MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
Greetings Rattlers, I bring you greetings from Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection. The Philadelphia Chapter of the FAMU National Alumni Association is pleased and delighted that you are visiting our website.
It has been said that no one can mention FAMU to a Rattler without them smiling. We all remember our times on the Hill with great fondness, but we also understand with sincere appreciation the opportunity our institution provided. It is this remembrance and appreciation that drives us to give back to our university and ensure that future generations have the same opportunity and most certainly the same experience.
It has been a banner first year as chapter president and we are just getting started. There are so many ways to get involved with your chapter here. We look forward to seeing you at our next event or general body meeting.
Sincerely,
Basiyr King
FAMU National Alumni Association, Inc.
Philadelphia Chapter
Chapter President
Our Mission
To support Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University to ensure every student has anopportunity to achieve excellence with caring in higher education.
To advance our students scholastically, our alumni professionally and our partnersrespectfully.
Our Strategies
1. Recruitment–Encouraging and persuading potential students to attend FAMU.
2. Fundraising – Giving and collecting contributions for the support of University programs and initiatives.
3. Imaging Building (Public Relations) – Renewing, maintaining and enhancing the vitality and appearance of FAMU.
4. Mentoring / Networking – Build effect relationships alumni, students and community.
5. Scholarship – provide financial support via scholarships, stipends and more.
6. Government Relations – Influencing legislative support of the University’s priorities through frequent consultation with legislators.
Our Values
We passionately purse our Mission with Excellence and Caring.
Legacy of Dr. Leonard Johnson
As President of the Florida A&M University National Association from 1970 to 1980, Dr. Leonard Johnson joined with University President B.L. Perry, to form an extraordinary bulwark against a rising clamor of legislative utterances to close Florida’s third oldest public university.
Public officials, who had exhausted their efforts to preserve segregation embraced integration as a form of punishment against black institutions at all levels of learning by simply shutting them down. Johnson, class of 1950, a prominent family physician in Philadelphia, crisscrossed the nation, alerting alumni to the political chicanery taking place behind closed doors in Florida’s capital city. And in an era when the majority population expected blacks to be deferential, his voice resonated up and down the corridors of the capitol in support of maintaining FAMU as an independent and autonomous university. Johnson initiated the Weekend of Rededication where alumni recommitted themselves to unwavering support of their alma mater. During his tenure local chapters were strengthened and national recruiting efforts were intensified, including his personal involvement in bring student from Philadelphia to campus every summer.
Founder and director of the Spruce Medical Center in Philadelphia, Johnson won numerous awards as one of Philadelphia’s leading physicians. In 1997, he was one of only 100 graduates selected to receive FAMU’s Centennial Medallion, Johnson passed away on Saturday, May 12, 2007.
This monument will stand as a permanent reminder of his decade of leadership that is considered to be the FAMU National Alumni Association’s finest hour.
Dr. James H. Ammons, President
Florida A&M University
November 2, 2007
OFFICERS
President:
Basiyr King
Vice President:
Open
Treasurer:
Damon Branch
Secretary:
Open
COMMITTEES
Communications:
Open
Fundraising:
Open
Membership:
Open
Community Service:
Open
Scholarship:
Karimah S. Lynum, PharmD, Chair
Student Recruitment:
Open