Tallahassee students and national leaders in business, academia, media and education will come together this weekend to discuss major issues affecting America’s students.
The Florida A&M Student Government Association will host the State of Black Student Summit Sunday at FAMU’s Alfred Lawson Jr. Multipurpose Center and Teaching Gymnasium.
“This summit is an awesome idea because of the cultural awareness it provides us,” said SGA Vice President Troy Harris 21, from Decatur, Ga. “There are many things going on that are built to empower us in today’s society.”
Only FAMU, Florida State or Tallahassee Community College students can enter for free. Everyone else must pay $5.
Harris said there is a need to excite students around an event that explores social issues that affect them. “The most popular music is whack, technology is gluing us to the couch, and being cool just aint cool no more. We’re in the most important stage of our lives. We need this,” he said.
The goal of the summit is to raise awareness about national and global issues that affect minority communities.
The keynote speaker is Grammy-Award-winning recording artist and long time philanthropist John Legend.
Along with Legend other panelist include Omar Tyree, New York Times best-selling author; Carmen Wong Ulrich, MSNBC and CNN contributor; Marc Lamont Hill, author and television host; Dr. Jaquelyn Del Rosario, marriage counselor; Eve Wright, Vice President and associate general counsel for Miami Heat; Marc Williams, sports marketing pioneer and pop culture expert and actor and activist Devin T. Robinson X aka “Egypt.”
“I think this is a great way as students to get our voices heard. It’s not often that we get a chance to interact with some big entrepreneurs such as Omar Tyree or the phenomenal John Legend,” said Phillip Washington, a senior health science and pre-physical therapy student from Charleston, S.C.
A meet and greet session is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. at the FAMU School of Journalism and Graphic Communication followed by two workshops in the SGJC Lecture Hall prior to the summit.
Workshop topics include: “What you would do if you could not fail?” focusing on careers in music, sports, entertainment and marketing.
“Young Millionaires Roundtable,” is another workshop scheduled for 1:45 p.m.
“I recall FAMU doing a summit back in 2009 and that was a great experience. I can’t wait to attend this one,” said Jessica Jenkins, a senior accounting student from Clearwater.