TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida A&M University (FAMU) held its third and final commencement on Saturday, May 5, 2025, at 2 p.m. in the Alfred Lawson Center on its main campus. More than a celebration— the ceremony was a soul-stirring sendoff that had the Alfred Lawson Jr. Multipurpose Center vibrating like church on Sunday morning.

Graduates from the College of Law, College of Science and Technology, School of Business and Industry, School of Journalism & Graphic Communication, and School of Nursing would finally receive their moment in the spotlight—future calling.

Before tassels turned, the graduates encountered a force at the podium: Fawn Weaver, entrepreneur, CEO, and co-founder of Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey, who gave an electric address that set the center ablaze, stirring the crowd to its feet with roaring applause. 

Weaver revealed that her preference is unscripted speeches. Instead, she relies on the energy of the room and God to guide her messages. This time, however, she jotted down the five points that God instructed her to share.

Point One: You are not the minority.

Weaver traced the origin story that shaped her existence. It was a testimony of her rise from humble beginnings to becoming the powerhouse she is today. It all started with her father, a Houston native, who picked cotton in the fields before earning a scholarship to Southern University. 

Weaver's father lost his scholarship after participating in a civil rights demonstration. He was then gifted a one-way train ticket to anywhere in the country by a civil rights organization. He chose Los Angeles.

Pursuing his desire to be a writer and music producer, her father slept on his friends’ couches while chasing that dream. That is, until he received a call from a man in Detroit who had a startup called Motown.

“The man told my father what he was beginning and asked if he would be interested in bringing his talent from Los Angeles to Detroit,” she said. “My father was one of the original hitmakers for Motown. I share that because he started picking cotton,” she said defiantly.

Weaver transformed her personal history into a rallying cry for the graduates, warning them that as they left the safe confines of FAMU, the world would attempt to limit them and cast doubts on what they could accomplish. But she anchored them in her truth as she reminded them again that her father once picked cotton.

“You are going to go out into the world, and they are going to tell you that you are the minority; you are disadvantaged because you are the minority; and I need you to understand point number one that the Lord gave me this morning,” she said.

Weaver informed the graduates that people of color and women are 70% of this country and 92% of the world.

“You are not the minority. You are the majority. Walk into every space with the confidence that you do not belong to the group that is the minor. You belong to the group that is the major. And you serve a father and a God that is king,” said Weaver with conviction and heat in her tone.

Point two: You come from the strongest of the strong.

From there, Weaver built her momentum, easily moving into her second point, telling the audience that they descended from the strongest of the strong. She then unpacked the reality of how their ancestors arrived on American shores. 

“Let me break that down for you: 12 million Africans, at least, left the shores of that continent by force. At least 2 million died in the middle passages, and at least 12 million left. Most people don't realize only 388,000 made it to America,” she said.

Weaver said that meant that the graduates came from some of the strongest mentally, physically, spiritually (and) emotionally.

“They came on a ship side by side; blood, feces, disease. They were shackled. They were torn. And they arrived here fully intact. That means that the blood that runs through your body came from people who refused to give up,” she sermonized.

Point three: You are your limitation.

Weaver concluded that if they were the majority and came from such powerful stock, only one obstacle remained: “You are your only limitation,” which made her third point.

To illustrate, the New York Times author tapped into a science experiment called "Fleas in a Jar," which she encouraged them to watch on YouTube.

She explained how the scientist placed fleas in a jar with a lid. The fleas initially jumped high, hitting the lid, but over time, they stopped—learning to limit themselves.

But Weaver wasn’t finished. “That is not the part that matters,” she said. What mattered most was that their offspring never jumped higher than their parents.

“Number one we're not fleas. Let's be clear about that," she stressed. "However, we have the same mindset. We believe that there is a cap. We believe that there is a ceiling. We believe that there is something that is preventing us from going higher.”

With a sharp delivery, Weaver flipped the narrative and said if there is a glass ceiling, it must have a crack the size of Hades because she got through it.

She then rattled off a roll call of icons who’d shattered expectations: her father, media mogul Oprah (Winfrey), entertainment heavyweight Tyler (Perry) got through it, husband and wife co-founders of investment firm Pendulum Holdings D’Rita and Robbie Robinson got through it, and many more.

“What is the difference between them and you?” she asked, her eyes on their future. “You can’t say it’s education.”

Point Four: You belong in every room.

Then came the kicker: Weaver revealed that she left home at 15, dropped out of high school at 16, and survived three homeless shelters by the time she was 18.

"Your end story has nothing to do with your beginning story, and this country cannot contain what God means to excel," she said as shouts of praise sprung from the audience.

Transitioning to her fourth point, Weaver said, “You belong wherever God places you – every room that you will walk into.”

Weaver was speaking from experience. “I sit in rooms with the most powerful people in the world. That is not an exaggeration. That is not a metaphor. That is not a hyperbole,” she said unapologetically before reiterating. “I sit in rooms with the most powerful people in the world.”

She urged graduates never to assume that others knew more or deserved more simply because they were in the room. Instead, they should walk into the room knowing and believing that God opened that door and that they are precisely where they are supposed to be. 

“You will go into the world, and they will tell you that there is such a thing as imposter syndrome. And I will tell you that is complete B.S. One person made it up. One person has convinced the world that it exists. And one person has made sure that women and people of color are impacted by a syndrome that does not actually exist,” she said.

Since the beginning of time, Weaver argued, plenty of people have walked into rooms surrounded by those with more money, power, and higher degrees.  

Weaver then shared a moment of triumph close to her heart: earning her degree summa cum laude from the University of Alabama – just last year.

“Until then, I was a high school dropout,” she said. “Guess who did not feel uncomfortable walking into rooms with people with Ph.Ds and master degrees and billionaires and millionaires,” Weaver said to an applauding crowd.

Point Five: If God be for you, who can be against you?

Her message rose to her final point—belonging in the room had nothing to do with their origin, gender or race.

“It has everything to do with whether or not you have walked through the door that God has called you to walk through,” she said.

She reminded the graduates that they were entering a world of division and uncertainty.

“Nobody gets anywhere without God deciding that is a part of the plan,” she said.

Looking ahead, Weaver told them plainly: many people—including herself—would ascend in power and success over the next four years. But it would not be because of privilege or pedigree.  

"It will be because I believed in God's promise. I believe that no weapon formed against me shall prosper. I believe that what he has set me in this world to do-I will do it no matter who is in the White House. I will do it no matter who is in Congress. I will do it no matter who is in the Senate," she said.

And to the Spring Class of 2025, Weaver left them with a simple thought: "When you go out into the world today, you have a choice. Are you running this, or is God running this? And if God's running this, you should have no concerns."

A little about Fawn Weaver: Weaver is one of only five African American women to found and lead a $1B+ company in U.S. history. She serves as the CEO of Uncle Nearest, Inc., a company she founded in 2016. Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey is the fastest-growing American whiskey brand in U.S. history, the best-selling Black American-founded spirit brand of all time, and was the most awarded Bourbon of 2019 through 2024. The super-premium brand has earned more than 1,400 awards and was named “World’s Best” two years in a row. Her 458-acre Nearest Green Distillery is the seventh most visited distillery in the world.

Media Contact:

Rachel James-Terry
Senior Director of Strategic Communications
rachel.jamesterry@famu.edu

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