Terica Williams, the FAMU grad who appeared to have posed nude in front of the Rattler statue in the spring, will get her master's degree after all. Shortly after Williams’ photo went viral creating a barnstorm of controversy, the university launched an investigation and held up granting her degree.
Williams pleaded her case before a university internal hearing committee in September which ruled in her favor. Her attorney David Kubiliun argued withholding her degree violated her First Amendment right of expression. He and fellow attorney Scott Egleston said despite her appearance, Williams wasn’t even naked when she took the photo: She was wearing a nude-colored bodysuit.
“When she took that picture there was no one around the campus. So, it’s not like she disrupted school functions, which is what the school initially said,” Kubiliun noted. “Secondly, that she violated a law, which was confirmed by the FAMU police department that she was not in any violation of any Florida statute.”
“I took one (a photo) next to the snake statute that represents me shedding like a snake into my new chapter,” Williams said.
She is anticipating receiving her diploma soon so she can show it to potential employers after not being able to apply for months because she didn’t have it.