"Lift Every Voice and Sing" was publicly performed first as a poem as part of a celebration of Lincoln's Birthday on February 12, 1900 by 500 schoolchildren at the segregated Stanton School.
Born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1983, Barrington Irving spent his childhood in inner-city Miami, where he and his friends found little opportunity or incentive to get off the dangerous streets and pursue a professional career.
Sandra T. Thompson, Ph.D. is Interim President of Florida Memorial University, South Florida’s only Historically Black University.
Dr. Thompson began her 30-year career with Florida Memorial as a Professor of Sociology before becoming Chairperson of the Division of Social Sciences, a post she held for nine years. Her performance as Division Chair earned her a promotion to the post of Institutional Self-Study Director.
She was selected to be Florida Memorial’s first Assistant Provost in 2002. Two years later, she was promoted to Associate Provost. Then in July 2006, she became Provost.
Dr. Thompson earned her bachelor’s degree from Voorhees College in Denmark, South Carolina; her master’s degree from Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee; her certificate of French from the University of Poitier in LaRochelle, France; her Ph.D. from the University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida; and a certificate from Harvard University Graduate School of Education’s Institute of Educational Management.
She is a member of numerous civic and professional groups including Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., the National Association of Black Sociologists, and the Association of Women in Higher Education, Parents and Friends of Children with Autism, the Board of Trustees of Kinad, Inc, the African American Success Foundation (AASF), and the Institute of Black Family Life. In addition, she serves on the Board of Governors for the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce.
The University was established by, and remains closely affiliated with, the Baptist Church. However, our motto, “Leadership, Character, and Service,” emphasizes Christian values. Strong moral character, mutual respect, freedom of worship, and a commitment to serve are the hallmarks of what it means to be a Florida Memorial Lion.
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ACCREDITATION: Florida Memorial University is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and
Schools to award baccalaureates and master’s degrees. The University is also chartered by the State of Florida.
