Last year, FAMU interim President Castell V. Bryant ordered that only full-time FAMU students be allowed to participate in the band, which, at the time, had included students from nearby Florida State University and Tallahassee Community College. About 40 students were released after that directive.
Whatever the number of band members, White says it will do nothing to hinder the group’s performances.
“Our performances are not predicated on numbers, and so there will not be any diminishing in the quality of the band’s performances,” he says. “If we have a certain number of students, we chart for that number. That’s whatever formation we do. If we make F-A-M-U on the field to play the alma mater, we can do it for 120 [people], we can do it for 300.”
— By Marlon A. Walker
© Copyright 2005 by DiverseEducation.com
