FAMU Student Government Buys Buses for $450,000
By Kendra Anderson -- Black College Wire   

The Florida A&M Student Government Association recently purchased two charter buses for recruitment trips and other SGA activities.

According to an official news release from the Office of Communications, the buses cost $450,000 and were funded by the 2008 Activities and Service Carry Forward Funds once it was approved by the FAMU Board of Trustees.

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famu.edu
One of FAMU's SGA buses

The personalized buses, displaying the FAMU logo and an enormous rattler colored with orange and green, each seat 56 passengers and will allow SGA its own mode of transportation alleviating the cost of renting buses when traveling with students.

The recruitment team has used the new transportation already when it traveled to Tampa for a recruitment fair, and for recruitment activities during the recent 30th Annual Florida Classic in Orlando.

SGA Officials, FAMU Connection, Presidential Ambassadors, FAMU Royal Court and Representatives from the FAMU Office of Student Affairs make up the recruitment team.

Dean Henry Kirby, associate vice president of student affairs, said in a press release that the buses would also promote FAMU as SGA travels to different areas in and out of Florida.

“FAMU is a brand, and to have these bright buses pulling into cities in North Carolina, Alabama and even across Florida will increase the visibility of FAMU as we continue to recruit the best and brightest students,” Kirby said.

FAMU students were able to see the new buses as they parked alongside the Set.  

“I had an opportunity to get on one of the buses when they arrived on campus and I was just in awe,” said Brandon Hill, a third-year philosophy student from Lake City. “I think they will be a wonderful addition. The buses stand out when they are parked, so I know that while traveling on the interstate, they will have a great impact.”

Kendra Anderson writes for The Famuan, the Florida A&M University student newspaper, which originally published this article.

Posted Nov. 24, 2009