Florida Senate - 2022 SR By Senator Jones 35-01829C-22 20221956__ CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. Senate Resolution A resolution recognizing February 24, 2022, as “FAMU Day” in Florida. 3

WHEREAS, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University 5 (FAMU), this state’s only public historically black college and university (HBCU) institution, was founded on October 3, 1887, 7 named a land-grant institution in 1891, and designated a university in 1953, and

WHEREAS, academic components of the university consist of more than undergraduate, graduate, postgraduate, and professional degree programs, 7 colleges, and schools, 12 including the Colleges of Agriculture and Food Sciences; 13 Education; Engineering; Law; Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences; Science and Technology; and Social Science s, Arts, and Humanities; and the Schools of Allied Health Sciences; 16 Architecture and Engineering Technology; Business and Industry; 17 the Environment; Graduate Studies and Research; Journalism and Graphic Communication; and Nursing, and

WHEREAS, under the leadership and commitment of President Larry Robinson, Ph.D., and the FAMU Board of Trustees, FAMU is dedicated to providing an exceptional student experience and remains the highest-ranked public HBCU for the third consecutive year, moving up places to reach 104th in the nation and 13th on the list of top performers in social mobility, according to the U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges Ranking of Top Public Universities, and

WHEREAS, with more than 9,000 students, 80,000 alumni, and the top-ranked HBCU engineering program, the FAMU-FSU College of Florida Senate - 2022 SR 1956 35-01829C-22 20221956__ CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. Engineering, FAMU is the leading provider of degrees to African-30 American graduates in several disciplines at the baccalaureate, 31 professional, and graduate levels, and

WHEREAS, during the 2021-2022 academic year, FAMU continues to elevate student success through retention, graduation rates, 34 and degree productivity and in the 2020-2021 academic year awarded 2,098 degrees, and

WHEREAS, FAMU achieved its highest-ever total points under the Florida Board of Governors’ Performance-Based Funding model, 38 scoring 79, up from in 2020, and

WHEREAS, the 2020-2021 FAMU Student Bar Association celebrated the 20th anniversary of the FAMU Law School with a student-led preservation initiative to rename Beggs Avenue as FAMU Law Lane, and

WHEREAS, with National Collegiate Athletic Association 44 (NCAA) programs, FAMU became the first team in years in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) to be selected for the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision playoffs; six FAMU football players were named BOXTOROW All-Americans, the most of any HBCU in the nation; and FAMU earned national recognition by being ranked 25th in the CBS Week Football Championship Subdivision Power Rankings, and

WHEREAS, FAMU Women’s Volleyball Team won the SWAC Volleyball Tournament Championship and qualified for the 2021 NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship for the first time in years, and

WHEREAS, School of Journalism Professor Kenneth Jones released his third independent movie, “My Music,” in honor of National Family Caregivers Month, which debuted at the 2019 Florida Senate - 2022 SR 1956 35-01829C-22 20221956__ CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. Sedona Film Festival, and David Teek, a coordinator in the Office of Technology Transfer and Export Control, co -wrote and co-produced “Woman in Motion,” which was screened for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and

WHEREAS, FAMU’s Center for International Agricultural Trade Development Research and Training will help lead global efforts to advance production, handling, and consumption of fruits and vegetables as part of a 5-year initiative with the United States Agency for International Development’s Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Horticulture, and

WHEREAS, FAMU has partnered with the Chevron Corporation and the Fab Foundation to create a digital fabrication lab at the FAMU Developmental Research School to foster student innovation, learning, and invention in the Tallahassee area, and

WHEREAS, since April 25, 2020, FAMU’s free COVID -19 testing and vaccination site has served the Big Bend, addressing vaccine hesitancy and providing more than 550,000 tests and 23,000 vaccines, and workers at the site were collectively recognized as the Tallahassee Democrat’s 2021 “Person of the Year,” NOW, 77 THEREFORE, 78

Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida: 80 That February 24, 2022, is recognized as “FAMU Day” in Florida. 83