The last few days of school were supposed to be the culmination of a once-a-life-time four years.
A celebration of my hard work and dedication. This was how I tried to treat it as I sat in the library and typed up my speech.
Graduation was next week and my parents and family were coming down to see me walk across that stage. I tried to remain happy even though my heart was heavy. It was difficult to write a speech about celebration when I was feeling so rejected.
Jarvis called me while I typed but I didn't answer.
I figured I would call him later. But he called me again seconds later. I ignored the call again, but when he called a third time right after, I knew it was important. He never called me back to back to back like that. I answered quietly, so I wouldn't disturb the other students.
"What? I'm in the library," I whispered.
"Did you not see?"
"See what?" I asked.
He told me he would meet me outside of the library but he wouldn't tell me what was so urgent.
I emailed my unfinished speech to myself and left to go see what this nigga was going through.
I walked outside and Jarvis was walking towards me. I didn't immediately recognize it, but by the time he was in my face, I saw eyes looking at me from all directions. People were pointing, whispering, but all of them staring at me. Then I looked at Jarvis.
His eyes scared me. Told a horror story. He handed me the magazine that all of the students standing outside were reading. It was a copy of the Spring Edition FAMU Magazine, which was a journalism program that I gave funding to. It had apparently just been released. And sure enough, when my eyes graced the cover, I felt panic.
Love, Sex, and Conflict on Campus: The true love story between the school Valedictorian and her Professor
...my eyes graced the cover, I felt panic.
He has a near perfect rating onratemyprofessor.com. His classes are among the most popular at the school and for good reason.
"He's charismatic, funny, intelligent, down to earth, engaging, and very handsome," says Tiana Lawrence, a current student of Professor Shawn Carter.
He's written books on ethics and philosophy and heads several boards not only around FAMU but Tallahassee and New York City as well. He's been featured on NPR and was interviewed in the CNN special Black In America. The 35-year old Professor, born in Brooklyn, now asks questions to FAMU freshman and sophomores about the meaning of life, and love, and right, and wrong.
She scored an unprecedented come from behind victory last spring in the Presidential Election, after being down considerably in the early polls. She's been featured in the local news for a non-profit organization she started her sophomore year that focused on literacy in disenfranchised teenagers.
"I think she has done a wonderful job as president and is an example of what can be accomplished by a hard working student," said Professor Tre Thompson, a current foreign language teacher of Beyonce Knowles. "To top things off, she even came to school when she was just 16. She's doing all of this, and she isn't even old enough to drink."
The plot thickens. 16 year old Beyonce first met Professor Carter like most freshman did. In his ethics class, where the weekly firestorm of banter and debate on ethical principles help to cultivate the moral compass that students are going to need now that they are away from parents. This is one reason why the school encourages freshman to take ethics their first semester.
Students are in a new world; a more real "real world" with temptation and tough choices. Mr. C, as the students often call him, was all about asking the tough questions. One question he asked for a final paper was if dating between faculty and students was ethical. Beyonce received an A+ on the paper.
She ended up receiving A's in every one of his classes. In fact, she took an extra class with him that did not even count towards her major. Mr. C is a favorite teacher for many students, so maybe that isn't so out of the ordinary. But the academic relationship between the future School President and Professor Carter goes much deeper than the surface.
16 year old Beyonce first met Professor Carter like most freshman did.
Both of them were prominent members of the school chapter of NAACP. He was on the board that also selected Beyonce to be on the committee that made decisions on behalf of the campus organization. Both of them have become ambassadors for the school. Mr. C has significant influence because of his many contributions and work within the programs and organizations of FAMU. He could very easily use his influence to help any student that is in need of it.
This happened when the school paper was set to print a story on the non-profit organization that Beyonce and former NAACP President (and her current Vice President) Jarvis Smith pitched to the rest of NAACP. The newspaper was already printed and ready to be distributed to the campus, but Mr. C got an early copy of the paper and demanded for the front page story to be changed. He said the article did not include quotes from Knowles and since it was her idea, she deserved credit for it, not NAACP as a whole.
Even though reprinting the newspapers cost the Journalism department hundreds of dollars, his request was honored, a testament to the influence. On the surface this just looks like a teacher doing right by his students. But the conflict of interest becomes apparent when documents were uncovered that show that Mr. C was the one that financed the non-profit organization started by Knowles.
This wouldn't be the last time Mr. C broke school code and helped Knowles financially in an area that directly helped her academic career. He transferred $10,000 dollars to her account, which she used to throw a promotional party for her student president campaign. It was an outside party that students on facebook could not stop talking about, especially since it featured hip hop superstar T-Pain. Looking at Beyonces academic resume, it's hard to find anything that Mr. C is not in someway attached to. His influence is undeniable.
Why would an ethics instructor break school code to help a student of his out financially? Help her get her ideas off the ground and help her become the best she could be? Maybe this question becomes easier to answer when you consider that these two have been in love the past four years.
Behind closed doors, outside of the city, and state, and even on campus, a romance was taking place between the two. A romance that ethics would forbid but passion would permit. He kisses her tenderly while they await their meal at a 5-star seafood restaurant at Cocoa Beach. She holds his hand and whispers in his ear before laying her head on his shoulder. Teacher and Student become Shawn and Beyonce. And though secret and hidden from the outside world, their love for each other is very real.
Relationships are private affairs, except when they violate school conduct, include public office holders and faculty, and could possibly include academic fraud. This relationship also could have violated Florida Laws when it comes to Statutory rape. Beyonce was 16-years-old when she first entered Mr. C's classroom. She was 17 years-old when she was one of a few dozen students, invited to be involved with a project Mr. C oversaw. A project that every summer had students going to multiple southern states and talking to underprivileged teens. It was there that Beyonce met Camile, the illiterate teenager that Beyonce spoke of when she gave her speech to NAACP to get approval for her non-profit organization.
