What Happened to Robert Darnell Champion, Drum Major at FAMU?
An Interview with Robert’s loving parents, Pam and Robert Champion, compiled by StopHazing.
Note: The following is a narrative and direct quotes shared in an interview with Pam and Robert Champion. The content is emotional, raw, and may contain material that may be harmful or (re)traumatizing to some readers.
Q: What Happened to Robert Champion?
A: “The night of November 19, 2011, five days before Thanksgiving, was the night everything changed and nothing would ever be the same for our family.
There was nothing in the big book of life experiences that could have prepared us for the traumatizing events that followed.
On that Saturday night in November, after the Florida Classic football game in Orland, Florida, our only son was viciously and brutally beaten to death on a bus chartered by band and alumni members of the Florida A&M University (FAMU) band. Our son, Robert Darnell Champion, was a drum major in the FAMU Marching 100, a marching band with a history of condoned cruelty and violence for well over half a century.
It took the killing of our son, Robert, an outspoken critic of the violence in the band, and a stickler for following rules, to expose dark secrets of the Florida A&M University Marching 100.
There is a lot to learn from the failures, lies, negligence, and lack of accountability following Robert’s death. As a family, we are determined to expose and challenge mindsets to ensure no other educational institutions choose to follow or continue following that same path but instead commit to student safety and well-being.”
Q: Who was Robert Champion?
A: “Robert Darnell Champion, who we lovingly refer to as, ‘Rob, the one that marched to his own beat,’ was unique and different from everyone else in our family. He had a gentle and quiet presence about him that made us (and others) feel safe, comforted, and loved whenever he was around.
Robert embodied the best qualities found in a loving, caring, and sensitive soul. In addition to his love for music, he was a lover of people and believer in God. It is because of his beliefs that he never met a stranger, and he referred to everyone as his friend. Although he stood large in stature, his mannerisms were kind, compassionate, encouraging, and supportive. He was a caregiver, a servant, and a protector. He had an easy, laid back, and amazing approach to life, especially about things that were outside of his control. He always used to say to me, ‘Ah mama, it just ain’t that serious.’”
Q: Where Did Robert’s Love for Music Begin?
A: “Robert was a young man gifted with a love for music and the desire to share that love of music with others. While attending his first parade in downtown Atlanta, at five years old, Robert was mesmerized by the sound of music from the various bands, but especially the performance of the Morris Brown College’s Marching Wolverine drum majors. He referred to them as ‘gentlemen’ due to their uniform design. From that moment forward his love and his dreams were rooted in music, dancing, performing, and sharing his passion with others.
Robert first began making music with our pots, pans, and cooking utensils. To make his imaginary drum major outfit – like the ‘gentlemen’ – he used our towels to make capes by affixing them around his neck, broom handles for his batons, and his cowboy boots to complete the look. Robert spent a lot of his time creating his own renditions of a marching band. Recognizing his growing desire and passion for music, we began buying him various toy musical instruments to encourage him. Little did we know just how much his love for music would grow.
Robert’s talent in music developed rapidly after learning to play the clarinet, the only instrument available for him at the time, in the fifth grade. In middle school, Robert began to blossom and thrive in his musical abilities. He taught himself how to play the keyboard and, to our surprise, the drums. Around this same time, he also revitalized his passion for performing in the marching band. Robert decided he didn’t want to just be a ‘gentleman’ or drum major when he went to high school, he intended to be the youngest drum major ever at Southwest DeKalb High School.
Robert accomplished that goal. He worked hard and loved performing in front of massive audiences as a member of the marching band.
During his high school band career, Robert developed his reputation as a true leader. His favorite encouraging words to everyone he encountered were, ‘Just do your best, then just out do yourself!’ That was his approach to everything. At church, he played the drums for a song called, ‘99 & ½ Won’t Do.’ This was his mantra for his music and all of his performances. He always delivered 100+ percent. He believed in leading by example, and he did so with a motivating and encouraging spirit.
He was very serious when it came to music and performance. You could say he was a perfectionist. In high school, Robert led the way in many parades such as the Rose Bowl in California, the Macy’s Day parades in New York, and of course, at the Egleston Christmas parades at home in Atlanta.”
Q: What was Robert’s Dream?
A: “Robert set his career goal on becoming the band director at his high school, Southwest DeKalb High School, after graduating from FAMU. This was his only lifelong dream. He knew that as a band director, he could share his love for music with others and encourage them to appreciate the beauty of making and creating music.
Unfortunately he was not able to achieve his goal, due to the acts of violence from others that ended his life.”
Q: Can You Tell Us More About the Marching 100?
A: “As soon as Robert became a drum major for the Marching 100, our family attended the first game. We wore t-shirts with his picture printed on them. He was so embarrassed, but he was also so proud. That was a special day.
However, the joy shared on that special day, it became clear, was not the true picture of the culture and history of the Marching 100.
FAMU, an HBCU, is home to the Marching 100 which was known as the best of the performance-style marching bands among HBCUs. However, the Marching 100 was also known for its well-hidden history of secrecy and violent abusive behavior. For over 50 years, the band had been condoning a culture of violence, and in 2011 it escalated to epidemic level. It was out of control and the institution knew it, yet chose to not address it. The toxicity and corruption within and tied to the band then tried to cover up Robert’s death.
It took Robert’s death to expose the deadly, violent culture hidden in the history of the FAMU Marching 100. It makes us wonder, if Robert hadn’t been killed on the night of November 19, 2011, would that level of violence and abuse still be going on? Would the institution have implemented any interventions or practices to shift the abusive culture and hold people accountable?”
Q: Was There a History of Violence?
A: “We later learned that before the band left for the Florida Classic, the administration talked to the band about the violence within the band. The campus police warned them and even suggested they not attend the Florida Classic, particularly because 25 students had recently been kicked out of the band for violence. They went to the Florida Classic anyway and performed.
The knowledge of the band’s history of violence and culture of toxicity was no secret to the institution. That was one of the biggest disappointments to us. However, it was also no secret to the band that Robert was against violence and he stood against it, particularly on Bus C. Yet somehow, the night of November 19th, the violence overtook him, the strongest of anti-violence advocates.
“Crossing Bus C” is a violent and barbaric ritual where band members are forced to take off their shirts and ‘cross’ the bus by getting from the front to the back of the bus with everyone beating you, kicking you, dragging you back to the front, stomping on you, and making sure you don’t make it to the back of the bus. “Crossing Bus C” was not a secret. It was abuse that had been happening for over fifty-years, with the bus stationary or moving, and with a band administrator and bus driver present – clearly aware and not intervening.
Robert was brutally beaten to death on Bus C by his peers and FAMU let it happen.”
Q: Why has naming Robert’s death a ‘hazing’ been problematic?
A: “Our son was brutally killed and yet, we feel his murder was not taken seriously. The institution and state weaponized the term ‘hazing’ in this instance as a scapegoat for the culture of violence and lack of accountability to student safety and well-being. The trauma of losing our son in this senseless and brutal manner was amplified by a system of secrecy, lies, cover ups, and lack of accountability for his murder.
Where this is the absence of truth, lies are easily acceptable for truth.”
Note from StopHazing: While “Crossing Bus C” meets the criteria for being an example of an extremely violent hazing ritual or tradition of the Marching 100, ultimately, Robert was murdered. Because hazing is minimized in our culture, the labeling of Robert’s murder as ‘hazing’ only rather than ‘Murder by Hazing’ or ‘Murder and Hazing’ resulted in a minimization of the violent crimes committed.
Q: How are you Continuing to Honor Robert’s Legacy?
A: “The Robert D. Champion Drum Major for Change Foundation was created by family and friends weeks after Robert’s tragic killing in November 2011. We created Robert’s foundation to not only honor him, but the foundation also serves to disrupt and dismantle the deceptive mentality of abusive and violent behaviors he stood up against. We know that education is key and our primary mission is to provide proactive solutions to prevent violence – all types of violence – and promote positive change in our educational institutions and communities.
To stop violence, we need everyone involved. Students have more power than anyone, whether they know it or not. Organizations also have the power to stand up. The legal system also has to stand up. Institutional administrators have to stand up and be committed to preventing this.
We are working to help redefine the word “hazing” by talking about it in terms of what it has become – Violence with a capital V, and an expected and condoned behavior.
We believe in: Treating violence as an infectious disease to the mindset, which is totally treatable, curable and preventable, but if left untreated it will become an epidemic; by interrupting this violence through building and creating positive solutions, as well as providing awareness we will make a positive impact and save lives.
We are determined to bring about the awareness of the danger in the irresponsibility of the use of the term “Hazing (incident).” as a dismissive rationalization for violence. It is a demeaning term used to get away with horrific abusive crimes, including death.
In honor of our son and our family, we work unapologetically to expose the deceptive danger and make sure no other individual or family will have to endure the traumatic hardships we have and still are going through.
Our theory of change is deeply ingrained in our Be a Champion R.I.S.E. Challenge Initiatives – designed to generate a national movement of Reaching, Inspiring, Serving and Empowering educational and religious institutions, families, students, business and political leaders to take action against violence. Action is needed to shift the culture from silence to intolerance. Our Six Pathways to Success programming model operationalizes the foundation’s mission to provide authentic support to victimized families and to enlist their grassroots participation in eliminating violence. The Six Pathways Model includes: Support Services, Education & Training, Strategic Partnerships, Legislation, Local & National Initiatives, and Marketing, Arts & Social Media Campaigns.
It is our belief that raising awareness coupled with shifting mindsets and providing meaningful alternatives will ultimately result in the prevention of senseless harm, injury, and deaths.
“…The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few” Matthew 9:37
Additionally, we are always seeking like-minded partners who are interested in making an enormous impact to empower our youth and save lives. We are the Robert D. Champion Drum Major for Change Foundation and we believe together we can all play a vital role in the success of the cure to neutralize and save our greatest resources, “Our Children, our future.”
We feel we must move with a sense of URGENCY and the time is NOW! This is how we honor the legacy of Robert Darnell Champion, a Drum Major for Change as he marched to a different beat.
Q: How does Robert’s Love Shine On?
A: “Robert’s warm heart, big smile, and enormous hugs will be forever remembered by his church family, friends and his beloved family. His love for people, music, and marching will never be forgotten. Many will remember his favorite mantra. “Always do your best, THEN just out do yourself!!!”
His light will forever shine in the hearts and minds of those who knew him and those who didn’t. Robert was an organ and tissue donor, saving lives of those he will never know.
Robert was and will always be, ‘The Example – One that serves as a pattern to be imitated.’”
Learn more about Robert Champion by visiting the Robert D. Champion Drum Major for Change Foundation at beingachampion.org.
Articles from the Orlando Sentinel:
8 years after Robert Champion Jr.’s death, we’re still not changing mindsets about hazing
Dead FAMU Drum Major’s Parents Speak Out About Son and Against Culture-of-hazing