Bethune-Cookman University President Trudie Kibbe Reed and the Marching Wildcats Band Director Donovan Wells, issued an apology yesterday on behalf of the B-CU family, and expressed regret for (potentially) inappropriate comments regarding FAMU drum majors made over the public announcement system at the Florida Classic game.
B-CU band announcer Horatio Walker concluded the Wildcats’ show by telling FAMU’s Marching 100 band to “do what you do best ‘roll over, crawl away and die.”
In an unfortunate, unrelated coincidence, 26-year-old FAMU drum major Robert Champion died shortly after his performance in the Florida Classic sparking some criticism of Walker’s earlier comments.
"These comments were made during friendly competition and were not intended to be malicious, we recognize that these words were insensitive and hurtful," Reed and Wells said.
President Reed vows to take this issue to the Florida Classic Consortium to propose a neutral screening of each team's scripts before the game begins to ensure that an incident of this nature does not happen again.
The B-CU family is distraught over the death of this young man and shares in the sorrow and the grief of his loved ones. The loss of this exceptional band member goes beyond the walls of Florida A&M and touches the hearts of every HBCU family member across the nation. We have all lost someone dear to our hearts and will keep the Champion family in our prayers through this difficult time.