TLH 200: The beat goes on, thanks to FAMU's longest-serving employee

When Shaylor James started teaching at Florida A&M University in 1964, the majority of his students were older than him.

He became a Rattler at the young age of 16 and a month after he graduated, William Foster, the creator of the FAMU Marching 100, hired him to be a professor in the department of music.

James was only 21 when he became a percussion professor. Then he was named the director of the FAMU Percussion Ensemble.

Sixty years later, James is still teaching Rattlers. He is the longest-serving employee at FAMU.

Over the last few decades, James has seen the numbers of students enrolled in the music department dwindle as students broaden their career options with more diverse majors. But he's never had a problem recruiting good musicians.

"We became known for that," James said.

Throughout the years, James has taught rudiments of music, applied percussion, percussion techniques and percussion ensemble.

As a student, he was a part of the renowned FAMU Marching 100 where he played the snare drum. In the 60s, the band's charismatic, crowd-pleasing performances were being copied by other Historically Black Colleges and Universities, like Grambling State University and Tennessee State University.

"FAMU's Marching 100 band is easily the world's most recognizable marching band," wrote Democrat writer Gerald Ensley in 2012.

During James' time in the band, he had the opportunity to travel to the Bahamas and just about everywhere the football team went.

"We traveled every week," James recalled. "Coach (Jake) Gaither, he just believed the band and football team go together hand in hand."

As a professor, he's traveled, too.

He's gone to Washington, D.C., for the inaugurations for Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama and to Paris, France for the bicentennial celebration of the French Revolution in 1989

They were the only American band to perform, Ensley wrote in 2012.

But the main reason James has spent most of his life and entire career at FAMU is because of the students he gets to work with.

He recalled a student who went by the nickname "South Carolina." The student was determined to get into the Marching 100, and James had him in the percussion program, where he constantly worked with the student to better his skills so that one day he would put on that uniform and perform on the field.

South Carolina left James in awe, and his dream came true.

"He never gave up," James said with tears welling up in his eyes. "All of these things we had been working on that whole year, the light came on."

James has fond memories of students, as many have had a lasting impact on his teaching career.

In 2014, there was even a Change.org petition to rename a street on FAMU campus after James with 731 signatures.

It's no wonder why he's been teaching at FAMU for as long as he has.

"I guess I was young and crazy enough to face the challenge," James said. "I just hit it head on, and I've been here ever since."

This article is part of TLH 200: the Gerald Ensley Bicentennial Memorial Project. Throughout our city's 200th birthday, we'll be drawing on the Tallahassee Democrat columnist and historian's research as we re-examine Tallahassee history. Read more at tallahassee.com/tlh200. Email us topic suggestions at history@tallahassee.com

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida A&M journey through eyes of longest-serving employee