Page 15 - Florida Sentinel 9-17-21

FAMU News
Florida A&M University Alumni Scholarship Giving: Three Rattlers Making An Impact
On September 11th, Rat- tlers along with their kids made a major donation on behalf of Rattlers, family and friends to the Florida A&M University Foundation.
Lieutenant Colonels (Retired) Rick Kinsey, Dr. Maurice Pickett and Colonel (Retired) Keith Stubbs friendship spans more than 38 years. The three met while attending Florida A&M University (FAMU) and participating in Army Reserve Officer Train- ing Corps (ROTC). Through- out the years, their paths have crossed many times while serving actively in the military and in retirement. Kinsey and Pickett, both former Army logisticians, military careers were similar with both having served in multiple logistic positions within the Army, DoD Joint Commands, and Army staff.
Kinsey and Pickett were also graduate school classmates at the Florida In- stitute of Technology, Fort Lee, Virginia campus, and both completed active duty assignments and worked as civilians for United States Special Operations Com- mand (USSOCOM), MacDill AFB, Florida.
Stubbs, a military po- liceman, served throughout the globe but reconnected with the others while as- signed to United States Cen- tral Command (USCENTCOM), MacDill AFB, Florida.
Kinsey laughs as he talks about how he called Dr. Pickett to backfill him as he was leaving USSOCOM for another duty station; a Rat- tler looking out for another Rattler. In keeping with Rat- tler FAMUly tradition, Kin- sey also talks about how Dr. Pickett returned the favor and called as he was leaving the Pentagon and “person- ally” secured a vacancy in his department at USSOCOM.
Reflecting on their past history, Kinsey and Pickett smile as they remember the family support provided to each other. Dr. Pickett mentioned how his oldest daughter watched after or baby-sat the Kinsey kids during their Fort Lee, Vir- ginia and Fort Stewart, Geor- gia assignments.
Additionally, “when the three of us reconnected in Tampa Bay, we all claimed to be the uncle of each other’s children.” The three (Kin- sey, Pickett, and Stubbs) proudly boast that “we are the reason the other’s kid chose to attend FAMU.”
Pickett has four kids, with all attending FAMU, two of which are FAMU graduates. His son, Mau- rice Pickett, II. is currently a senior in the School of Business and Industry and is scheduled to graduate Fall 2021.
Kinsey has three kids that have graduated from FAMU and currently has a daughter, Jansen Kinsey, who is a senior at FAMU.
Stubbs’ son, Jeremiah currently attends King High School, is a future Rattler and will be in the Freshmen Class of 2024.
Again, Kinsey and Pick- ett worked together and re- tired from USSOCOM, while Stubbs worked and retired from United States Central Command. Since retiring from the military, the three have been busy supporting the Tampa and Plant City communities and FAMU. They have provided more than 40 scholarships to local kids through personally sup- ported and financed scholar- ships in their name since 2017. They are consistent givers to FAMU Athletics and huge supporters of the foot- ball and golf programs.
In addition, they have es- tablished several endowed scholarship funds at FAMU, currently totaling over $175,000.00. They are life members of the Plant City Chapter, FAMU National Alumni Association, Distin- guished Alumni awardees, and 2020 Brigadier General (Retired) Leroy Bell Leader- ship Legacy awardees for their continued support in their communities and FAMU. When asked, why do you support FAMU? They all answered with a big smile, “it’s about the kids.”
If you would like to make a tax-exempt donation to support students at FAMU, go to https://my.famu.edu /donation/rias.
From left to right, Keith Stubbs, Jeremiah Stubbs, Maurice Pickett, Sr., Maurice Pickett, II, Jansen Kinsey, and Rick Kinsey.
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