Focus on Philanthropy

FOCUS ON PHILANTHROPY

A stained-glass window honoring the marching chiefs was ceremonially unveiled on September 20, 2019 in the FSU heritage museum. Florence Ashby, FSU alumna and member of the band in the 1950s, funded the project.

My very positive experience at Florida State and how accepted and welcomed I felt here gave me the feeling that Florida State was my home. My husband and I never had children, but we always considered FSU our family. We have always been thankful to feel so close to the school and the people we encountered here and wanted to contribute so that others could feel that connection, too.

Alumni couple Florence Ashby and Laird Anderson have long considered Florida State University to be their family, but Florence in particular has been as important to FSU’s story as has FSU has been to hers. A founding member of a half dozen organizations and a contributor and supporter of countless more, Florence has innumerable joyful stories to share of how the FSU community thrives across the country and in her life.

Florence’s first experience at FSU was attending Summer Music Camps while she was in high school. Later, while many engineering programs were closed to women, Florence returned to FSU where she found her place as a double major in Mathematics and Clarinet Performance. Florence joined 75 freshmen and only about a dozen upperclassmen in Manley Whitcomb’s reimagined and intense marching band. She can regale listeners with tales of their first away game at the University of Miami and how their success as a 3-weekold band resulted in the now-beloved mantra that the Marching Chiefs have “never lost a half-time show.” Throughout her five seasons with the Chiefs, Florence also founded (and was elected as the first president for) the FSU chapter of Tau Beta Sigma Honorary Band Sorority, helped to organize parades, decorated homecoming floats, played in concert bands and combo bands, recruited new band members, and still earned impeccable grades in her 5-credit math courses.

After earning a graduate degree in math and a brief stint at IBM, Florence began her career as a Professor of Math at Montgomery College near Washington, D.C. There she helped found the D.C. FSU Alumni Club and connected with her husband to be, Laird. Laird had been a member of FSU’s national and international championship-winning gymnastics teams, and initially met Florence through Kappa Kappa Psi (the fraternal counterpart to Tau Beta Sigma). Laird graduated from FSU’s Political Science and International Studies programs and went on to become a Professor of Journalism and decorated veteran of the United States Army. Though they had met during their undergraduate studies, it wasn’t until their time with the D.C. Alumni Club that they bonded over their mutual love of Florida State – Laird told Florence he had been to every football game and never missed a chance to see the beautiful gold kick-pleats in the band’s skirted uniforms. As they both enjoyed FSU’s spirit, educational support, and lasting friendships, Florence and Laird worked hard throughout their lives to share those experiences with others.

Together Florence and Laird sponsored scholarships, chairs, and programming across departments, while also dedicating volunteer time on committees and encouraging others to do the same. The compassion of Florence and Laird is evident across campus, but perhaps nowhere more so than at the College of Music, where Florence has served on the University Musical Associates Executive Committee, continues to advise Tau Beta Sigma, and is a lifetime member of the Marching Chiefs Alumni Board. Florence is generously funding a refurbishment of the Opperman Music Hall mezzanine and recently funded a University Wind Orchestra commission from composer Jonathan Newmann (dedicated to Laird’s memory). She continues to support woodwind student scholarships through an endowment.

In the Werkmeister Reading Room of Dodd Hall on a sunlit afternoon, visitors to the University enjoy the rich colors of a stained-glass window commissioned by Florence to honor the joy and community that she and countless others have found with the Marching Chiefs. There, an enduring part of FSU’s music legacy, a young clarinetist marches alongside her friends, sporting the classic gold kick pleat skirt that Laird so admired.

Florence Ashby and College of Music Development Director Jayme Agee attending a student recital at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall.

Jayme Agee and Florence Ashby celebrating the launch of the FSU Foundation’s “Vires, Artes, Mores” donor recognition society.