Tallahassee, Florida · Founded 1887 · Rattlers
The legendary 1980 Tampa Stadium show — performed by the Hundred for FAMU vs. BCC under Foster. SOS is the show fans still talk about most; this is the signature Foster-era moment on video.
The Hundred opened the Louis Vuitton 2022 men's show at the Louvre in Paris — high fashion's stage, in the trademark orange and green, playing their 'Prelude' drum cadence.
Marching 100 on national NBA coverage in 2026, performing 'Victory' — the NBA on Prime theme written by FAMU alumnus Common with Karriem Riggins and James Poyser.
The Hundred playing their most famous song at the 2016 Florida Classic against Bethune-Cookman — peak game-day FAMU.
Historic first: the Hundred's first female head drum major led during Homecoming 2025 — a milestone 139 years into the school's story.
Full uncut set at the 2026 National Battle of the Bands in Boca Raton — current-era Hundred under Shelby Chipman.
From the Yard's video feed.
From the Yard's video feed.
From the Yard's video feed.
From the Yard's video feed.
From the Yard's video feed.
From the Yard's video feed.
'Bullet Bob' — two Olympic gold medals at Tokyo 1964, then an NFL star; FAMU's most famous sprinter.
Class of 1953; tennis trailblazer who played tennis, golf, and basketball at FAMU before turning pro.
MLB Hall of Famer; 1987 National League MVP.
Pro Football Hall of Famer; Bragg Memorial Stadium's field is named Ken Riley Field for him.
MLB All-Star; the placekicker on the 1978 national-title team who played 13 years in the majors.
MLB All-Star and multiple Gold Glove winner.
Three-time Super Bowl champion with the Raiders; 'Killer' anchored FAMU's line.
The most famous Harlem Globetrotter of them all.
Grammy-winning rapper and actor (attended FAMU); wrote the NBA on Prime theme the Hundred performed.
Pioneering sports broadcaster; FAMU Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2016.
Tony Award-winning actress (Dreamgirls, The Princess and the Frog).
Film producer (Ride Along, Girls Trip) via Rainforest Films.
Class of 1971; former Symantec CEO, ex-IBM VP, and part-owner of the Golden State Warriors.
Class of 1995; former mayor of Atlanta.
Former mayor of Tallahassee.
Class of 2004; bestselling author and historian (How to Be an Antiracist).
Black Reconstruction-era legislator Thomas Van Renssalaer Gibbs pushed House Bill 133 through in 1884, creating a white normal school in Gainesville and a colored school in Jacksonville — which the state then relocated to Tallahassee. On October 3, 1887, the State Normal College for Colored Students opened with 15 students and two instructors in a white-framed building. Attorney Thomas DeSaille Tucker of Pensacola became the first president (1887–1901); Gibbs joined him as the second faculty member.
The college took $7,500 under the Second Morrill Act, becoming Florida's 1890 land-grant school for Black students — and renamed itself the State Normal and Industrial College for Colored Students. Around this time it moved to its present hilltop site: the old Highwood Plantation of former territorial governor William Pope Duval. The grounds were said to be thick with rattlesnakes — which is how the school got the Rattlers.
The 1905 Buckman Act moved the college from the Department of Education to the Board of Control — the same act that created the University of Florida and Florida State University — and finally made FAMU an official institution of higher learning. In 1909 the name changed again, to Florida Agricultural and Mechanical College for Negroes. Andrew Carnegie donated $10,000 for a campus library — the only Carnegie Library at a Black land-grant college — and the school began awarding degrees.
Miami's Orange Blossom Classic kicked off in 1933 as the de facto Black college national championship game, and FAMU became its anchor tenant. Over the decades the Rattlers played in the Classic more than any other school, building a 27–23–1 all-time record in the game through 2025. It was the stage for Gaither's greatest teams — and, generations later, for FAMU's return to Miami when the game was revived.
In 1949 the state opened a division of law on the Tallahassee campus — a 'separate but equal' dodge to keep Black students out of the University of Florida's law school. The first class entered in 1951. The Tallahassee law school would produce just 57 lawyers before the state killed it, but its alumni included civil-rights freedom lawyer John Due.
President George W. Gore took the college to university status in 1953, and FAMU became the first Negro institution admitted to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Over the next 13 years the university added schools of law, pharmacy, nursing, and graduate studies plus 23 buildings and a campus hospital — the only hospital Black patients could use within 150 miles of Tallahassee. Enrollment passed 3,500.
On May 26, 1956, FAMU students Wilhelmina Jakes and Carrie Patterson sat in the whites-only section of a crowded Tallahassee city bus and refused to move. Police arrested both and charged them with 'placing themselves in a position to incite a riot' — and the next night a cross was burned on their lawn. FAMU's student body, led by SGA president Brodes Hartley, voted to boycott the city buses outright. The ten-month boycott, organized citywide by Rev. C.K. Steele's Inter-Civic Council, ended with Tallahassee repealing its bus segregation ordinance in January 1957.
Once integration was forced, the Florida Board of Control cut off FAMU's permission to admit law students in 1966 — the same year Florida State opened its own College of Law. FAMU's last original law class graduated in 1968. Only 57 lawyers came out of that Tallahassee law school, but its alumni included civil-rights freedom lawyer John Due. FAMU would wait 32 years to get the school back.
Jake Gaither retired after the 1969 season with a 204–36–4 record over 25 years — an .844 winning percentage, the third-best in college football history. His final team gave him the perfect goodbye: on November 29, 1969, FAMU beat the University of Tampa 34–28 in the first game in the Deep South between a Black university and a predominantly white school, before 47,788 fans at Tampa Stadium. Gaither's run produced 22 SIAC championships, six Black college national titles, 36 All-Americans, and 42 future NFL players — and every FAMU home opener since has been the Jake Gaither Classic.
Fifth-year head coach Rudy Hubbard's 12–1 Rattlers beat Grambling State in the Orange Blossom Classic, won at Jackson State in the I-AA semifinals, and beat UMass in the Pioneer Bowl in Wichita Falls. FAMU remains the first and only HBCU to win an NCAA Division I-AA/FCS national championship. Placekicker Vince Coleman went on to 13 years in Major League Baseball.
Under President Frederick Humphries (1985–2001), enrollment exploded from about 3,200 to over 10,000, SAT scores rose 200 points, and FAMU became the nation's top producer of Black bachelor's-degree graduates — passing Howard. In 1997 the editors of Time magazine and The Princeton Review named FAMU College of the Year. Humphries also beat back a merger push with Florida State University.
A unanimous 2000 Florida Legislature passed the re-establishment bill and Gov. Jeb Bush signed it on June 14, 2000, ending a 30-year fight. The first reborn class — 89 students — entered in Orlando in August 2002, and the school moved into its permanent downtown Orlando building in 2006. It earned provisional ABA accreditation in 2004 and full accreditation in 2009.
On November 19, 2011, Marching 100 drum major Robert Champion died in a hazing ritual called 'Crossing Bus C' on a parked bus in Orlando, hours after the Florida Classic. Fifteen band members were charged, and longtime director Julian White was out by May 2012; the band was suspended for nearly two years. In December 2012 the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools put the whole university on probation, citing the hazing death, financial mismanagement, and leadership failures. The band returned in August 2013 at a third of its old size with the drum-major title retired, and SACS lifted the probation that December.
After its 2019 sabbatical review, the ABA concluded FAMU's College of Law was in compliance with all standards — but a separate annual review flagged Standard 316, which requires 75% of a school's bar-takers to pass within two years of graduation. FAMU's 2017 cohort sat at 70.83%, and the school had until February 2021 to prove compliance. The school kept its accreditation through the scare; by 2022 its own filings reported compliance with all standards, with the next full ABA review set for 2028–29.
The Orange Blossom Classic returned to Miami in 2021 after decades away, with FAMU as the anchor tenant again. Jackson State spoiled the homecoming, 7–6, and routed the Rattlers 59–3 a year later. FAMU flipped the script in 2023, beating JSU 28–10 on the way to the Celebration Bowl. Howard edged FAMU 10–9 in the 2025 edition.
FAMU's Board of Trustees voted to leave the MEAC after 41 years for the Southwestern Athletic Conference; full SWAC membership began in 2021. The move reunited FAMU with old football rivals like Grambling State, Southern, and Jackson State. In 2023, Willie Simmons's team won the program's first SWAC championship and beat Howard 30–26 in the Celebration Bowl — the 16th Black college national championship.
At spring commencement, donor Gregory Gerami's announced $237 million gift turned out to be fraudulent, sparking national embarrassment and an internal reckoning. Larry Robinson — who had led FAMU since 2017 and taken it to No. 1 public HBCU in the U.S. News rankings — resigned on July 12, 2024. Alumnus Timothy Beard served as interim president for a year.
In July 2025, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a $115 billion state budget that gave FAMU $65.5 million — nearly $40 million more than the year before and $10 million above the university's own ask. President-elect Marva Johnson, who lobbied the extended legislative session before taking office, called it 'a historic level of funding for FAMU.' The money covers the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, operational upgrades, the College of Law, campus security, and agricultural studies. None of FAMU's requests were vetoed.
On May 16, 2025, the Board of Trustees voted 8–4 — in an emotional meeting where some trustees called the outcome a "foregone conclusion" — to tap Marva Johnson as the 13th president. Johnson arrived with no higher-education leadership experience: she was group vice president of state government affairs for Charter Communications, a telecom lobbyist and political appointee of Governors Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis who had spent eight years on the Florida State Board of Education, including time as chair. Students and alumni mounted vocal opposition — dubbing her "MAGA Marva," questioning the transparency of the process, and backing internal candidate Donald Palm — while supporters argued her Tallahassee connections would help FAMU win state funding; her $750,000 base-salary ask also drew criticism from board chair Kristin Harper. The Florida Board of Governors confirmed her unanimously that June, and she took office August 1, 2025, becoming only the second woman to lead FAMU after Elmira Mangum (2014–2016).
In September 2026 the Board of Trustees approved an $86,000 bonus for Johnson after her first full year, and signed off on her 2026–27 goals: 10,000 students, $160 million in non-tuition revenue, and $18 million in fundraising. The school had raised $17.2 million in 2025–26, and faculty got tiered raises of up to $6,750. Her pitch to Tallahassee: grow FAMU back to 'the Humphries era,' when the university saw its greatest growth.
The big one. FAMU and Bethune-Cookman first met in 1925, and FAMU leads the all-time series 54–25–1. The Florida Classic brand started in Tampa in 1978 — FAMU came back from 17–0 down at halftime to win 27–17 on the way to the I-AA national title — and the game has been played in Orlando every year since 1997, where the modern-era series is a dead-even 14–14. Run by Florida Citrus Sports, it pumps about $31 million into Orlando's economy and is the largest FCS football game in Florida. Recent classics: Thad Franklin Jr. rushed for a Florida Classic-record 195 yards in FAMU's 41–38 shootout win in 2024, and Bethune-Cookman took the 2025 meeting 38–34.
The SWAC heavyweight feud. FAMU leads the all-time series 36–26–1, and the rivalry reignited when the Rattlers joined the SWAC in 2021 — FAMU beat Southern 26–19 in 2023 on the way to the conference title. Two of Black college football's proudest programs, both with double-digit claimed national championships between them, meeting as conference rivals again.
Brewed into a real rivalry since FAMU joined the SWAC in 2021, when the Orange Blossom Classic paired them three straight years: Jackson State won 7–6 in 2021 and 59–3 in 2022, and FAMU answered 28–10 in 2023 on its title run. Jackson State leads the all-time series 12–8–2 across 22 meetings since 1961, including a walk-off Hail Mary win in Jackson in 2014. In 2024, Jackson State's 35–21 win in Jackson ended FAMU's 17-game SWAC winning streak.
🥁 The Marching 100 · since 1892
FAMU's band didn't just get famous — it wrote the playbook. Foster built the high-step, high-energy Black college show-band style from scratch, and the Hundred turned it into a brand that sells out everything from Honda Battle of the Bands to Paris runways. The name stayed long after the band outgrew it — the Hundred actually marches closer to 400 members now. It is the single most recognizable thing about the school, and everything at FAMU runs on its schedule: the fifth quarter after games is a full second show, and fans who leave at the final whistle are the ones who don't know.
Organized the original FAMU Band in 1892 — that is the program's starting line.
Held the band directorship for a single year, 1910, in the gap between Von Weller and Spearing. No other biographical details could be verified from the sources opened.
A single-year tenure in 1912, between Adderley and Lee. The band roster gives the name and year only; no other details could be verified.
Led the band through the late 1920s before it became a show band.
A four-year tenure, 1928–1932, between Arnold Lee and Leander Kirksey. The band's director roster gives the name, rank, and years only; no other details could be verified.
Held the post through the Depression and World War II.
"The Law," "The Maestro." 52 years, 30+ techniques that became national standards (double-time 240 steps/min, triple-time 360/min, the 20-steps-per-minute death-slow cadence). Took the Hundred to Paris for the 1989 Bastille Day bicentennial as America's official representative, to two Clinton inauguration parades (1993, 1997), and onto national TV for decades. Was denied a spot in the University of Kansas marching band because of his race while earning his degree there — then rewrote the entire language of the college marching band.
Foster's successor; kept the Hundred's national profile across 14 seasons.
FAMU graduate; led from May 2013 until retiring as director in 2016.
FAMU grad who studied under Foster and White; PhD from Florida State. Under his watch the Hundred played the Louis Vuitton men's show at the Louvre during 2022 Paris Fashion Week and the NBA on Prime pregame show in 2026.
All nine NPHC organizations have chapters on the Hill, and FAMU's yard culture runs hot — homecoming and the fifth quarter are as much a Greek event as a football one. Chapter designations come from the official FAMU NPHC constitution (famu.campuslabs.com), which names all nine chapters; charter dates are shown only where the national chapter rolls confirm them.
Still digging this up — check back soon.
After engineers warned the aging stadium could be declared unusable, the city-county Blueprint agency granted $10 million. Phases 1 and 2 rebuilt the west and east stands, the press box, and structural steel. The university added $18 million of its own, and the field was named Ken Riley Field for the late Rattler great.
FAMU president Larry Robinson asked the Blueprint Intergovernmental Agency for $15 million more for Phase 3 — bathrooms, concessions, elevators, lighting. The board declined an immediate payout but voted to seek the money through the Office of Economic Vitality.
A new 700-bed housing facility, funded by a $97.5 million federal loan, opened as FAMU's newest dorm — mostly double rooms with shared bathrooms in the style of FAMU Towers. To feed the extra residents, the dining hall between FAMU Towers and Venom Landing got a second-floor Dining Hub expansion.
The stadium swapped in orange-and-green LED lights that strobe through a blacked-out Bragg on touchdowns. The light show debuted during a comeback win over Albany State.
After a $30 million build, the re-established College of Law moved into its permanent downtown Orlando building — the program's first real home since the Tallahassee campus original closed in 1968.
The Tallahassee campus joined the National Register as the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical College Historic District, locking in protection for buildings like the Carnegie Library — the only Carnegie Library at a Black land-grant college.
University housing completed designs for a 500-bed residence hall on the old Paddyfote site — single and double suite styles with office, classroom, and Honors College space — plus a 200-car parking lot on the old Gibbs Hall site. It is the second leg of the master plan that started with Venom Landing.
Designs finished for an 800-bed apartment-style community on the old Palmetto North site, with 1-, 2-, and 4-bedroom units — the third leg of the plan to push FAMU toward 4,000 on-campus beds.
Truth, Gibbs, McGuinn, Diamond, and Wheatley Halls were razed to clear the way for Venom Landing and the housing expansion — ending the era of the old low-rise dorms on the Hill.
The university put more than $10 million into existing dorms: full Wi-Fi upgrades, new roofs, all-new bedroom and living-room furniture, renovated kitchens and bathrooms, new windows, and new elevators across nine residential facilities.
The 2020–2030 Campus Master Plan update was adopted — the BR-352 framework covering P3 housing town centers, stadium and athletic-field upgrades, a STEM teaching lab buildout in the Dyson building, and new food-service and parking structures through 2030.
Tiffani-Dawn Sykes, the VP/Director of Athletics who hired Colzie in 2024, had left the AD chair by late 2025 — her successor could not be verified from the sources opened. Willie Simmons, the coach who delivered the 2023 SWAC title and Celebration Bowl win, left in January 2024 for Duke.
13th president; in office since Aug 1, 2025. Former Florida Board of Education chair.
FAMU graduate and former trustee; named EVP and COO by Johnson within weeks of her taking office.
Former FAMU quarterback turned head coach; first season 2026, succeeding James Colzie III (fired Dec 2025).
Heisman Trophy winner and former FSU star; named men's basketball coach April 2025 after coaching high school ball in Texas and Florida.
Fourth permanent dean of the Orlando law school since its 2002 reopening.
Environmental scientist; FAMU president 2017–2024, now a distinguished professor in the School of the Environment.
FAMU sits on the highest of Tallahassee's seven hills, a few blocks from the state capitol, and the campus runs on pageantry: the Marching 100 sets the clock, the fifth quarter is a full second show after games, and Fried Chicken Wednesday in the cafeteria was presidential enough that Larry Robinson made it a ritual. Homecoming is the biggest week of the year — the 2025 edition was the first with a female head drum major for the Hundred. Battle cry: 'Strike, Strike, and Strike Again.'