantis, even aiding in failed plans to host the 2020 Republican National Convention in Jacksonville.
“More and more we are seeing education here being treated by Ron DeSantis, the board of governors, and the Republican Party as something that they can buy and influence,” stated Joelle Nuñez of the Tallahassee Immigrant Rights Alliance.
Nuñez continued, “The students of FAMU didn’t want Marva Johnson! Nobody wants to face oppression, and we have to band together more than ever now to show them that we’re not going to stand for this!”
“FAMU cannot and should not be a training ground for an administrator with no academic or collegiate experience. She should be the next CEO of a company and not the next CEO of a university,” said Paul Derevere, of Food Not Bombs and a FAMU alum.
After Johnson’s inclusion as one of the finalists in FAMU’s presidential search, many community members called for the process to be restarted or even halted. Despite those concerns, and over 17,000 alumni, students and community members signing a petition opposing her candidacy, she was confirmed by the FAMU board of trustees in an 8 to 4 vote.
“It is absolutely shameful that despite thousands upon thousands of FAMU students, alumni, community members, staff and faculty speaking out against the appointment of Marva Johnson, it happened anyway!” SDS Member Lain Dorsey stated.
Before the Tallahassee SDS protest on May 24, FAMU student Elijah Hooks organized a petition and rally opposing her presidential candidacy. A May 14 rally was held at Will Packer Amphitheater and featured FAMU alumni and donor Will Packer himself as a keynote speaker.
Despite this, the university administration and FAMU Police Department prevented the rally from using the amphitheater’s built-in speakers. They had to rely on a small speaker provided by members of Tallahassee SDS. Further, FAMU police and local law enforcement told the event organizers that they could not hand out water bottles to rally goers as they “could be used as projectiles,” on a day exceeding temperatures of 90 degrees Fahrenheit.
Despite following every absurd order by the police, the university administration suspended Hooks, escorting him off campus when he attended the trustees’ vote.
“FAMU administration needs to take their hands off of student activists and allow them to actually protest and express their First Amendment rights! This suspension should be lifted!” declared SDS member Lain Dorsey.
In the face of ongoing attacks on higher education by President Trump and Governor DeSantis, the resistance of the student body remains strong. There is no doubt that the spirit of FAMU and its storied history of student activism will not be stifled. Marva Johnson and state education leaders under the thumb of DeSantis may try, but students are organizing and fighting back.