TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — FAMU is known for setting a standard of Excellence with Caring, and it's that excellence that alumni like Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms exemplify when they return to the highest of seven hills for homecoming.
"We are brilliant, we are hard-working, we are the examples of what can be when you give students the appropriate resources and attention," says Bottoms.
Before she became Atlanta's top legislator, Mayor Bottoms Graduated from FAMU's Schools of Journalism and Graphic Communications. She and other graduates returned Thursday to engage with students.
Bottoms emphasized the importance of hard work and forging one's own path to success, lessons students like senior Aliyah Terry took to heart.
"They were really motivating me to just go for it, take the risk, and that's something that I can really hold myself back from doing just putting myself out there, doing the work," said Terry.
The panel, part of SJGC's annual Grads Are Back lineup. Professor Kenneth Jones says it's "definitely one of those things that shows the impact of FAMU not only in journalism but in our community as a whole."
Mayor Bottoms says those impacts are far-reaching.
"There are thousands of Rattlers, the Rattler army, across the country, doing extraordinary things," Bottoms says.
Bottoms shared the panel with Disney public relations director Yolanda Cade and MSNBC executive producer Denise Hendricks, both also FAMU graduates.
