 |
|
| |
|
||||
University of South Florida
The University of South Florida, or USF, is a public university located in Tampa, Florida, with branch campuses in St. Petersburg, Sarasota and Lakeland. The main campus is located in the extreme northern part of Tampa, near the town of Temple Terrace, and is in close proximity to the Museum of Science and Industry as well as Busch Gardens. The university is the third largest in the southeastern United States (after the University of Florida and the University of Central Florida), with a fall 2004 enrollment of 41,571. [1] (http://www.usf.edu/ataglance.html) USF's mascot is the Bull, while its colors are green and gold. They participate in NCAA's Division I-A sports as a member of Conference USA; in 2005, USF will move to the Big East. USF is currently the national headquarters for Phi Alpha Theta, a history honor society. The university's current president is Judy Genshaft.
History USF was founded in 1956, though it wasn't even named until the next year and classes didn't commence until 1960. Former US Representative Sam Gibbons was instrumental in the school's creation when he was a state representative and is considered by many to essentially be the school's founder. It was built on the site of Henderson Air Field, a WWII airstrip. The university first grew under the leadership of John Allen, who was the president from 1960 until 1970. During this time, the university expanded rapidly, due in part to the first graduate degree programs commencing in 1964. However, growing student unrest pressured Allen to resign from his post; he had traditionally been very firm in punishing protesters in a time of general unrest throughout the nation. USF emerged as a major research institution during the 1990's, under the presidency of Betty Castor, and is currently considered one of the top universities in Florida. In addition to a heightened emphasis on research and academia, the university played its first football game in 1997, with its marching band forming in 1999. Its reputation was tarnished under Castor's successor, Judy Genshaft, by the controversy surrounding Professor Sami Al-Arian. Al-Arian's alleged connections to Palestinian terrorist groups brought national media attention to USF following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The school's newspaper is named The Oracle, which was first published on September 6, 1966. The newspaper has been redesigned many times since then; in 1966 the paper was published once a week, today The Oracle is published five times a week. Famous studentsGraduatesMissing image Sundomecloseup.JPG The USF Sun Dome, where many sporting and live entertainment events are held. Missing image Usfbetahall.JPG Beta Hall, the largest co-ed traditional-style dormitory on the Tampa campus.
Former students
External links
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
Copyright 2008 WordIQ.com - Privacy Policy
::
Terms of Use
:: Contact Us
:: About Us This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "University of South Florida". |