Joy in Bloom: FAMU Sends Off the Fall Class of 2025, Kristin Harper Keynotes

December 13, 2025

Students

By Rachel James-Terry

Graduate bursting with smiles and laughter accepting her degree. — Under the Lights, FAMU’s Fall 2025 Graduates Took Their Bow

The Alfred Lawson Center at Florida A&M University (FAMU) was packed with anticipation and bursting with a contagious excitement for the Fall 2025 Commencement ceremony held on Friday, Dec. 12. Heels clicked and clacked across the floor, and tassels waited to be turned as 696 graduates waited to cross the stage and head into their destinies.

President Johnson Presiding Over Her First FAMU Commencement

For the first time, President Marva B. Johnson, J.D., presided over commencement as FAMU’s 13th president, guiding graduates forward while grounding them firmly in the university’s 138-year legacy.

Welcoming one and all to the space was Student Government Association President and Student Trustee Zayla Bryant.

“Today, we gather not only to celebrate academic achievement, but to honor the spirit, resilience and brilliance that defines FAMU,” she told the audience. The Atlanta native and fourth-year business administration student described the evening as a true "celebration of excellence," shaped by community just as much as their academic pursuits.

“This ceremony is especially close to my heart. As I look across the arena, I don’t just see graduates. I see friends. I see mentors. I see line sisters, brothers and peers. I see the people who grew with me on the Hill,” Bryant said. “People who pushed me, supported me, challenged me, and reminded me of who I wanted to become. I see people who have shaped me in ways big and small. And because I knew them, I have been changed for good.”

The Fall 2025 class comprised 566 bachelor's, 94 master's, 21 doctoral, and 15 juris doctoral candidates, with an average GPA of 3.16. Thirty-six students graduated with perfect 4.0 GPAs, while hundreds more earned Latin honors. They hailed from 21 states, represented multiple generations, and proved that there is no single pathway for success at FAMU, only follow-through.

President Marva B. Johnson, J.D. Smiling at Commencment Podium

President Johnson stood at the podium with a beaming smile that never disappeared. FAMU, she reminded the crowd, is the No. 1 public HBCU in America for the seventh consecutive year and a Top 100 national public university.

“You are graduating at an extraordinary time in FAMU’s history,” she said. “Rattlers can do anything. That’s not a slogan. That’s a fact – proven by 138 years of graduates who walked across this stage and then walked into boardrooms, operating rooms, courtrooms, newsrooms, and classrooms to change the world.”

She spoke of a university building a culture of competitive excellence. Not just in the classroom, but in research, athletics, and every space where Rattlers show up to compete. “You've been trained by faculty who are leaders in their fields. You've been tested by a curriculum that demands excellence. And you've been shaped by an institution that has always believed….that you belong at the highest levels — spring boarding from the Highest of Seven Hills,” said President Johnson.

Lessons in Faith, Action, Mentorship and U

Earlier in the evening, President Johnson introduced keynote speaker FAMU alumna and trustee Kristin Harper, celebrating her own 30th anniversary as a Rattler. Framed around an acronym that spelled FAMU, Harper guided graduates through lessons on Faith, Action, Mentorship, and ultimately, U (You).

Her message was layered with a little history and humor, and a lot of hard-earned wisdom. She reminded graduates that faith is not abstract at FAMU.

“From 1887 to this very day, we’ve come this far by faith,” she said, tracing the university’s origins from its earliest days with 15 students and two teachers to its present-day stature as a national force in social mobility, research, and innovation. She reminded graduates that faith showed up when financial aid was delayed, when papers were written on lunch breaks, when exhaustion whispered quitting would be easier.

“That was faith,” she said. “And you’re standing here today as proof that it still works.”

But Harper was quick to clarify that faith alone does not build futures.

“Faith will show you the mountain,” she said. “Action enables the climb.”

She urged graduates to move with intention. To create rather than consume. To shape moments instead of waiting for them. Action, she explained, is woven into the DNA of Rattlers. It's why the university exists at all. Ordinary people making bold decisions and taking extraordinary risks.

“If there’s no space for you at the table,” said Harper, CEO of Driven to Succeed. “bring a folding chair. Or better yet, build a whole new table.”

You’ll Never Meet A Stranger

Harper challenged graduates to move boldly, create what doesn’t exist, and refuse to wait for permission. The M, she emphasized, was for Mentorship, and it was not optional. It is the engine of the FAMU experience. She described the university as an annuity. An investment that pays dividends for life through its alumni network.

She then rattled off a list of influential alumni, including former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, journalist Vaughn Wilson, actress Anika Noni Rose and comedian and author Roy Wood Jr.

“When you’re a Rattler,” she said, “you should never start at first base in life.”

She shared stories of meeting lifelong friends in dorm rooms, landing global internships alongside fellow Rattlers, and launching businesses supported by alumni. She talked about her daughter, who had graduated from FAMU the previous year, and her exploration of Japan. With one phone call, Harper was able to connect her with a fellow Rattler also in Japan.

The message was clear. FAMU is not a chapter you close. It is a network you activate.

And finally, Harper arrived at the U.

She urged graduates to be upright, undeniable, unshakeable, and unapologetically themselves. To live by design, not default. To reserve the right to change their minds. And above all, to remember that wherever they go, they carry FAMU with them.

Harper told graduates to resist the pull of conformity, sharing advice that has guided her own journey.

“A mentor once told me, whatever 98% of people are doing, do the opposite,” she said, encouraging the class to embrace the uncommon path. She challenged them to become “two percenters” who blaze trails, break molds, and live as proof that “ordinary is optional.”

She also emphasized the importance of inner steadiness, reminding graduates that strength is not always loud. “Stand your ground with grace,” Harper said, noting that not every challenge deserves a response. “Sometimes the strongest move is to stay still and let time reveal what truth already knows.”

Progress, she explained, may ebb and flow, but purpose must remain constant. “Progress may slow, but it can never stop,” she said, telling graduates to remain “unshakeable” and “unstoppable,” even when fear, doubt, or difficulty attempt to stall their momentum.

“And I leave you with this: be ubiquitous because everywhere you go, every boardroom, every stage, every lab, every company, every city, every country, you represent, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University,” she said.

At that, the audience joined her in unison, reciting the university chant: “October 3, 1887. Whattttttttttt?”

A Moment of Silence

The most emotional moment of the evening came when Johnson paused the ceremony to confer a posthumous degree upon the family of Mardochee Simon, a psychology major from Fort Myers, Florida, whose life was cut short just days before commencement.

As his mother and father stood before the crowd, his mother, overcome with grief, was unable to speak as tears streamed down her face. One by one, nearly everyone in attendance stood, offering a sustained standing ovation that felt less like applause and more like a hug of support.

In that moment, the Lawson Center was a room united in collective loss and the unbreakable bond between FAMU and its students. It was a reminder that while commencement celebrates triumph, it also honors those whose journeys were unfinished but never forgotten.

A FAMU family displays DIY signage for their loved one.

The Final Charge to the Class of 2025

Once every graduate had been acknowledged with their name called and a ceremonial walk across the stage, President Johnson returned to the podium to deliver the final charge, and her words felt like both affirmation and ignition.

Whatever industry they were entering, they carried something others did not. A FAMU education. Training from faculty who are leaders in their fields. A curriculum that demands excellence. And an institution that believed in them, even when the world did not.

President Marva B. Johnson J.D. Fall 2025 Commencement

“So, here’s what I want you to do,” she said. “Think big. Act bold.”

She urged graduates to reject what feels "reasonable" and embrace what feels audacious. To build bridges using one of the most powerful alumni networks in the world. And when they reached positions of influence, they reach back and bring others forward.

“Stay connected to FAMU,” she added. “This institution invested in you. As you rise, invest back.”

In her closing moments, President Johnson addressed the families who cheered until they were hoarse and the faculty and staff who poured into these students day after day. Then she turned back to the graduates one final time.

“The world is full of people who will tell you what you can’t do,” she said. “Ignore them.”

“You are Rattlers. You come from a lineage of doers, builders, and barrier-breakers. There is no room you cannot enter. No goal you cannot achieve. No dream too big for you to pursue.”

Congratulations, Fall 2025 graduates. FAMU is behind you, today and always.

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