Florida A&M University’s Royal Court organized an event on November 6, where Mister FAMU Miles Howard, Miss FAMU Edwina Fleuridor, and other members of the Royal Court offered free hugs to students on campus. The initiative was designed to boost morale and remind students that small gestures can have a positive impact.
Miss Junior Delya Harris explained the motivation behind the event: “We’re giving out hugs because you never know when someone’s having a bad day. Someone might be stressed. Someone might be feeling down, and all they really need is just a hug. We’re hoping that one hug might have made someone’s day a little better.”
Harris noted that this activity is part of the Royal Court’s weekly outreach efforts, an idea developed by Fleuridor and Howard to increase campus engagement. “It was kind of a random thought that we just decided to execute,” she said. “We just wanted to make sure our campus was feeling good and surrounded by positivity.”
Howard said the tradition draws inspiration from previous Royal Court members: “This was Miss FAMU’s idea. We went off what we’ve seen in the past from our former Queen and King of Orange and Green, Demi Howard and Isaiah Clayborn. They did something similar, so we were like, let’s do free hugs and continue to show love to the campus, not just stop after we win”.
He also described how the Royal Court organizes various community-focused activities each week: “We try to do different things to keep the campus engaged,” he said. “Earlier this week, we did a trash cleanup, and tomorrow we’ll be at the volleyball game. We just want to keep the energy going and stay connected with the student body.”
Fleuridor emphasized that kindness does not require grand gestures: “I feel like giving back doesn’t always have to be extravagant,” she explained. “Sometimes the simple things like a hug go a long way. When I hug my friends, it really makes their day better. So, I thought, why not share that same energy with the entire campus?”
