Florida A&M University’s suspension of the Marching 100 has been lifted, Interim president Larry Robinson announced this morning.
“When considering all of the measures we have put in place, I believe this constitutes us having the right conditions,” Robinson said.
FAMU’s new Director of Marching and Pep Bands, Dr. Sylvester Young, will decide when the band is ready for public performances. Young said at a news conference, it is too soon to say when that will be. He said there is a lot of work to be done to get a new band ready.
“We’ll see. We are moving in the right direction,” he said.
The band had been suspended from performing, practicing or meeting for 19 months, since the November 2011 hazing death of drum major Robert Champion on a band bus following the Florida Classic football game in Orlando. Champion’s death put a spotlight on a pervasive culture of hazing at the university, leading to the retirement of longtime band director Julian White and the remaking of the famed band. Young was hired as the new director of bands in May.
The specter of hazing also led to the resignation of former FAMU President James H. Ammons last July, the same day the Champion family filed an ongoing wrongful-death lawsuit against the university. Read Full
