roslyn-clark-artis.jpgMIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) – The only historically black college in South Florida is celebrating its 135th anniversary. Alumni and civil rights activists gathered at Florida Memorial University on Thursday for a special Founders' Day convocation.

The school traces its roots to the Florida Baptist Academy, founded in 1892, and the Florida Baptist Institute, founded in 1879. Those two schools eventually merged.

Florida Memorial moved from St. Augustine to Miami Gardens in 1968.

The school named Roslyn Clark Artis as its first woman president earlier this month.

The Miami Herald reports (http://hrld.us/1fvSn8H) that the school's $3 million budget deficit has been reduced through layoffs, salary freezes and other efforts since Artis became interim president last summer.