Stop the Music

College of Love and Charity/We gather round thy humble shrine/We lift our voice in praise to thee/ And ask a blessing all divine/FAMU! FAMU, I love thee/We'll fight and win wheree'er the battle be/The orange and the green, thy sons shall ever defend/And loyal to thy voice of love attend/FAMU! F-AAA-MMMUUUU! FAMU/ I love thee!!

If you know these words by heart, you're an old school Rattler like me (Class of '99). It always sounds so beautiful when the symphonic band plays it. Makes me want to shed a tear sometimes when we get to the FAMU I love thee part. Right now, our alma mater means more than ever to us. FAMU is at the forefront of a crisis - one caused by alleged hazing. Our little school has been pushed into the national spotlight for a very bad reason. Robert Champion, a drum major for my alma mater FAMU, has died after performing at the Florida Classic - the game we play against Bethune-Cookman for those who don't know. Being on campus at FAMU, one hears the band in their constant practice, a lone student playing an instrument as they stroll to class, percussionists yelling cadences, tubas practicing. FAMU's campus is a musical one. If you live in a 10-mile radius of FAMU, you can hear the band. With this death, the band has been silenced. And campus is a different place. There is a heavy silence on campus. A sad silence. We hurt for Mr. Champion's family and we hurt for our beloved institution.

Being in the Marching 100 is no easy task. Imagine practicing in heavy costumes in 100+ degree heat, dancing with HEAVY instruments, having to be precise, knowing just when to flip your cymbal, doing the "death march", etc. That, my friends, would be enough of a hazing for me. I am not an alumnus of the Marching 100, but I do know they work hard and I do know they hold themselves to excellence. We set the standard and standard setters can't mess up. Even with 400 some odd people, no one better be out of sync and no one better not be out of step. Drum majors better not drop the baton. And this is where the problem comes in. If you make these mistakes, there will be hell to pay later. I'm supposing this was the case for Robert Champion - a personable man that I somewhat knew as he always participated in band camp. My coworker and I are charged with the task of fingerprinting all band members that participate in the band camp (a task I hate). Mr. Champion would come in, make small talk, thank me, and I'd tell him to have a good day. That was the extent of our interaction - but he did stand out to me. Probably because I had dealt with other band members I didn't like or just flat-out couldn't stand because of their arrogance. Or maybe because I wondered aloud how he got the last name Champion :). But Mr. Champion was always a smiling face that tried to get me to smile when I didn't want to see another band member or instrument walk through that door. It still makes no sense that he's gone, a family's holiday is ruined, and FAMU is now a headline.

The Marching 100 has been silenced. There are tons of Floridians out there whose dream is to march in the 100. In HBCU culture, the band is the showpiece of the universe. You get excited when you see the drum majors. They are representatives of the school. Little kids even dress up like them and try doing the splits :). Football games are never to actually watch the team, but to see who will "win" the halftime show. Silencing a HBCU band is also like silencing the school. I wonder how many people are changing their minds about attending FAMU, how many innocent parties have had scholarships placed on hold, and how FAMU will fare through all of this. Robert Champion put on the orange and green and "showed up and showed out" for FAMU. He should still be here to do that. At the end of the day, he was a part of our "FAMUly." Just like anyone who wears the orange and green, knows that FAMU is the College of Love and Charity, and believes in Excellence with Caring is. Rattlers, it's nation time. We must stick together now more than ever and support our school while honoring Mr Champion's death. RIP Robert Champion. March on. Lead on. Continue to be a champion...

To all my Rattlers out there, I'll leave you with this:

RATTLER!! RATTLERATION! We're the rattlers of the nation! When we fight with determination, we create a SENSATION!!