Florida A&M made history last week. Tonnette Graham, president of FAMU’s student government association, was elected as chairwoman of the Florida Student Association (FSA).

With a vote of 8-3, Graham’s election means that she will the first black woman ever to hold the post of chairwoman for the FSA.

According to HBCUBuzz.com, Graham will now sit with the Florida Board of Governors.

“Newly elected FSA Chairwoman Graham is now granted a seat on the Florida Board of Governors, the governing board of all public universities in the state of Florida. She is the second FAMU student body president and the first African American woman to be elected as Chair of FSA.”

Graham said that her election as chairwoman feels “surreal” and that she’s grateful to FAMU for investing in her “leadership development.”

Graham will continue to her work at FAMU while serving as chairwoman.

This is great news for Graham, obviously, and maybe even better news for FAMU. It shows how well the school develops its future leaders. There are also a number of state lawmakers who graduated from FAMU, so political leadership may be in Graham’s future.

More than anything, this historic selection shows that the state is making progress in how black women are viewed as leaders. I hope that Graham’s example leads to many more women and minority (or both) leaders on college campuses in a variety of roles. The progress made at colleges directly impacts the larger workforce, so I look forward to hearing more about Graham’s work and how it affects future campus leaders.

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