The final commencement ceremony for Florida A&M University’s Class of 2025 may have started like tradition, but it ended in thunderous applause, praise, and purpose.
At the center of it all was Fawn Weaver, the CEO and founder of Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey, who electrified graduates with a sermon-like address that blended testimony, truth, and tenacity.
Held Saturday, May 3, 2025, at the Alfred Lawson Jr. Multipurpose Center, the event honored graduates from the College of Law, School of Business and Industry, School of Journalism and Graphic Communication, College of Science and Technology, and the School of Nursing.
Weaver, a best-selling author and one of only five Black women in U.S. history to lead a $1 billion company, shared five principles with graduates—each grounded in personal experience and divine conviction.
You Are Not the Minority
Weaver’s first message struck at a cultural myth: “You are not the minority.”
She told the graduates that people of color and women comprise 70% of the U.S. population and 92% of the world.
“You serve a father and a God that is King,” she declared. “Walk into every space knowing you do not belong to the group that is the minor.”
Tracing her lineage through the horrors of the Middle Passage and the resilience of enslaved Africans, Weaver reminded graduates that their very existence is evidence of ancestral strength.
“Only 388,000 Africans made it to America alive. That means you come from the ones who survived. You are descended from the strongest mentally, physically, spiritually and emotionally,” she said.
You Are Your Limitation

In a vivid metaphor drawn from the “Fleas in a Jar” experiment, Weaver told graduates that many people impose ceilings on themselves based on conditioning—not reality.
“We are not fleas,” she quipped. “But if there is a glass ceiling, it must have a crack the size of Hades, because I got through it.”
Perhaps the most emotional moment came when Weaver revealed her own path: leaving home at 15, surviving three homeless shelters, dropping out of high school at 16—and returning to earn a degree summa cum laude from the University of Alabama last year.
“I sit in rooms with the most powerful people in the world,” she told graduates. “Don’t you dare assume that just because someone is in the room, they deserve to be there more than you.”
She also called out the concept of imposter syndrome, calling it “complete B.S.”
If God Be for You, Who Can Be Against You?

Closing her speech with biblical assurance, Weaver reminded graduates that their futures don’t depend on their background or environment but on faith and divine purpose.
“Nobody gets anywhere without God deciding that’s part of the plan,” she said. “You have a choice—are you running this, or is God?”
A Living Legacy Weaver’s impact extends far beyond the podium.
Since founding Uncle Nearest, Inc. in 2016, she has built the most awarded bourbon brand in the world and the best-selling Black-owned spirit company in American history. Her 458-acre Nearest Green Distillery ranks as the seventh most visited distillery globally.
To FAMU’s Spring Class of 2025, she offered not just motivation but a blueprint: Faith. Grit. Excellence.