A publication of the Florida State University Alumni Association FALL 2022 Volume 14, Issue 2 Inside Florida State University’s NEW STUDENT UNION
4 | alumni.fsu.edu e Moment
Since his first day last fall, President Richard McCullough has remained determined and inspired by FSU’s rapid rise in the national academic rankings, stellar fine arts, ambitious local and national research and commitment to student success. President McCullough has wasted no time in outlining ambitious goals and setting out to achieve them. He marked his one-year anniversary as president on August 16, 2022. Pictured, Florida State University’s 16th president Dr. Richard McCullough speaks to the crowd after receiving the ceremonial FSU President’s Medallion at his investiture ceremony in Ruby Diamond Concert Hall. The ceremony was preceded by a panel on the future of higher education and followed by a reception in Westcott plaza.
Photo by FSU Photography Services
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Andrew Faught
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CONTRIBUTORS
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PHOTOGRAPHY
On the Cover
Dave Barfield
PUBLISHER
At about 300,000 square feet and rising 80 feet, the FSU Student Union building features a red-brick facade and soaring windows, ensuring that it both fits in and stands out.
Janecia Britt (B.A. ’17)
Photo by Dave Barfield
Sarah Gray Tinter (B.S. ’20, M.S. ’21)
Bill Lax (B.S. ’90) Erich Martin (B.A. ’11) Bruce Palmer
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College of Nursing graduate Rachael Kramer (B.S.N. ’21) sits inside the back of the FSU Seal located in the University Center. The FSU Seal and Clock Tower are located over the set of stadium gates between University Center A and D.
Photo by Rachael Kramer (B.S.N. ’21)
Kelli Gemmer (B.A. ’14 M.S. ’18) Emily Clemons MacMillan (B.A. ’17) Teaghan Skulszki (B.A. ’20, B.S. ’20) University Communications
DESIGNERS
Julie Decker
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Jordan LindseyHarrisonMasterson
An award-winning biannual publication of the Florida State University Alumni Association. Named after the first torch in the university seal, VIRES represents strength of all kinds: physical, mental and moral.
FALL 2022 Volume 14, Issue 2 VIRES
ALUMNI ASSOCIATION STAFF alumni.fsu.edu/sta
FALL 2022 | VIRES | 5 27 e PartingClassPresidentialCampusClass#SeminolesForeverAssociation10CatchingUniversityChatterboxMomentNewsen&NowUpWithQuestionsNewsQuotesSpotlightHonorsNotesShotFEATURES686665453518870732082 A deep dive into the demolition, construction and unveiling of Florida State University’s new Student Union. By Emily Clemons MacMillan (B.A. ’17) PAGE 22 e JewelCrownofCampus FSU sees record-breaking rst-year applications and admits most academically accomplished class in its history. By Kelli Gemmer (B.A. ’14, M.S. ’18) PAGE 36 Meet the Class of 2026
P.S. Be sure to bookmark alumni.fsu.edu to learn about all our in-person and virtual events and programs. We will be looking for YOU!
6 | alumni.fsu.edu From the Publisher
As Alumni Association members, I invite you to get involved with a few special, and speci c, calls to action. I hope you will take advantage of them as students return to campus and fall begins anew. Post-pandemic engagement will require us all to step forward and step up. ese students have had a most unique educational experience over the last few years. How they engage with Florida State, and each other, can be supported by you.
Julie Decker President & CEO FSU Alumni Association
Welcome
Share the good news about FSU! Have you signed up to be a “Social Nole?” You can be an ambassador for the FSU Alumni Association on social media and be among the rst to share great news about the Association and, most importantly, Florida State. is is particularly fun if your network includes alumni from our friends in Gainesville or South Carolina.
What’s your dream? ”
Thank you to our Corporate Partners
ike the character in Pretty Woman, but paraphrased just a bit, “Welcome to FSU! What’s your dream?” Students on campus are about to realize dreams they probably didn’t even know they had. at is what this time is all about - meeting a friend, discovering a community and opening their minds to personal and professional possibilities previously unknown. Alumni and friends of FSU are an important part of this journey. Interactions outside of the classroom are often some of the most transformational.
L
Seminoles Forever,
“ to FSU!
brick buildings, plus a few new things. Brand new on campus is the Student Union which graces our cover, an updated Strozier library, a new Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science building, and that’s only the beginning. is fall, we’ll also see the groundbreaking of the College of Business’s new home, Legacy Hall. is is such an exciting time of growth for FSU. I promise you, it’s more beautiful than you remember. And, if you can’t get here, visit a local Seminole Club, invite students to shadow you at work, or attend an FSU event near you. If you do any of these things, let us know. Send a picture (alumni@fsu.edu), tag us in a post (@fsualumni or #SeminolesForever) or come by the o ce and say hi. Together, we will continue to bring the family together under the FSU Alumni umbrella to share memories, make new ones and move Florida State University forward. Alumni Association members are by far some of the most engaged and passionate graduates. ank you for all you do every day to support FSU!
Get in touch with your school, college or favorite student organization’s alumni sta member. Not sure how to get in contact? Call us and one of our team members will connect you. Ask about visiting a classroom to speak, mentoring students in your major or in your chosen profession if it’s di erent than what you majored in; that’s always an interesting journey to share. Your voice, at any stage of life and career, is valuable. ere is no FSU without you! Come back to campus. Take a visitor’s center tour and learn about all the new places and faces on campus. We’re excited to welcome alumna Marla Vickers (M.A. ’00) as our new vice president of advancement and Paulette Curtis to the role of associate dean of Undergraduate Studies and director of the Honors Program, among others. On campus you’ll see the iconic mossy oaks and
FALL 2022 | VIRES | 7 Lee Estrand (B.S. ’19) of Tallahassee, Florida, shares his joy in receiving the Spring 2022 issue of VIRES Magazine on Facebook. SHARE THOUGHTSYOURWITH US vires@alumni.fsu.eduYoutube.com/FSUAlumni@FSUAlumnilinkedin.com/company/fsualumni@fsualumnifacebook.com/fsualumniassociation I’m always so proud to tour my alma mater @floridastate with my kids. @FSUAdmissions does such a great job showing o this beautiful campus. We lost the oldest to Clemson but we’ve still got a shot to make the baby a Nole! @FSUAlumni #FutureNoles #GoNoles #ACCFamily Amy Murphy Frederick (B.A. ’96) @amymfrederick Jim Pennington (B.S. ’82) in response to 4 Rivers BBQ by John Rivers (B.A. ’89) named Top 10 Best BBQ. managementtoCongratulationsJohnandhisteam on this designation Goaccomplishments.andNoles,JohnRivers!!” “ “Congratulations to Katie Heck (B.S. ‘04) for winning this July’s SocialNole contest! Katie’s participation as an FSU Alumni Association SocialNole awarded her a Coach Lonni Alameda signed softball and a $100 Amazon gift card.” @fsualumni The next winner could be you! SocialNoles have the opportunity to win prizes every month and all you need is an active Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter account to join. Visit fsualumni.socialtoaster.com to sign up today! Chatterbox
Sixty years have passed since Florida State University first opened its doors to Black students. Unlike other Southern universities, Florida State’s integration was achieved without violence or federal intervention. Their presence however did challenge the prevailing racism within the student body and administration and began a permanent change in university life. Those first students pioneered a bright future and a strong presence of Black leaders at FSU.
FSU’s first African-American undergraduate. Courtney, and other Black students in the years that followed, faced many difficulties as part of an overwhelmingly white student body accustomed to life in the segregated South. Yet, even as Courtney endured prejudice and discrimination, he was involved in student government and wrote for the student newspaper, the Florida Flambeau.
The same year, 18-year-old Maxwell Courtney (B.A. ’65, M.S. ’71) became
Courtney’s enrollment was followed a year later when Jacquelyn Dupont-Walker (B.S. ’66) and Carmena Green Bostic (B.A. ’67) enrolled at FSU, the first Black women to doBlackso. students faced much discrimination and bullying, yet progress occurred. Two years after Courtney enrolled, Fred Flowers
8 | alumni.fsu.edu
The Black Student Union, created in 1968, provided a safe space for Black students. In 1973, Charles Thompson (B.S. ’74) was elected as FSU’s first Black student body president. At the urging of the Black Student Union, FSU created an African-American Studies program in 1976. William Jones, a professor of Religion, was its first director.
By Sarah Dinkins (B.A. ’21), Ta-Tanisha Southall and Mary Clare Swan, Department of History
Integration at FSU occurred slowly and in stages. In 1962, 12 African-American teachers officially integrated the university by enrolling in graduate-level science classes.
FSU Celebrates 60th Anniversary of Integration
Integration of faculty lagged behind student integration. When the Florida Board of Regents made the controversial decision to shutter Florida A&M University’s Law School
(B.A. ’69, M.S. ’73) integrated the FSU baseball team and athletics program. Flowers’ sister, Doby (B.S. ’71, M.S. ’73), also broke barriers in FSU’s history by being crowned Homecoming queen in 1970, the same year Gayle Andrews (B.S.W. ’73) became the first BlackStudentcheerleader.activism played an instrumental role in bringing about greater inclusion and acceptance for nonwhite students at the university. The Chi Theta chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity became FSU’s first Black fraternity in 1967, and the Zeta Omicron chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority became FSU’s Black sorority in 1971.
The history of integration at Florida State University is immortalized in the Integration Statue, found at the heart of campus.
The challenges of systemic racism did not go away, but the enrollment of AfricanAmerican students at FSU slowly increased over the years. By the late 1970s, FSU had the largest population of Black students in the State University System of Florida outside of its Historically Black Colleges and Universities.Desegregation at FSU was no simple task, but the courageous individuals who challenged accepted racial barriers laid the foundation for meaningful integration.
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in 1968, it failed to live up to its promise that Black professors would not be displaced. When two professors applied for positions at FSU’s law school, just two miles from FAMU’s campus, both were rejected.
More African-American faculty were hired during the 1970s and ’80s, with James L. “Jack” Gant (Ph.D. ’71) being the first to become a dean. Coming in as a temporary instructor in Educational Administration in 1970, he became dean of the College of Education in 1974. Gant retired from his emeritus position in 1994. Today, the overall number of Black faculty at FSU remains relatively low in relation to the general faculty body.
equity and inclusion and holds one of the highest graduation rates among Black students in the United States.
Our continuing efforts to move diversity and inclusion to the forefront of the university mission have received national recognition with the “Higher Education Excellence in Diversity” Awards for the last eight years, recognizing outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion. Additionally, the university was recognized in 2021 by INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine as a Diversity Champion and awarded the Excellence in Diversity award.
Let us never forget the many trailblazers who bravely broke down barriers, withstood trauma and torment and fiercely fought for the beautiful and inclusive university we have today.
This fall, during Homecoming Weekend, the Black Alumni Network will be honoring our new Sankofa Emeritus alumni with a special private meet and greet at the BSU House and a special breakfast in the Alumni Association Ballroom.
Despite admitting its first Black students in 1962, it was not until six years later that FSU hired its first two Black faculty members. Tonya A. Harris joined the university in 1968 as the first female African-American nursing instructor. She retired in 2003 as an associate professor. Her counterpart was Earl Gordon Logan, who retired in 1989 as professor of sociology and director of Special Programs, Horizons Unlimited, which later became a part of the Center for Academic Retention and Enhancement known as CARE.
FSU has grown to house a diverse student body that continues to advance towards
Today, the Integration Statue located in Woodward Plaza honors the courage of Maxwell Courtney, Fred Flowers and Doby Flowers. The monument, by W. Stanley Proctor, unveiled in 2003, symbolizes the many hardships these students endured to pave the way for today’s students of color.
Integration was only a stepping stone for Black students. Both in and out of the classroom, Black students have since excelled in every aspect of student life at FSU.
FALL 2022 | VIRES | 9 University News
This year marks the 25th Anniversary Season of Opening Nights, and I am honored to be at the helm as we embark on this important milestone! I am also thrilled to have Florida State’s First Lady, Dr. Jai Vartikar, as the Honorary Chair of this Silver Jubilee Season. For more than two decades, Opening Nights has been bringing world-class performers to our campus and providing once-in-alifetime educational experiences for students both on and off campus. This season demonstrates Opening Nights’ continued commitment to presenting the best. We have a full season of performances and events planned, including collaborations with Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, FSU’s Colleges of Motion Picture Arts, Music and Fine Arts.
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Jennifer Wright-Allen Director, Opening Nights at FSU
Celebrating 25 Years
I am proud to be a part of the FSU family and look forward to meeting FSU alumni at upcoming performances.
4november Disney Princess: The Concert family, vocal, musical theatre 17 Seven Nations Celtic, rock 8december tenThing Brass Ensemble holiday, classical, instrumental, jazz 12january The Manhattan Transfer & DIVA vocal, jazz 19 International Guitar Night classical, flamenco, guitar, jazz 24 Voctave vocal, a cappella 21september fence by staibdance dance 29 Final Cut: 1982 film 2october Scott PostmodernBradlee’sJukebox jazz, pop 3 All-4-One r&b, pop 6 Mykal Kilgore r&b 24 John BluegrassJorgensenBand bluegrass, folk 22 4february The Other Mozart theatre 7 Step Afrika! dance, world music 9 Colson Whitehead author, speaker 11 Queens of Soul with Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra tribute, orchestral, r&b 14 MOMIX dance 28 Meklit jazz, world music, vocal 3marchZodiac Trio instrumental, jazz 4 Emmylou Harris country, Americana 11 New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players: The Mikado opera, comedy, musical theatre 23 The Jungle Book family, theatre 29 Jay Leno comedy 13aprilJohn Ensor Parker: Chain of Parks Art Festival Presenting Artist speaker, visual arts 16 PRISM classical, jazz, marching band, pop 25 Piano Battle classical, instrumental, comedyGET YOUR TICKETS AT OPENINGNIGHTS.FSU.EDU season calendar
New Stained-glass Window in FSU’s Historic Heritage Museum
Susan Fiorito, dean of the Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship, speaks during the dedication of the stained-glass window honoring Jim and Jan Moran and the Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship
The college has played a big role in enhancing the entrepreneurial culture across the university. Only in its fifth year, its undergraduate program is already the No. 1-ranked program in Florida and one of the Top 20 in the nation.
Global Entrepreneurship in 1995 and a record $100 million donation from Jan Moran and The Jim Moran Foundation in 2015 to ultimately create the first college of entrepreneurship in the country.
“I had seen a drawing, but I have to say, I’m really speechless looking at this window,” she said. “It’s almost like this is a sacred room here at Florida State. It’s been 15 years since his passing, and he wouldn’t believe that his vision for JMI would continue to have this impact.”
making possible entrepreneurial education not only to businesses across the nation but also to all FSU students as they endeavor to be a success by following their dreams,” said Susan Fiorito (B.S. ’73), professor and founding dean of the Jim Moran College.
The Jim Moran College raised the funds to commission FSU’s Master Craftsman Studio to design and create the window in recognition of Jim and Jan Moran’s generosity to the university. Their generosity includes a gift, with JM Family Enterprises, to establish the Jim Moran Institute for
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Dedicated during an April reception, the dedication adds to an array of windows that highlight events and entities important and meaningful to the university’s history.
Dedicated to Jim and Jan Moran
Melvin Stith (B.S. ’92, M.B.A. ’95, J.D. ’98), College of Business Dean Emeritus, presented Jan Moran with a replica of the window.
“The Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship is so proud to join the Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneurship in honoring the legacy of Jim Moran and the generosity of Jim and Jan Moran in
Mrs. Moran talked about her husband’s life as a self-made businessman in the automotive industry with a heart for giving back and knew he would never have imagined a window designed in his honor.
“Now, we have students — young people — coming here because of entrepreneurship,” she said. “That’s just wonderful. It’s amazing.”
The Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship has become the latest entity featured among Florida State University’s stunning display of stained-glass windows in the Heritage Museum at Dodd Hall.
By Amy Farnum-Patronis
She joked that when she, Jim Moran and Stith began talking about starting an institute at FSU, only a handful people even knew how to spell entrepreneurship.
The Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship stained-glass window located in Dodd Hall’s Heritage Museum.
FALL 2022 | VIRES | 11 University News
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Thrasher was joined by former FSU First Lady Jean Thrasher; their three children, Jennifer Jordan (B.S. ’89), Jon Thrasher and Julie Weinberg (B.S. ’98); granddaughter Ashley Williamson (B.S. ’20, M.S. ’21), and her husband, Matt (B.S. ’19); grandson Will Jordan; and Jean’s sister, Betty Holmes.
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McCullough said he admired how Thrasher served the university with warmth, kindness and compassion.
Florida State University celebrated the legacy of President Emeritus John Thrasher (B.S. ’65, J.D. ’72) this April and unveiled his portrait during a luncheon at the Alumni Center
By Amy Farnum-Patronis
President Richard McCullough lauded Thrasher for leading FSU in its incredible rise in the national rankings and how it’s made a tremendous difference for the university.
“John’s bold vision guided this university’s path of unprecedented academic excellence, and the university community leaned on his strong leadership in times of both celebration and crisis,” McCullough said.
The portrait is displayed in the Westcott Building, where the Office of the President is located.
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“Who would have thought that the stars would align so at the age of 70 you would get your dream job?” Jordan asked her father during her remarks.
Duringballroom.Thrasher’s nearly seven-year term, he elevated the university’s reputation as a preeminent research institution and led FSU to recognition as one of the nation’s Top 20 public universities.
“It’s been a glorious, wonderful ride,” Thrasher said. “It’s been so wonderful to be a part of this university that I love. I’ve loved it since the first day I stepped foot here in 1961 and will never forget the great opportunity it gave me — as an undergraduate and then in law school. I couldn’t be prouder to have been president of Florida State University.”
President Emeritus John Thrasher poses with his portrait during the unveiling ceremony.
Jordan said that her father’s faith, leadership and his ability to listen and care are what she’ll remember most about his legacy.
“We love your amazing heart and the way you care not only for our family but for your FSU family,” she said.
“Those qualities really shine through in the painting,” he said.
FSU JohnPresidentLegacyCelebratesofEmeritusrasher
Architecture firm Goody Clancy was selected to design the building. In the coming months, the firm will participate in a series of “Meet the Architect” events with Dean Michael Hartline. They hope to create open lines of communication between the firm and alumni to discuss the schools’ culture and community that will then inform the building’s design.
The facility is set to open in the fall of 2024.
Florida State has begun plans to construct a new facility for the College of Business. Legacy Hall, a 220,000-square-foot facility, will become the largest academic building on campus once completed.
The building area will total 218,392 gross square footage, while the program space will occupy 124,193 net square footage. Academic spaces will include labs, technology support spaces, college centers and institutes as well as spaces for administration and faculty. Other impressive features include forum stairs with seating, five floors to accommodate future growth and a central atrium to promote connection and collaboration. The facility will also include a 300-seat auditorium, multipurpose event space and a financial trading room.
Marissa Mainwood (B.A. ’03), the college’s director of student engagement says Legacy Hall “is absolutely essential” and will be beneficial to retention as well as the academic and professional success of students.
With two academic programs in the Top 10 and six in the Top 25, President Richard McCullough told the College of Business’ Board of Governors that he considered Legacy Hall necessary in order to “create the college that we want to be.”
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FALL 2022 | VIRES | 13 University News
By Yumarlis De Jesus
The overall budget of the hall is a whopping $88 million. This number includes both $44 million worth of private support in addition to the $44 million worth of state support that was secured in the summer of 2021.
e College of Business Will Soon Have A New Home: Legacy Hall
The construction of Legacy Hall is set to break ground this October.
FSU Selects Alumna to Serve as Next Vice President for University Advancement
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In her new role, Vickers will lead Florida State’s fundraising, alumni relations, advancement services and real estate giving and will work closely with the Seminole Boosters while laying the groundwork for FSU’s next comprehensive campaign.
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Marla Vickers, the university’s next vice president for University Advancement and president of the FSU Foundation.
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This summer, Florida State University President Richard McCullough announced the selection of Marla Vickers (M.A. ’00) as the university’s next vice president for University Advancement and president of the FSU Foundation. She begins this October.
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Vickers, an FSU alumna who was formerly an associate vice president of Advancement in the Division of Advancement & Alumni Engagement at Emory University in Atlanta, is an accomplished development professional with more than 20 years of experience in higher education at some of the nation’s elite universities. She has worked on five different multibillion-dollar campaigns.
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“I am so pleased to welcome Marla Vickers back home to Florida State University,” said President Richard McCullough. “She is a proven leader with a track record of success as a fundraiser and manager. Her energy, enthusiasm and experience will be a tremendous asset in facilitating more collaboration and alignment among all of FSU’s direct support organizations and helping the university achieve its ambitious fundraising goals.”
“As an alumna, it is an incredible honor to have the opportunity to join President McCullough and the entire FSU team in this capacity at such an important moment in the school’s history,” Vickers said. “I look forward to elevating and expanding FSU’s fundraising and alumni engagement work in meaningful ways while celebrating the institution’s distinctiveness and many strengths.”
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Choosethereafter.
By Amy Farnum-Patronis
Coonan credited the late former FSU president Sandy D’Alemberte with laying the groundwork for the degree.
FALL 2022 | VIRES | 15 University News
FSU to O er New HumanDegreeBachelor’sinRights
“The timing is so appropriate given how deeply divided the country and the world is right now,” said Coonan. “Human rights is a neutral approach to our world; it’s about finding common ground. What it represents are widely accepted norms and values that go across countries, national boundaries and cultures and a universal language the world is making its way toward.”
“President D’Alemberte had this right when he founded the Center for the Advancement of Human Rights 20 years ago,” he said. “Students may not go to work full time in human rights, but whether their careers are in business, medicine, law, film, education or social work, they should be informed about human rights.”
The new interdisciplinary major will be based in the Department of Religion and draw from more than 50 courses taught across the university, each connected by human rights content.
The degree will be the only one of its kind based in a religion department. Coonan called the religion department a natural home for a program that seeks to instill a sense of ethics, a dedication to justice and an inclusive worldview.
Terry Coonan, director of the Florida State University Center for the Advancement of Human Rights.
The degree’s interdisciplinary structure is vital and draws on offerings from philosophy, religion, business, political science, film, english, social work and entrepreneurship.“Wearealsogoing to be working very closely with our new Civil Rights Institute, and drawing on civil rights courses taught in the African American Studies Department,” he said. “We are also excited at the prospect of working with others, including International Programs who are such a strong suit of what we do here at FSU.”
Terry Coonan, executive director of FSU’s Center for the Advancement of Human Rights, helped shepherd the new degree into fruition and said the degree offering aims to bridge gaps and unify.
By Mark Blackwell omas
Florida State University will welcome a unique, timely and urgent new major to its curriculum this fall when students can begin pursuing an undergraduate degree in Human Rights and Social Justice.
Learn more religion.fsu.edu
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FALL 2022 | VIRES | 17 University News
Florida State University and Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare have announced a new partnership to build the FSU Health Tallahassee Center, a new facility that will offer advanced medical training and research opportunities and explore the academic health center of the future.
The preliminary conservative economic impact of the new Academic Health Center alone is expected to add more than $217 million annually and support more than 1,500 jobs directly and indirectly. During the three-year construction phase, roughly 1,200 jobs will be created. Post construction and activation, the center will sustain more than 350 permanent and high-paying jobs.
TMH is a leading not-for-profit health system and nationally recognized as one of the best hospitals in Florida by U.S. News & World Report and is located minutes from the FSU campus. The university has partnered regularly with TMH over the
By Kathleen Haughney
The building, funded by a $125 million appropriation from the Florida Legislature, will be located on the TMH campus and include educational, medical and research laboratory space while drawing on the knowledge and expertise of TMH clinicians and faculty from the FSU College of Medicine and College of Nursing.
The center will provide about 130,000 gross square feet of medical and researchrelated space distributed over five floors. It will accommodate an estimated 30 principal investigators, producing an estimated $40 million of additional annual grant funding, focused on clinical trials, data-driven precision health, digital health and clinical informatics and clinical and translational research.
FSU and Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare to Construct New Academic Health Center
last two decades. The College of Nursing has housed the TMH Center for Research and Evidence Based Practice since 2013. And this past year, the university and TMH jointly hired a chief clinical research officer to lead all clinical research efforts between the two Althoughinstitutions.thenew facility will have a research focus, it also will enhance the university’s training opportunities for the next generation of health care workers. FSU plays an essential role in training clinicians. Nearly 60% of FSU’s physician alumni practice in Florida or a Florida bordering county. In addition, more than 60% of FSU’s nursing alumni reside in Florida.
18 | alumni.fsu.edu
Then Now&
The former Aquatic Center saw the beginning e orts in organizing the FSU women’s swimming and diving team and served as the founding location of the men’s swimming and diving team in 1949 and for its home meets until 1964. Currently, both teams train and compete at the Morcom Aquatics Center o campus.
Learn more about the history of Florida State’s campus: gonol.es/HeritageWebinar
I
t may be hard for recent graduates to imagine that a pool once sat on legacy walk, but for many alumni, that pool was integral to their college experience. Before its demolition, the Bim Stults Aquatic Center, an Olympic size 50-meter pool, sat where HCB Classroom Building now resides.
While the on-campus pool and synchronized swimming club are no longer at FSU, their memory remains integral to FSU’s history.
The building that now occupies that space, HCB Classroom Building, opened in 2007. The building has three floors with various classroom sizes, the smallest seating up to 40 and the largest seating roughly 400 students. Many recent graduates may remember taking a 400-person class on the first level. That size is common for prerequisite classes like College Algebra or Macroeconomics.
FALL 2022 | VIRES | 19
The old pool is probably best remembered for an organization known as “The Tarpon Club,” a synchronized swimming club, which trained and performed there. The Tarpon Club existed at Florida State for fifty-eight years, from 1937 to 1994. Long before synchronized swimming became an Olympic sport, it was an integral activity at FSU, with the club even performing internationally in Mexico.
Literature has the power to transform our thinking in ways that enable us to envision possibilities and radicallyfuturesdierentfromourpresentcircumstances.
20 | alumni.fsu.edu CATCHING UP WITH “”
(B.S. ’80, M.A. ’82) 2022-2023 Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor and Distinguished Research Professor
Montgomery received a three-year, $100,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to digitize Naylor’s work. “There’s something about liberating those voices and allowing them to speak freely that enhances our understanding of the human experience,” says Montgomery.
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Montgomery says she is “deeply humbled and thankful” for the recognition: “It’s an incentive for me to keep doing the important work that enriches the institutional culture, not only of Florida State but for the profession at large.”
At that time, Montgomery was the only Black faculty member in the English department and found herself frustrated by the absence of Black faculty members teaching courses on African American literature. She used tools of “quiet advocacy” to push for hiring more Black faculty and helped develop a strong curriculum in African American literature.
FALL 2022 | VIRES | 21
Maxine Montgomery
By Andrew Faught
Her mother and father ordered titles – including Helen Fuller Orton’s “Mystery In the Apple Orchard” – by mail, or they bought encyclopedias from traveling salesmen, all of which opened Montgomery’s mind to the world of possibilities outside of the segregated South.
An abiding passion guides Montgomery: She champions authors such as Toni Morrison, Gloria Naylor and others who “continue to be silenced, excluded or marginalized within mainstream canonical discourse.”
“Even in kindergarten, I had a magnetic attraction for newspapers and the side of cereal boxes,” she recalls. “I’d sit on that front porch, trying to decode words or language in ways that allowed me to engage with those words. My parents saw that interest and decided to nurture it by surrounding me with books. They did everything they could to inspire me to dream beyond my circumstances.”
“Literature has the power to transform our thinking in ways that enable us to envision possibilities and futures radically different from our present circumstances,” said Montgomery. “There’s something about reading about other cultures, experiences and worlds that prompts us to cross boundaries and become more human andDecadeshumane.”later, her love affair with the written word continues. Montgomery, who has taught English at FSU since 1988, received the 2022-23 Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor Award, the highest honor faculty can bestow on a colleague. She was also chosen as the 2022 Homecoming Parade Grand Marshall. One of the country’s premier scholars of African American literature, Montgomery has won five university teaching awards, published
When asked what inspires her, Montgomery notes her daughter, Samantha Crawford (B.S. ’20), a master’s student in the Literature, Media and Culture program in the FSU Department of English. “I’m inspired seeing the spark of enthusiasm in her eyes as she discovers texts that I have read and taught for years as well as the ways in which her discovery inspires her to be the best that she can be and find her place, her identity and her voice.”
eight books and created 11 new courses in the English Department — all focusing on African American literature.
Montgomery has devoted almost 40 years to being a life-changing influence for students, faculty members and administrators who’ve discovered a sense of place in FSU’s community. Known to students as “passionate, caring” and having a “unique perspective that really opens up the literary eye,” her work continues to inspire a new generation of students to engage in underrepresented works of marginalized authors.
Since then, Montgomery has continued to advance the field at large in addition to her work as a faculty member. She has served on 71 Ph.D. committees and 40 M.A. committees. Her work specializes in African diaspora literature and culture, Black apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic literature and expressive culture, among other interests. Montgomery’s proudest feats are the creation of graduate seminars – a recent one titled “Post Apocalyptic Black Female Imagination” considered the role of Black women in speculative writing and science fiction – and seeing students enrolled in the courses go on to teaching jobs at top research institutions.
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Montgomery received her bachelor’s and master’s degree in English from Florida State University. As an undergraduate student, she thought she wanted to study psychology but found herself drawn to english literature courses. Montgomery earned her doctorate from the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign and, in 1986, landed a tenuretrack position at the University of Nebraska. She found her way back to Florida State and joined the English Department faculty in the fall of 1988.
wo-time alumna Maxine Montgomery’s (B.S. ’80, M.A. ’82) love of literature dates back to her childhood front porch in Mulberry, Florida, then a rural speck with a single traffic light and no public library.
“I love engaging with students, both undergraduates and graduate students, and the dynamic engagement that takes place in the classroom,” Montgomery says. “I don’t care how often I’ve taught a novel, short story or poem; when I step into that space, the text comes alive. Something about that dynamic exchange proves to be transformative in engaging and enlightening ways that inspire students to see the truths embedded in those texts in entirely different ways.”
22 alumni.fsu.edu
Crown Jewel
THE
FALL 2022 | VIRES 23 story by EMILY CLEMONS MACMILLAN (B.A. ’17) DAVE BARFIELD Campus INSIDE THE UNVEILING OF FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY’S NEW STUDENT UNION OF
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