Florida Senate - 2019                            (NP)    SR 1828
       
       
        
       By Senator Benacquisto
       
       
       
       
       
       27-03119-19                                           20191828__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution recognizing March 26, 2019, 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 authorizing the creation of Florida’s tenth
    7  public university, Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU), to
    8  provide higher educational opportunities and workforce
    9  development in the previously underserved region of Southwest
   10  Florida, and
   11         WHEREAS, FGCU opened its doors to students on August 25,
   12  1997, and held its first commencement ceremony in May 1998 with
   13  81 graduates, and
   14         WHEREAS, FGCU has been led by four outstanding and dynamic
   15  presidents: President Roy McTarnaghan, President William C.
   16  Merwin, President Wilson G. Bradshaw, and President Michael V.
   17  Martin, and
   18         WHEREAS, with the leadership and vision of Dr. Michael V.
   19  Martin and the FGCU Board of Trustees, FGCU students have a
   20  clear pathway to success, and the university is committed to
   21  maintaining college affordability, and
   22         WHEREAS, FGCU’s top priority is student success, which
   23  includes a strong focus on providing the necessary academic
   24  resources and laboratory facilities to timely complete degrees
   25  from one of the five colleges providing relevant programs with
   26  an accomplished faculty and dedicated staff to help students
   27  prepare for successful careers and meet regional and statewide
   28  workforce needs, and
   29         WHEREAS, FGCU has strategically grown into a regional
   30  university of 15,000 students and today offers 58 undergraduate,
   31  25 graduate, 12 certificate, and 6 doctoral programs, and
   32         WHEREAS, FGCU’s pathways to student success have led the
   33  university to achieve national prominence in academics,
   34  environmental sustainability, and student service learning, with
   35  approximately 2.66 million collective student service learning
   36  hours contributed to the Southwest Florida community since 1997,
   37  and
   38         WHEREAS, FGCU emphasizes innovative and interdisciplinary
   39  learning, using the region as a living laboratory while offering
   40  students diverse opportunities to participate in meaningful
   41  research led by their professors, and
   42         WHEREAS, FGCU has established the Institute of
   43  Entrepreneurship, bringing engineering and business students
   44  together to develop products and business plans in a real-world
   45  setting and providing learning opportunities that enhance the
   46  university’s science, technology, engineering, and mathematics
   47  educational and sustainability initiatives, and
   48         WHEREAS, FGCU is creating, refining, and investing in
   49  existing programs with innovative public-private educational
   50  partnerships, and
   51         WHEREAS, FGCU serves and engages its surrounding community,
   52  offering a wealth of enrichment opportunities that include the
   53  FGCU Research Roadshow, visual arts, music, theater, and public
   54  radio and television, and
   55         WHEREAS, FGCU’s athletics programs continue to be a growing
   56  source of pride for their loyal fans with student-athletes
   57  continuing to demonstrate their academic strengths, and
   58         WHEREAS, the collegiate experience continues to enrich the
   59  lives of FGCU students and to serve the surrounding community
   60  through “The FGCU Effect” and the university’s longstanding
   61  commitment to promoting racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity
   62  on campus, NOW, THEREFORE,
   63  
   64  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   65  
   66         That March 26, 2019, is recognized as “Florida Gulf Coast
   67  University Day” in Florida.
   68         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution be
   69  presented to Michael V. Martin, Ph.D., president of Florida Gulf
   70  Coast University, as a tangible token of the sentiments
   71  expressed herein.