Florida Senate - 2018                            (NP)    SR 1898
       
       
        
       By Senator Benacquisto
       
       
       
       
       
       27-02067-18                                           20181898__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution recognizing January 23, 2018, as “Florida
    3         Gulf Coast University Day” in Florida.
    4  
    5         WHEREAS, in May 1991, then-Governor Lawton Chiles signed
    6  into law a bill passed by the Florida Legislature authorizing
    7  the creation of Florida’s 10th public university, Florida Gulf
    8  Coast University (FGCU), to provide higher education
    9  opportunities and workforce development in the previously
   10  underserved region of Southwest Florida, and
   11         WHEREAS, FGCU opened its doors to students on August 25,
   12  1997, and held its first commencement in May 1998 with 81
   13  graduates, and
   14         WHEREAS, in August 2017, FGCU celebrated its 20th
   15  anniversary, and
   16         WHEREAS, during FGCU’s first 20 years, it was led by three
   17  outstanding and dynamic presidents: President Roy McTarnaghan,
   18  President William C. Merwin, and President Wilson G. Bradshaw,
   19  and
   20         WHEREAS, on July 1, 2017, Michael V. Martin, Ph.D., became
   21  FGCU’s fourth president, expressing a commitment to ensure that
   22  students will have a clear pathway to success and to maintain
   23  college affordability for all students, and
   24         WHEREAS, FGCU’s top priority is student success, which
   25  includes an emphasis on providing the necessary academic
   26  resources and laboratory facilities to timely completion of
   27  degrees from one of its five colleges, by providing relevant
   28  programs with an accomplished faculty and dedicated staff to
   29  help students prepare for successful careers and meet regional
   30  and statewide workforce needs, and
   31         WHEREAS, FGCU has grown into a regional university of
   32  nearly 15,000 students and offers 54 undergraduate, 23 graduate,
   33  10 certificate, and 3 doctoral programs, and
   34         WHEREAS, FGCU’s pathways to student success have led it to
   35  achieve national prominence in academics, environmental
   36  sustainability, and student service learning, with more than 2.5
   37  million volunteer hours contributed to the Southwest Florida
   38  community since 1997, and
   39         WHEREAS, FGCU emphasizes innovative and interdisciplinary
   40  learning, using the region as a living laboratory while offering
   41  students diverse opportunities to participate in meaningful
   42  research led by their professors, and
   43         WHEREAS, FGCU has established the Institute of
   44  Entrepreneurship, bringing engineering and business students
   45  together to develop products and business plans in a real-world
   46  setting, and providing learning opportunities that will enhance
   47  the university’s science, technology, engineering, and
   48  mathematics (STEM) education and sustainability initiatives, and
   49         WHEREAS, FGCU serves as a cultural hub for the region,
   50  offering a wealth of enrichment opportunities that include the
   51  visual arts, music, theater, and public radio and television,
   52  and
   53         WHEREAS, FGCU’s athletics programs continue to be a growing
   54  source of pride for loyal fans, with student-athletes continuing
   55  to demonstrate their academic strengths by earning an average
   56  GPA of 3.27, and
   57         WHEREAS, the collegiate experience continues to enrich the
   58  lives of FGCU students through “The FGCU Effect” and the
   59  university’s longstanding commitment to promoting racial,
   60  ethnic, and cultural diversity on campus, NOW, THEREFORE,
   61  
   62  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   63  
   64         That January 23, 2018, is recognized as “Florida Gulf Coast
   65  University Day” in Florida.
   66         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution be
   67  presented to Michael V. Martin, Ph.D., president of Florida Gulf
   68  Coast University, as a tangible token of the sentiments
   69  expressed herein.