A university will award Trayvon Martin a posthumous degree in aviation, five years after the black teenager was fatally shot in a central Florida neighborhood.
A university will award Trayvon Martin a posthumous Bachelor of Science Degree in aviation, five years after the black teenager was fatally shot by a member of a community watch group in a central Florida neighborhood.
An announcement on Florida Memorial University’s official Facebook page says Martin’s parents will accept his degree in aeronautical science during a May 13 commencement ceremony.
The late teen’s mother Sybrina Fulton, 51, is an alumnus of the historically black school and co-founded the Trayvon Martin Foundation – housed by Florida Memorial’s Department of Aviation and Safety – along with his father Tracy Martin after her son’s death in 2012.
Martin, who would have been 22 years old this year, took aviation classes during his junior year at Dr. Michael M. Krop High School in Miami-Dade County, Florida and the university’s statement says it will honor the steps he took toward becoming a pilot.
‚Of special significance is awarding posthumously the Bachelor of Science Degree in Aviation to Trayvon Martin, ‚ president of the university, Dr. Roslyn Artis said.
‚Sybrina, our alum, epitomizes strength and dignity as she uplifts other victims of violence while effecting change for a more equal and just society.‘
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On February 26 2012, Martin went out to a local store in Twin Lakes, Florida, to buy a packet of skittles. On his way back home, he was spotted by George Zimmerman, a member of the community watch at the time.
Zimmerman, 33, called 911 to report ‚a really suspicious guy‘ who was ‚looking at all the houses in a neighborhood‘.
He then fatally shot Martin, then 17 years, as the teen returned to his father’s home and claimed self-defense. A jury acquitted Zimmerman of second-degree murder in 2013, sparking nationwide protests and kick starting the Black Lives Matter movement.
Since their son’s death, Mr Martin and Ms Fulton have been vocal about police shootings of unarmed black men. The late teen’s parents wrote the book Rest in Power: The Enduring Life of Trayvon Martin: A Parents’ Story of Love, Injustice, and the Birth of a Movement.
