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span>RLANDO, Fla. — From the time Robert Champion was a 6-year-old kid watching his first parade, he knew his destiny. Awestruck at the sight of a drum major leading a band along the streets of Atlanta, the boy began to beg his parents for any kind of musical instrument he could get his hands on.
Then he took a broom handle and marched around his driveway, choreographing his steps to a tune only he could hear.
He was a natural.
"When he performed, he would come alive on that field," his mother, Pamela Champion, said. "He used to tell the younger students that you had to do your best — and then you had to do better. You had to outdo yourself."
Champion, who was working to put himself through college at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, sent his parents a photo from his last performance Nov. 19 in Orlando, at the Florida Classic football game between FAMU and longtime rival Bethune-Cookman University. In it, Champion is poised in full dress on the field, lunging to one side to meet the gaze of a pint-sized drum major from a child’s band.
"This picture says so much," Champion texted. "It’s like I’m looking at myself."
It was the last time his parents would hear from their 26-year-old son. Hours later, he was dead after what authorities said was an apparent hazing ritual aboard a parked band bus. A panicky band mate told a 911 operator that Champion had vomited and then lost consciousness. Some claim he had been repeatedly punched in the stomach.
His death has sparked a national uproar over hazing, which a growing number of students say was part of the culture at FAMU and other schools where powerhouse marching bands carry more prestige than winning football teams. The Florida Board of Governors, Orange County Sheriff’s Office and Florida Department of Law Enforcement, as well as the university, have vowed to investigate. Already, longtime FAMU band director Julian White has been fired — a move he is protesting.
White as well as current and former band mates attended Champion’s funeral in Decatur, Ga., last week, where they saluted him and spoke of his gentle, gracious nature and great talent."
more after the link
http://news.bostonherald....home&position=recent
Then he took a broom handle and marched around his driveway, choreographing his steps to a tune only he could hear.
He was a natural.
"When he performed, he would come alive on that field," his mother, Pamela Champion, said. "He used to tell the younger students that you had to do your best — and then you had to do better. You had to outdo yourself."
Champion, who was working to put himself through college at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, sent his parents a photo from his last performance Nov. 19 in Orlando, at the Florida Classic football game between FAMU and longtime rival Bethune-Cookman University. In it, Champion is poised in full dress on the field, lunging to one side to meet the gaze of a pint-sized drum major from a child’s band.
"This picture says so much," Champion texted. "It’s like I’m looking at myself."
It was the last time his parents would hear from their 26-year-old son. Hours later, he was dead after what authorities said was an apparent hazing ritual aboard a parked band bus. A panicky band mate told a 911 operator that Champion had vomited and then lost consciousness. Some claim he had been repeatedly punched in the stomach.
His death has sparked a national uproar over hazing, which a growing number of students say was part of the culture at FAMU and other schools where powerhouse marching bands carry more prestige than winning football teams. The Florida Board of Governors, Orange County Sheriff’s Office and Florida Department of Law Enforcement, as well as the university, have vowed to investigate. Already, longtime FAMU band director Julian White has been fired — a move he is protesting.
White as well as current and former band mates attended Champion’s funeral in Decatur, Ga., last week, where they saluted him and spoke of his gentle, gracious nature and great talent."
more after the link
http://news.bostonherald....home&position=recent
