President Larry Robinson and a delegation of university officials travelled to Washington, D.C. for a pre-closing ceremony.
FAMU requested a $125M loan. The construction of the residence halls is estimated at a total cost of $60 million, which consists of $54.5 million for planning, equipment, soft costs, and building construction, $2.8 million for utility infrastructure and $2.7 million for a dining facility. It plans to use the rest of the funds to restructure its debt on FAMU Village and pay for maintenance on its current dorms.
Back in 2018, FAMU became eligible to participate in the HBCU Capital Financing Program after the passage of “Postsecondary Revenue Bonds and Debt” sponsored by Rep. Ramon Alexander, D-Tallahassee, and Sen. Bill Montford, D-Tallahassee.
At the pre-closing ceremony, the delegation from FAMU including: Delores Glover, Senior Grants Specialist, Title III; William Hudson Jr., Vice President of Student Affairs; Barbara Cohen Pippin, Governmental Relations Director; Wanda Ford, Chief Financial Officer; David C. Self, Associate General Counsel; and Kathy Y. Times, Chief Communications Officer. The FAMU NAA officers who were present were: Artisha R. Polk, NAA Corresponding Secretary and Northeast Region Vice President; Michael O. Dixon, Northeast Region 2nd Vice President; Leslie Taylor, Northeast Region Governmental Relations Chair; and Jewell Reddick, Washington, DC Chapter General Counsel.
Vincent Evans, scheduler for U.S. Rep. Alfred “Al” Lawson, FL-5, also participated in the ceremony.