Philosophy

Problem | African-American men make up 36.5 percent of all African Americans enrolled in American colleges and make up 30 percent of all African Americans who graduate with a bachelor’s degree. When enrolled, African-American men are less likely to participate in leadership roles and less socially engaged in campus activities. If men are unmotivated academically and socially, they are more likely to dropout. Dropping out increases their chances of participating in criminal activities, decreases their chances of obtaining a high-paying job, being married or being a present and positive parent.

Solution | On the campus of Florida A&M University, there is a void that does not primarily focus on the development of the African-American man outside of fraternal entities. Creating a powerful web of rituals and traditions, norms and values that affects every corner of school life can be a device that retains and graduates more African American men. FAMU Man Rising wants to be the solution.

Purpose | The purpose of FAMU Man Rising is to secure an understanding and an appreciation of the comprehensive view of a man’s possibilities within himself. It is our hope that the initiative will be implemented as a retention tool for the holistic development and edification of the FAMU Man.

It is our collective responsibility to be the change that is needed in our families, our communities, and our nation. Therefore, as a people, we must sacrifice the old standards of mediocrity on the alter of higher learning and higher love for all mankind.

~ Johnathon Sellers
FAMU '06