The afternoon classes were canceled at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University Thursday and the students were expected to be present at the town hall for the meeting which was described as the largest anti-hazing town hall meeting ever held in the country, reports First Coast News.

It was organized by the university to help students understand the implications of hazing and help them to stand up against it.

The meeting on hazing featured a panel of experts, instant polling of attendees and questions were taken from the audience and Twitter.

The university is taking various steps since the hazing death of Robert Champion last November. The meeting was the latest among the newly implemented measures.

FAMU Interim President Larry Robinson said that the town hall meeting was part of an ongoing effort to get students to realize the downside of the hazing.

"Part of us being successful will be not only having rules, regulations, policies and procedures but having students understand there's nothing about hazing that is beneficial to them," Robinson said.

Yet, the students showed little enthusiasm in attending the event. The attendance was low even though the classes were suspended. According to Bradenton.com, out of 12,000 students, only 2000 attended the event.

Brandon Cunningham, the band president, told FAMU officials that a group of 50 band members showed up at the town hall and demonstrated their commitment to end hazing by wearing orange shirts.

He also told the gathered students that the university's decision to suspend the nationally acclaimed band for a year shows how seriously they consider the issue of hazing.

Co-incidentally, the meeting happened to fall upon the same day when U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson called a press conference regarding a new anti-hazing bill she has proposed. Champion's parents attended the conference where Wilson sent out a tough message that she is working towards denying federal financial aid to students who are punished by colleges or convicted by states for hazing others.

"Hazing is dangerous. Hazing is deadly," Wilson, D-Miami Gardens, said at a news conference outside the U.S. Capitol. "And the time for Congress to address it is now."

Parents of Champion have filed a lawsuit against the university over their son's death, but the university has denied taking any responsibility for it. Apart from the suit on the university, 12 others-former members of the band- involved in the hazing incident are facing felony hazing charges, while two others face misdemeanor counts. They have reportedly pleaded not guilty.