Building

ty’s wishes,” Richardson said.Richardson said Sen. Al Lawson, D-Tallahassee, agreed that naming the building after both pioneers is the only option. “I spoke to Sen. Lawson, and we agreed that would be the best compromise,” Richardson said.Melissa Durham, Lawson’s chief legislative assistant, confirmed that Richardson and Lawson mutually decided on the name of the new journalism building.”The senator worked out an agreement with Rep. Richardson to name the buildingGorham/Ruggles,” she said.Gorham worked for publications such as the Pittsburgh Courier and Jet Magazine.”She [Gorham] was considered by many to be a pioneer because she was one of the few African-American women who worked in the field of journalism during that time,” said James Hawkins, interim dean for the School of Journalism and Graphic Communication. Ruggles was instrumental in building FAMU’s journalism program and the new journalism building. FAMU’s School of Journalism is the first accredited journalism program at an HBCU.Five other buildings would be named by HB 327. They are FSU’s Student LifeBuilding as the Reubin O”D Askew Student Life Center; the new FSU residence hallcomplex as Sherrill Williams Ragans Hall, the FSU College of Medicine as theJohn E. Thrasher Building, the FSU developmental research school as the StanMarshall Developmental Research School, and USF’s Coquina Hall as the H. WilliamHeller Hall.

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