Set Friday, a Florida A&M University tradition that originated years ago but was canceled last year due to the coronavirus, is coming to an end for the new fall semester as COVID-19 continues to rage in Tallahassee.
Set Friday started as a way for student entrepreneurs to show and sell what they had to offer from noon to 4 p.m. As the years progressed it turned into the main social event of the week for students to unwind and have a good time with classmates while listening to music.
On Friday, the first and last Set Friday of the semester was held, causing a mix of emotions for upperclassmen who have enjoyed the weekly tradition since their freshman year. It was also a poignant event for the freshmen and sophomores who had yet to take in Set Friday.
Mahogany Miles, a senior public relations major, gave her thoughts on the cancelation of Set Friday.
“Being that I am a senior, I’ve had my time to experience Set and enjoy my classmates and the good times that come with being out here. It is unfortunate that the new classes won’t be able to experience this every Friday like I did but at least they can say they have been to one Set Friday if we never have it again due to COVID-19,” she said.
Toward the end of Set Friday, a fight broke out between two young men that caused the Set to be shut down earlier than expected.
The altercation was prolonged because little to no security was around to break up the fight. The DJ took initiative and paused the music and that is when the crowd of students began to disperse and see that it was time to go.
Tylasia James, a freshman business student, was not too pleased with the way her first Set Friday ended.
“It doesn’t make sense to me as to why people are fighting. This is our first and last Set for the time being and people want to make decisions to have this canceled early. Before the fight, I was having a really good time but now it’s time to go and I’m a little aggravated that it stopped like this,” she said.
Due to the unknown of what COVID-19 has in store for us in the future, another Set Friday for the next semester is hard to think about at this moment.