1964 FAMU graduate celebrates golden anniversary during grandson's graduation

FAMU’s spring 2014 commencement represented many milestones for the institution. It was President Elmira Mangum’s first commencement exercise at the helm of the university, it was an emotional homecoming for Microsoft Chairman and FAMU alumnus John W. Thompson (who addressed the graduates along with ESSENCE Editor-at-Large Mikki Taylor) and it marked the 50th anniversary of FAMU’s class of 1964.

Among the nearly 50 alums commemorating their golden anniversary during the May 3 commencement, was one alumna whose family reached a milestone of its own. Jewel Boller watched proudly as her grandson Aaron Smith received his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice 50 years after she paved the way. Smith represents the third generation of Boller’s family to complete their education at FAMU.

“It feels absolutely great,” said Boller, who was nearly speechless after seeing Smith walk the commencement stage. “I am looking forward to his future.”

Smith, who plans to pursue a career in law enforcement, said that his grandmother served as the primary inspiration for not only attending FAMU, but also ensuring that he successfully completed a degree program that would allow him to impact others.

To him, Boller is the personification of perseverance as she successfully launched her nursing career in Pensacola, Fla. during the end of the Jim Crow Era and in the same year of the passage of the Civil Rights Act.

“She’s a real role model, and through it all she held our family together,” said Smith, a former FAMU baseball player. “It just feels nice that we both get to share this moment together.”

Boller’s daughter and Smith’s mother Audrey Boller-Johnson, a 1990 FAMU College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences graduate, said watching her mother commemorate her time at FAMU, and seeing her son complete his degree program, reminded her of just how important FAMU’s role in higher education is.

“The character that FAMU develops in its students is what prepared, encouraged and made [our family] determined to stand strong and proud in the workplace and society,” said Boller-Johnson, whose two other sons Trenton and Jeff Johnson are also Rattlers. Trenton is currently a second-year business administration student at FAMU and Jeff attended FAMU before joining the armed forces.

While Boller and her family prepare to groom its next generation of Rattlers – Smith says he plans to one day raise children whom he hopes will also attend FAMU – their recent milestone exemplifies one of the pearls of wisdom commencement speaker Mikki Taylor delivered.

“Legacy building is a responsibility that we all must have.”