“FAMPAC, is an organization working to inform students on the importance of the American-Israeli relationship.”
Photo Submitted by Taylor Young.
Every year, students begin new organizations or implement new programs at FAMU to start new traditions and leave legacies for others to follow.
AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, is a professional lobbying organization that lobbies Congress about different legislation concerning Israel, and it has now made its way to FAMU.
Taylar Hall and Dominque McClinton, students at FAMU, recently attended AIPAC’s 4th Annual African-American Student Retreat in Washington D.C. The conference informed the attendees on why the relationship between the U.S. and Israel is so strong and the opportunities of having the connection with Israel.
“If you don’t have a seat at the table, then you’re on the menu. As African-Americans, we have to bring the table, lay the place mats and our own chairs. I learned that just how Jewish-Americans created their own lobbying group for their homeland, we can too. We just have to strategize and work together,” Hall said.
After attending multiple AIPAC conferences, Hall decided to bring AIPAC to campus. “At the end of the conference, they charged us to bring the ideals we learned back to campus and I said OK, I want to educate my campus on what I learned from AIPAC. As African-Americans we tend to only focus on our issues, which we should, we miss out on a lot of opportunities because we are unaware of them,” Hall said.
Bringing AIPAC to campus will open new opportunities for students to meet legislators in Washington D.C, gain internships, and travel across the world to Israel.
FAMPAC, the FAMU branch of AIPAC, is now an official student organization. Hall, McClinton, Bianca Dacres and London Camel are excited to bring new traditions to “The Hill.”
“You can expect a lot of educational seminars and community engagement. The main goal is to educate our students on the American-Israeli relationship. You can also expect internship information, possibly taking students to the conferences and partnering with NOLEPAC, which is the Florida State chapter of AIPAC,” McClinton said.
The new organization has not yet had an informational meeting but you can expect one this semester.
“If you are interested in joining FAMPAC, you can follow us on Instagram @fam.pac or contact one of the fellow members and we can give you more information about it,” Camel said.