(BLACK PR WIRE) – ST. AUGUSTINE, FL (JULY 25, 2011) – The offices of Florida’s governor and U.S. Senator Bill Nelson joined St. Augustine’s mayor, along with members of the St. Johns County Commission, to dedicate Florida Memorial University’s historic A. L. Lewis Archway Plaza. Held July 14, 2011, in St. Augustine’s Collier-Blocker-Puryear Park, the event attracted more than 100 community and university supporters from across Florida. The recently restored A. L. Lewis Archway, named for the state’s first black millionaire and a university donor, served as the school’s former entrance and will now be the centerpiece as FMU redevelops grounds surrounding the archway.

“It was a great day to be a Florida Memorial Lion,” reflected President Henry Lewis, III, on the archway dedication. “The fact that so many civic leaders and all of Florida celebrated our institution’s historic roots was a testament to how FMU has impacted this state. Our past has set the stage for a bright future, and we are moving confidently toward it.”

Built by students in the 1930s, the A. L. Lewis Archway marked the entrance to Florida Normal and Industrial Institute which eventually became Florida Memorial College in 1963. After relocating to Miami in 1968, the college added graduate programs, becoming Florida Memorial University in 2006. The state’s third-oldest institution of higher learning, FMU traces its history to 1879, when the Black Baptists of Florida founded the Florida Baptist Institute in Live Oak, Florida, to serve former slaves.

The archway is named for A. L. Lewis, a prominent philanthropist and chairman of the Afro-American Life Insurance Company. The only company offering life insurance to regional blacks in the early 1900s, Lewis was a well-known supporter of black colleges and schools, including FMU. The dedication launches the school’s redevelopment of the hundreds of acres surrounding the archway, which FMU still owns.

For more information on the A. L. Lewis Archway Plaza Dedication Ceremony, please contact Ms. Janell Blake in the Office of Institutional Advancement at (305) 626-3609.

About Florida Memorial University:

Florida Memorial University is a private, undergraduate and graduate degree-granting institution located in Miami Gardens, Florida. Florida Memorial’s history and traditions date back to 1879. Its legacy of determination and accomplishment has made it one of Florida’s longest surviving centers of academic excellence. Offering 41 undergraduate degree programs and four graduate degree programs, Florida Memorial is a culturally diverse institution that is committed to transforming lives and helping to create a future for people from many races, ethnicities, countries, religions and socio-economic backgrounds. The university is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs, the National Association of Schools of Music, and the Council on Social Work Education. Strong moral character, mutual respect, freedom of worship and a commitment to serve are the hallmarks of what it means to be a Florida Memorial Lion. For more information, please contact the Office of Public Affairs at (305) 626-3624. Log on to www.FMUniv.edu to find out ways you can support FMU.