Student government at FGCU is looking to erect two memorials on campus this year, one to honor veterans and another to honor students who have passed away during their time on campus.

The veterans memorial, according to student body president Peter Cuderman, would recognize students, faculty and staff who have served in the military.

“When we have Veterans and Memorial Days, and for all those big events, we can have a place where we can rally around this fountain and really appreciate what they’ve done for our country,” said Cuderman, who is pursuing a master’s in business administration.

The memorial for fallen students would be directed toward families of students who died to “show them this university cares a lot for their sons and daughters and family,” Cuderman said. School officials estimate about 50 FGCU students have died since the university opened in 1997.

Expect more sculptures and artwork to rise on campus. In 2010, Florida legislators approved a law requiring colleges to spend a small portion of their state-provided construction funds on public art. The university’s facilities planning department lists seven current projects with a total contract cost of $352,550. See below for a breakdown of current projects:

(more…)

It’s never good when the friendliest face in the room is a reporter. At FGCU’s final faculty senate meeting of the academic year, provost Ronald Toll was surrounded by professors who weren’t keen on a plan to eliminate the College of Professional Studies. Although the university spent months researching the move, he was accused of having his mind made up long before an announcement was made.

“There was no plan that sat in my drawer,” Toll told them.

Then the provost mentioned something odd, perhaps a failed joke meant to ease the tension. Toll said he has no drawers in his desk. So, therefore, he couldn’t possibly hide anything, right? Toll actually does have one small drawer in his desk, but it’s not big enough to hide anything (except maybe some paper clips).

The dissolution of professional studies is only a structural change. Degree programs will be shifted to other academic colleges, so professors and department chairs will have to report to new deans.

“I understand the pain of reorganization,” Toll told professors. “I’ve been reorged myself. Things change. That’s expected. We deal with it.”

(more…)

FGCU kicks off another graduation season on Sunday, and that got me thinking. It’s been 15 years since I finished my journalism degree at Kansas.

I remember my graduation ceremony like it was yesterday, although I have no recollection of the commencement speaker’s words of wisdom, the chancellor’s message or the weather that day. I do, however, remember walking under the Campanile and down the hill leading into Memorial Stadium. As graduates filtered into the grandstands, I spotted a couple guys that lived in my apartment building during my sophomore year. So I plopped down next to them. I had the aisle seat, and Jacque, Scot, Jerod and B.J. were to my right.

Immediately, fellow graduates, students, parents and children began streaming toward our row, cameras in tow. They gently brushed me aside to fawn over my former building mates, who politely posed for pictures and signed autographs before and during the ceremony. Much like my four years of college, the ceremony ended in the blink of an eye.

Here we are, 15 years later, and I’m still working hard, carving out what I hope is a successful career. Meanwhile, two of the four guys that sat next to me at graduation already have retired. Jacque (Vaughn) had a 12-year run in the NBA, earning $11.3 million over 12 years before retiring in 2009. Scot (Pollard) earned $38.1 million over 11 years before retiring in 2008. Jerod (Haase) briefly played hoops in Europe and was an assistant coach at Kansas and North Carolina before being named last month as head coach at University of Alabama-Birmingham. I’m not sure what B.J. (Williams) ended up doing, though.

Yeah, well my byline gets in the paper all the time, so ha!

(more…)

FGCU’s student body president doesn’t just guide students. He or she guides the university as a member of the Board of Trustees, having a say on tuition increases, construction projects and other initiatives. One student leader even served on a committee that helped screen presidential applicants in 2007.

But once they graduate, their campus involvement often ends.

FGCU President Wilson Bradshaw, however, plans to stay connected with former student body president Brad Piepenbrink now that he’s in a high place. Piepenbrink, a 2008 communications graduate, is personal assistant to Gov. Rick Scott. His name doesn’t just appear in a phone directory; he’s the third name you’ll see on a state organizational chart, right below “The People” and Rick Scott.

“If you want access to the governor,” said FGCU trustee Ed Morton, “you have to go through Brad.”

Piepenbrink previously was a legislative analyst within the Majority Office of the Florida Senate. He’s also served as a legislative aide with the Senate and worked on John McCain’s presidential campaign in 2008.

At a time FGCU is lobbying for more state funds, Bradshaw is almost giddy with the university’s new-found presence in the governor’s office, and the president expects Piepenbrink to continue his rapid political ascension. Mark his words.

“Brad is an up-and-coming young man in politics in Florida,” Bradshaw said.

(more…)

It’s that time of year when snowbirds migrate to Southwest Florida. Rosemary Thomas joined the flock a few weeks ago, accepting a job as FGCU’s new vice president of university advancement.

Thomas buzzed around the campus ballroom Wednesday during her first foundation board of directors meeting, swooping in and out of conversations. After 20 days on the job, she already feels at home, or should I say, at the nest.

FGCU’s mascot is the eagle. She previously worked at Salisbury University in Maryland, home of Sammy the Sea Gull. She’s also worked at Fairmont State College in West Virginia, which has a falcon as its mascot. She earned a master’s degree from the University of South Carolina, which proudly sports the gamecock as its mascot.

“There is a question as to whether I can get away from the birds,” Thomas joked.

(more…)

The phrase is “six degrees of separation,” but these days, it doesn’t seem to take that long to connect the dots.

On Monday, former FGCU athletic director Carl McAloose was named AD at Clayton State University, an NCAA Division II program near Atlanta. It’s a college in a different state, in a different NCAA division and in a different conference. Yet, there was a connection.

Clayton State’s president is Tim Hynes, who is not a stranger to FGCU. He was a quarterfinalist in FGCU’s presidential search in 2007, but a search committee didn’t advance him from a pool of 10 to the semifinalist round.

The connection doesn’t stop there, though. The man McAloose is replacing, Mason Barfield, also is familiar with FGCU’s athletic program, having interviewed for the AD position here in 2000. McAloose, obviously, got the job while Barfield kept his position at Clayton State, but retired during the fall semester.

(more…)

Spring break is right around the corner, and everyone knows what that means. Coed Magazine recently named its 10 Trashiest Spring Break Destinations, and area tourism leaders probably aren’t thrilled Fort Myers Beach made the list at No. 8. The write-up talks about strip clubs, liquor, Girls Gone Wild and daily “booty contests” near Lani Kai.

While attending a conference Thursday on FGCU’s campus, one speaker’s short sentence caught my attention.

“They wanted more booty,” he said.

Sounds like he read the write-up.

No, David Bachrach, associate professor of medieval history at the University of New Hampshire, was talking about reasons why conflicts and wars erupted many centuries ago. They wanted more booty, you know, treasures and other objects seized during battles. What were you thinking?

Coed Magazine must have been a little confused in its entry, referring to Fort Myers Beach, Fort Myers and Fort Meyers (where’s that?) as if it were the same place. The first spring breakers of the season start arriving this weekend; hopefully they have Mapquest.

(more…)

Two decades ago, when state officials authorized the creation of FGCU, local leaders hailed the university as a destination for local students. No longer would they have to leave Southwest Florida for a four-year degree.

They still don’t have to leave town, but Florida Gulf Coast University is no longer “our” school. Fall 2011 marked the first time more freshmen came from outside the five-county region than within Southwest Florida. The college cannot give preferential treatment to local students by awarding bonus points in the application process, but President Wilson Bradshaw doesn’t object to the demographic change because those same students will join locals in rebuilding the region’s economy.

“We see that as importing talent, but we also want to nurture the talent that we have,” Bradshaw said. “We can provide an educated workforce. We have all of the pieces; we just need to put them together in ways that make sense.”

Data show just 35 percent of this year’s freshmen were from Charlotte, Collier, Glades, Hendry and Lee counties. Overall, the proportion of local students is 50 percent, so if the trend continues, expect next year’s student body to be the first where locals are in the minority.

(more…)

College students don’t like to wake up early. And by early, we’re talking about any time with an a.m. behind it.

So when I arrived on FGCU’s campus at 7:45 a.m. Wednesday and witnessed a line of several hundred students stretching from inside the Cohen Center, past the bookstore and out the door, I knew something was up. It must be free food, I thought. There indeed was orange juice and bagels, but breakfast wasn’t what prompted students to start lining up at 6:45 a.m.

Tickets for Nest Fest, an annual concert, were going on sale that morning, and students had first dibs on floor seats. The featured artist is Wiz Khalifa, a Pittsburgh-based rapper whose popularity surged in 2011 as he won BET’s best new artist award. His hits include “Roll Up,” “No Sleep” and “Black and Yellow,” which hit No. 1 on the charts.

The concert is April 13 at Germain Arena, and also features Sam Adams, Spacesuit Junkies and Chaysen. Tickets are $15 for students, and if it’s not sold out by Feb. 20, the public can snag seats for $30.

(more…)

College fanatics in need of memorabilia to fill their “man caves” need only look as far as the Internet. Everything is for sale somewhere in cyberspace.

On Wednesday, a quick search on eBay turned up 25,870 items using “Florida Gators” in the search field, 13,487 items with “Miami Hurricanes” and 9,621 using “Florida State Seminoles.” Typing “FGCU,” however, resulted in just 202 hits, 200 of which featured parts for Toyota forklifts, which use FGCU in model numbers.

Deep within that list you’ll find a blue FGCU T-shirt (used) for $9.99 and a paperweight for $19.99. If that’s not satisfactory, searching under the full “Florida Gulf Coast University” name turns up 36 results, real ones this time.

In the odd chance you’re search for forklift parts, though, prices for various FGCU model numbers start at $7.99 for a replacement manual to $799 for a new hydraulic pump.

(more…)