4,500 Students Gather at Florida State to Worship Jesus: ‘This Is What Hunger Looks Like’
Michael Foust
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By Michael Foust, Crosswalk.com
Thousands of college students gathered Tuesday night at Florida State University to sing praises and hear the gospel proclaimed, marking the latest stop in the Unite US movement and part of a growing spiritual movement across campuses.
The event drew 4,500 to Tallahassee’s Donald L. Tucker Civic Center and saw hundreds make decisions for Christ, with 81 baptized in a return for Unite US, which last visited Florida State in 2024 and this time saw some who responded two years ago step into leadership roles. Elevation Rhythm led musical worship.
Unite US is a college student movement that launched in 2023 at Auburn University and has since expanded nationwide, reaching more than 50,000 students through campus events.
“This is what hunger looks like. This is what surrender looks like,” the official Unite US Instagram page said. “This is what happens when students lift up the name of Jesus without holding back.”
Unite US tapped former Florida State football greats to record video invitations shared on social media, including 2023 ACC Player of the Year Jordan Travis and 1993 Heisman Trophy winner Charlie Ward.
The event was held inside the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center, home to the school’s basketball teams.
The Unite US movement has drawn national attention, including coverage by Fox & Friends, which visited a Unite US event at the University of Pittsburgh in March that drew thousands. At that gathering, students were baptized in the beds of pickup trucks.
“Jesus changed my life,” one student told Fox & Friends.
“There's a lot of young people that are lost, confused and just broken,” another Pitt student said. “Once you fill that void with the Holy Spirit, you'll experience real peace, and I'm a testimony of that.”
Unite US visionary Tonya Prewett said the movement is delivering a “message of hope” to students nationwide.
Future Unite US stops include Samford (April 8) and Oklahoma State (April 28). A Unite US high school event will also take place in Columbus, Ohio, although a date has not been set.
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Hundreds of College Students Baptized at Unite US Event at Pitt: ‘The Altar Was Full’
Photo Credit: Unite US
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
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