History
The Florida African-American Student Association, Inc. (F.A.A.S.A.) was founded in 1976 with the purpose of developing, implementing, intensifying and perpetuating a complete program to identify and address educational, economic and cultural concerns of students of African descent. F.A.A.S.A. represents over 60,000 students in colleges and universities throughout the state of Florida.
F.A.A.S.A. consists of five regions:
Region I (Bay, Escambia, Jackson, Leon, Madison, Okaloosa, and Walton counties), Region II (Alachua, Duval, Putnam, Columbia, and St. John counties), Region III (Brevard, Lake, Marion, Orange, and Volusia counties), Region IV (Pasco, Pinellas, Highlands, Hillsborough Polk, Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte, and Lee counties), and Region V (Broward, Dade, Monroe, Palm Beach, and St. Lucie counties).
FAASA was born in the spring of 1976 under the name of the Florida Black Student Union.
It was founded by six institutions: Florida A&M University, Florida Atlantic University, Florida A&M University, Florida Atlantic University, Hillsborough Community College, Indian River Community College, Palm Beach Community College, and St. Petersburg Junior College.
African-American students at private colleges and universities had previously initiated similar meetings, however, they were regional, rather than statewide, and these meetings tented to focus on the problems and concerns of African-American students at predominantly European-American Institutions. The FBSU’s first official meeting represented the first statewide effort to unite African-American students throughout the state of Florida to include public and private institutions.
The first FBSU President’s Conference was held that same year at the University of Central Florida. This set the precedent for holding two major annual meetings; the Presidential Conference in the fall and The State Convention in the spring. Attendance more than doubled in 1977 when fifteen institutions were represented at Boca Raton.
The 1980’s began with the Association being chartered and changing its name from the Florida Black Student Union to The Florida Black Student Association. During the same period, FBSA set forth it’s “PACE Plan” to promote Political Activism, Academic excellence, Cultural Awareness, and Economic empowerment.
In 1983 One of the mist significant strides in our history occurred when FBSA staged a Black Student Survival Rally and members marched from FAMU to the State Capitol to present grievance to the Florida Legislature. This demonstration of unity reflects very accurately the original theme and left a memorable impression on the legislators who still readily acknowledge the concerns presented by FBSA.
The Fourteenth Annual State Convention in 1989 Convention was among the biggest and the best. Delegates in attendance voted to change the organization’s name to The Florida African-American Student Association, Inc. In addition, the organization adopted a new logo at this meeting.
While numerous other changes to enhance the organization occurred, perhaps the most noteworthy is the incorporation of the sister organization, The Florida African-American Student Association Development Foundation, Inc. This foundation was formed for the purpose of generating grants, fellowships, and scholarships for eligible institutional chapter members.
