Photo by Cummings
Larry Cummings, Jr. is getting ready to say good-bye.
Cummings, the resident director for Palmetto Street Apartments South, will be ending his tenure with FAMU Housing to pursue a new opportunity at Florida State University.
Cummings started working for FAMU Housing as a resident director in Gibbs Hall in 2012. When asked what he will miss the most about FAMU, Cummings pointed to the student body.
“The student interaction absolutely, our students are our foundation for housing,” Cummings said.
Jairus Williams, an elementary education major and former Gibbs Hall resident, elaborated on Cummings tenure as resident director and how he treated the students.
“Mr. Cummings treated his residents and staff just like we were one of his children,” Williams said. “Mr.Cummings made sure that we were well equipped and never without beyond his control.
“Mr. Cummings gave us life advice, relationship advice and counseling, and he took it beyond just being an RD,” Williams added.
At Gibbs Hall Cummings is also credited for creating a culture there that was welcoming and inviting to all students. Some of that was attributed by making sure Gibbs Hall was a participant in many extracurricular events on campus, such as the annual housing step show, intramural sports and even creating T-shirts with the hall’s mantra he created E.W.E (Excellence without Excuse).
“The culture that Cummings created was a welcoming, warm, inviting environment,” Williams said. “This allowed for residents and staff to be themselves and bring others to be the true Rattler that they are.”
With his successful track record as a resident director for Gibbs, Cummings was entrusted with becoming the resident director for Palmetto Streets Apartment South. At his new facility, Cummings was entrusted with trying to establish the same culture he did at Gibbs, according to one of his current resident assistants, Monique Brown he was able to do just that. She works with Cummings at Palmetto South.
“The qualities Mr. Cummings had as an RD is that he was straightforward, stern, understanding and trustworthy,” Brown said.
At FSU Cummings will take the position of business/assessment analyst for University Housing. There, his duties include administering along with creating and assessing all data for housing. He will take all feedback from students about their experience and relay that information to the administration.
Today is Cummings’ last day as a resident director for Palmetto Street Apartments South.