To make your mark is to create significant change from where you are. Whether it’s the senate chambers of Florida A&M University or the fourth floor of City Hall, Mayor-elect Andrew Gillum has been making his mark on Tallahassee for a long time ago. At the age of 23, while still a student at Florida A&M University, Gillum became the youngest member elected into the Tallahassee City Commission.
However, when Gillum wasn’t in board of trustees or city commission meetings, where was he? Who was he with? Gillum, like many before and after him, met life-long friends on the “Highest of Seven Hills.”
“I met some of my closest friends today, hanging out on The Set and hanging out outside the dorm.”
Some of the same friends that Gillum partied with in college, continue to be a part of his circle of friends today—and get this, they’re just as successful as he is.
Gillum said that his father always advised him to distance himself from people that didn’t have as much to lose as him. So, it’s no wonder that during his days on “The Hill,” Gillum developed friendships with a strong crew of people. As a matter of fact, he still keeps in touch with the “crew,” which is now composed of attorneys and the Chief of Staff for Congressman Cedric L. Richmond.
“It’s a very FAMU thing to associate with these folks without having any knowledge about where any of us would end up and because of our FAMU experience, most of them end up going off and doing great things,” Gillum said.
“R. Jai, I would say is everything,” said Gillum. “It’s truly been a real partnership in everything: in career, in love, in family. R. Jai is a perfect obtuse to me.”
The eloquently-articulated expression of his love for Mrs. Gillum, is proof of the strong bond that the Gillums share. Throughout the interview, as he described Mrs. Gillum, I couldn’t help but notice how the mention of her name made his face light up. It’s hard to believe that even though both Gillums were on “The Hill” at the same time, they didn’t become friends until long after graduation.
“When I was matriculating at Florida A& M, R. Jai and I were not friendly. Politically I was on a different side of the spectrum than she was,” said Gillum. “We actually didn’t get together until after college, when R. Jai had come back for graduate school at FAMU after being away for a number of years.”
Gillum said that 10 years ago, he started a never-ending date with his life partner and now, they have two new additions. Although he and Mrs. Gillum aren’t getting much sleep these days, Gillum said being a dad to his twins—Caroline and Jackson—is an amazing experience because “they are a joy.”
Their distinctly different personalities make them “the perfect opposites” because even at a young age, Gillum says they understand the importance of balance—a concept that Gillum thinks is going to be essential in their upbringing as “Tallahassee’s First Babies.”
“I think our kids are going to have a very healthy balance of what it means to have a public life but also what it means to have what is most important, which is love and family and chores, and responsibilities,” said Gillum