Florida A&M

Florida A&M University President James Ammons has announced that the school’s famed marching band is being suspended for at least one more school year as officials continue to address the hazing culture that led to the death of drum major Robert Champion. Ammons said FAMU’s Marching 100 should be suspended at least until a new […]

Florida authorities have announced charges against 13 people in the hazing death of Florida A&M University drum major and Southwest DeKalb High School graduate Robert Champion. According to CNN, the attorney for Champion’s family called the death a murder and said relatives were “disappointed” that more severe charges were not filed. Florida authorities said 11 […]

DeKalb County Schools has lifted a ban on marching band activities that it instituted in December in the wake of the hazing death of Florida A&M drum major Robert Champion, a Southwest DeKalb High School graduate. In making the announcement, DeKalb County Schools Superintendent Cheryl Atkinson said the school district will continue to look into […]

CBS News is reporting on a new twist in the Florida A&M hazing investigation, as the parents of a student who was beaten to death in November tell CBS News something previously unknown about him: Robert Champion Jr. was gay. CBS News correspondent Mark Strassmann met the parents, Robert and Pam Champion, in Orlando, Fla., […]

Florida A&M University’s president James Ammons will keep his job while authorities investigate the hazing death of Robert Champion. Today Florida A&M’s board of trustees rejected a call by Gov. Rick Scott for Ammons to be suspended. Solomon Badger, the FAMU board chairman was quoted as saying, “We will stand firm against outside interference, no […]

DeKalb County school officials have announced the suspension of all marching band activities following the alleged hazing incidents at Florida A&M University. School system officials announced Wednesday that all marching band activities in DeKalb would be suspended pending an investigation of possible inappropriate behavior among band members, alumni advisors, band directors and others. Robert Champion, […]

Police have arrested three Florida A&M band members in the beating of a woman during hazing rituals that became so severe that her thigh was broken. Tallahassee police said Monday that on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 the three struck band member Bria Shante Hunter’s legs with their fists and with a metal ruler to […]

William P. Foster, credited with innovating a much-imitated high-stepping style as founder and longtime director of the Florida A&M Marching 100 band, died Saturday. He was 91.