FAMU will host its annual Coronation and Coronation Ball tonight, Oct. 13, during FAMU’s Homecoming. Miss FAMU 2013-2014 Camille Baker and Mr.
FAMU 2013-2014 Ronnie Mackey Jr. will officially be crowned during the glitzy
event that is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. in Lee Hall Auditorium, followed by
the ball, which will be held in the Grand Ballroom.
Connected to FAMU from birth, Baker and Mackey were destined
to become Rattlers.
Mackey, a second-generation Rattler from Tallahassee, grew
up attending football games at FAMU with his dad. He recalled seeing Charles
Wesley Lattimore, Jr., the first Mr. FAMU, recruiting and speaking to students
in the fall of 2000. Mackey says he immediately aspired to one day hold the
same title.
“It was always my dream as a little kid to become Mr. FAMU,”
said Mackey. “I wanted to help recruit students to the best historically black
university in the nation.”
As a child, Baker, a fourth-generation Rattler, would visit her grandmother, Thelma Crump Robinson, who worked in the president’s office under Dr. B.L. Perry. Baker remembered seeing orange and green everywhere in her household and became enthused by how much love her family had for their alma mater.
“After earning their
Mr. FAMU and Miss FAMU titles, the royal duo learned that Mackey’s grandmother,
Linda Thurston, introduced Baker’s parents to one another almost 30 years ago
in Orlando.
“I feel as if Ronnie and I are very connected now,” Baker
said. “To be serving with him in this capacity is truly destiny.”
Baker and Mackey credit all their success to their supporters,
friends and family who kept them motivated throughout the campaign season.
Serving on the Royal Court with Mackey and Baker are Amberly
Williams, freshmen attendant; Anquinette Taylor, sophomore attendant; Te’Andrea
Hood, junior attendant; Briana Hill, senior attendant; Ashley Lipscomb,
graduate attendant; Kevin Lee, King of Orange and Green; and Janaye Thompson,
Queen of Orange and Green.