Students were packed inside of Florida A&M’s Gaither Gymnasium Wednesday for FAMU’s spirit week fashion show where they got a chance to not only be at the university, but be a part of the university.
FAMU’s spirit week, Rattler Mania, is a series of events that takes place the week of the first home game intended to help first-year students become comfortable with the university. First-Year Experience Coordinator Lawrence Brown said freshman students tend to go through a lot of “transitions during their first semester.”
“It’s hard for them to recognize why they are at FAMU and what makes them a FAMU student,” Brown said. “Coming to events like this enhances their social skills and helps with their ability to identify themselves with the culture.”
Students attend seminars such as the Freshman Critical Thinking to help with academic transitions. Brown said that is exactly why some classes are implemented as well.
Anquinette Taylor, secretary of student welfare in FAMU’s Student Government Association, help host and coordinated the event. She said that SGA wanted to “improve things that aren’t good”, on behalf of the students, that they had not done before.
“We want to make sure that we better our association, so that students can feel welcome to voice their opinions. We want them to feel like this is our institution to make better, and we wanted them to hear it loud and proud,” Taylor said.
The fashion show featured FAMU organizations Faces Modeling Troupe, Images Modeling Troupe and House Arrest 2 Dance Group.
Breanna Jones, a 20-year-old graphic design student, said she hoped to see similar campus events in the future.
“I really liked it. It was very well put together,” she said.
Brown said the only thing that he would have changed was the location. He didn’t expect such a large crowd of students, but he was glad that they came.
“The organizations brought such a positive energy and the crowd fed off that,” Brown said.