By Jena Roberts
Early’s Kitchen is the Tallahassee spot for breakfast. Located on the Southside, the Black-owned restaurant draws patrons from miles around the capital city. The David Jolly/ Gwen Graham team stopped by at the invitation of Leon County Commissioner Bill Proctor and was greeted by a packed house of folks looking for answers.
What they heard went beyond fixing the affordability crisis. Jolly raised the issue most avoid: the institutional neglect of Florida A&M University and the use of diversity, equity and inclusion as an asset to elevate communities.
“There was something I didn’t know before this campaign—FAMU had more National Merit Scholars than Harvard. That illustrates why we talk about the impact and importance of diversity and of investing in all communities,” Jolly said. He added, “FAMU should be celebrated not just as an HBCU, but it should be a flagship university of the state of Florida. This is an institution with a legacy of excellence, opportunity and leadership that deserves to be celebrated and invested in, not targeted by political ideology. “
The idea of giving FAMU flagship status did not sit well with Florida Board of Governors Chairman Alan Levine, who suggested it would upend the BOG. No friend to FAMU, Levine accused Jolly of having a phony interest in the institution.
The University of Florida and FAMU are the state’s only land-grant universities. That land-grant status is rewarded with millions of federal dollars that are supposed to be matched by the state.
Jolly told the crowd that the Republican-controlled legislature and the governor have failed to fully fund the state portion of the federal land-grant match requirement. “The state decided to withhold $2 billion in funding. Two billion dollars in funding for a school that had more National Merit Scholars than Harvard! Why? Because the other side of the aisle is the one that’s handcuffed by convictions about DEI, and they’re all wrong.”
After breakfast, Jolly and Graham attended FAMU’s convocation. During her remarks, President Marva Johnson commended the Florida Legislature and the governor for their generosity to FAMU. Clearly, that’s not how FAMU alumni and friends see it.
“Look, I might not look like the typical candidate that’s going to be the fighter and champion of FAMU, but I promise you when Gwen and I are elected, we will be a fighter and champion for FAMU,” Jolly pledged.
