University of Central Florida
Division of Community Relations
Community connections
Connecting the University and the Community
In This Issue: Page 1 • Smart Sensors • UCF Celebrates the Arts Page 2 • Hitt Honored as History Maker • Martinez Leads Go Red Campaign • UCF Community Council: Greek Life • Students Negotiate Cyprus Solution Page 3 • WUCF TV Event: Last Days in Vietnam • Founders’ Day • CBA Real Estate Conference • Kurdish Studies Conference Page 4 • WUCF TV Event: The Homestretch • Around the Community
Letter from helen Helen Donegan, Vice President, Division of Community Relations
We talk a lot about partnerships here at UCF—we even trademarked the slogan “America’s Leading Partnership University®.” By joining with those in government, business, and philanthropy, we are able to accomplish more than any single entity could on its own. These achievements include expanding educational opportunities, tackling social issues, facilitating global conversations, making the arts accessible to all, and generating high-paying jobs, all of which benefit our community as a whole. As President Hitt says, “In true partnerships, each partner makes important contributions toward the goal—and all the players benefit.” We are proud of our role in making Central Florida such an exceptional place to live, work and play, and we look forward to many more successful collaborations in the years to come. Yours in partnership,
Helen
June 2015
ucf, smart sensors, and central florida’s new economy Hundreds of business and community leaders gathered at the Ballroom at Church Street on March 27 to hear from UCF President John C. Hitt, Osceola County Manager Don Fisher, and UCF Vice President for Research and Commercialization MJ Soileau about the university’s newest collaboration: a public-private partnership with Osceola County and the Florida High Tech Corridor Council to establish the Florida Advanced Manufacturing Research Center. This state-of-the-art research and incubation facility will be home to smart sensor developers, allowing Central Florida to tap into a burgeoning market estimated to be in the trillions in the coming years. Dr. Hitt referred to a recent study analyzing the potential economic impact of the proposed advanced-technology manufacturing cluster, describing it as a “landmark effort to create thousands of new jobs and to further energize the economy of our region.” Pointing to the success of the semiconductor industry in Austin, Texas, and Silicon Valley and the nanotechnology industry in Albany, New York, Dr. Soileau encouraged attendees to contact their elected officials in support of the project, saying, “Someone will do this. The market potential is too great for it not to happen. Why not this time in Osceola County?” Additional event photos are available here.
UCF Celebrates the Arts More than 500 community and university leaders gathered for an opening night reception of the UCF Celebrates the Arts festival in the DeVos Family Room of the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts on April 10. President John C. Hitt, College of Arts and Humanities Dean Jose Fernandez, and UCF School of the Performing Arts Director Jeff Moore spoke about arts at UCF and shared a video montage highlighting UCF student artistic talent. The UCF Jazz Chamber Group, directed by Jeff Rupert, performed, and giant banners of UCF student artwork adorned the walls while guests enjoyed a view of the Orlando city skyline. Guests interacted with live student art exhibits as they entered the Dr. Phillips Center main doors and explored the hallways on their way to the DeVos room. After the reception, guests attended a sold-out performance of Icarus at the Edge of Time in the Walt Disney Theater. Icarus, based on a children’s book written by physicist Brian Greene, was narrated by Star Trek Voyager and Orange is the New Black actress Kate Mulgrew, and accompanied by the UCF Symphony Orchestra. Mulgrew and Greene mingled with guests at a meet-and-greet reception following the performance. The Office of Constituent Relations coordinated this kick-off evening to the festival with other members of the UCF Celebrates the Arts planning committee. This was the first day of a six-day UCF Celebrates the Arts festival at the Dr. Phillips Center. More than 13,600 free advanced tickets were reserved, and at least 10 of the shows were sold out, including the Icarus performance. More than 1,000 UCF students, faculty and partners showcased studio art, music, theatre, dance, gaming, animation, photography and film at the festival. More: http://www.ucf.edu/pegasus/show-time/ and http://today.ucf.edu/ucfcelebrates-arts-2015-take-guests-journey-edge-time/.
Hitt Honored as History Maker The Historical Society of Central Florida awarded UCF President Dr. John C. Hitt the 2015 John Young History Maker Award on April 23. More than 400 community and university leaders gathered in the Pegasus Ballroom of the UCF Student Union to honor President Hitt and the John Young History Maker Past awardee, Bert Roper. Among the guests and speakers were Orange County Mayor Theresa Jacobs and Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer. The John Young History Maker Award honors select Central Floridians whose lifetime achievements have made an impact on the Central Florida community. It is named after Captain John Young, Central Florida’s “hometown hero,” who commanded the Apollo 16 mission in 1972 and became the ninth person to walk on the moon. Dr. Hitt is UCF’s second president to receive the award. UCF’s first president, Charles Millican, received the award in 2010. The Office of Constituent Relations provided logistical support for this year’s event, held for the first time on UCF’s main campus.
ucf community council: fraternity & sorority life update The UCF Community Council kicked off its 2015 programming on April 8 at the UCF Fraternity and Sorority Life Building for a presentation on Greek life at UCF by Student Development and Enrollment Services Associate Vice President, Dr. Kerry Welch. Dr. Welch works closely with the Office of Student Involvement, Greek Life, Student Leadership Development, Student Neighborhood Relations, and Community Support Services, as well as coordinating assessment and strategic planning efforts for the division. Dr. Welch shared several impressive statistics about UCF’s Greek-letter organizations, including: 38,614 and $189,274.73—the number of community service hours completed and the number of dollars raised for local charities by the Greek community in the 2013–2014 academic year, respectively. The Council also welcomed 2015–2016 chair Garry Capton, vice president of university partnerships at FAIRWINDS Credit Union. Capton replaces outgoing chair Susan Vernon-Devlin, vice president of public relations at Massey Communications.
Martinez Spearheads Heart Association Education, Fundraising Effort On May 8, the Loews Portofino Bay Hotel was filled with more than 400 guests, all in their best red attire, at the Greater Orlando American Heart Association’s Go Red For Women Luncheon. The event, co-chaired this year by Associate Vice President of Community Relations Maritza Martinez, is part of the American Heart Association’s national movement to end heart disease and stroke in women. “We’re raising awareness about cardiovascular diseases in women, which is the number one killer. Many times women are the caretakers, looking after everyone else but themselves,” said Martinez. “We hope to inform and educate women, but most importantly give women the resources they need to take proactive steps and be healthy.” Celebrating its tenth year in Central Florida, the luncheon raised more than $250,000 and featured a special address from national Go Red For Women spokesperson, Paula Chavez. Nationally, the American Heart Association’s Go Red For Women movement has raised over $85 million for women-specific cardiovascular research and education.
Students Negotiate for Cyprus Solution On February 6, students from UCF, Rollins College and Stetson University participated in the International Strategic Crisis Negotiation Exercise. The exercise was organized by the UCF Global Perspectives Office and the U.S. Army War College. The partnership developed from a series of conversations between John C. Bersia, Special Assistant to the President for Global Perspectives at UCF, and Col. Martin Clausen, the War College’s director for its Strategic Leader Experiential Education Division. Col. Clausen began the exercise by telling students, “We are no longer at UCF. We are now at the United Nations in New York City. You are no longer students, but delegates from your respective countries.” Over the course of two days, seven teams of students worked together to create negotiation strategies to ease tensions between Greek and Turkish Cypriots at a simulated U.N. peace conference. Retired Ambassador Harriet Elam-Thomas, who directs UCF’s Diplomacy Program, served as the exercise’s U.N. Special Representative. Referencing her own experience working with Greece, Turkey and Cyprus, she encouraged students
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COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS
to pursue compromise without overlooking the positions and goals of their countries. Amb. Elam-Thomas said the students “demonstrated what all of us hope will be the case, that a younger generation of leadership on both sides with fresh new approaches may facilitate future negotiations and allow for the resolution of the four-decade crisis.” While the results of the exercise did not “solve” the situation in Cyprus, students experienced firsthand the interplay among diplomacy, the military, the economy and social welfare.
reflections on vietnam
On April 22, WUCF TV hosted a screening and discussion about Last Days in Vietnam, an Academy Award-nominated film chronicling the chaotic final days of the Vietnam War. Following the screening, John C. Bersia, UCF’s Special Assistant to the President for Global Perspectives and host of WUCF’s Global Perspectives show, moderated a panel of distinguished guests: Col. Gerald Berry, Col. Joe Kittinger, Mr. Tuoi Van Lu’u and Dr. Hoi Van Do. The former two fought for the U.S., and the latter two served with the South Vietnamese Army. Bersia asked each to discuss their last days in Vietnam and share their reflections on the war, thirty years later.
Founders’ Day Honors Excellence, Service Hundreds of university and community friends and family gathered to honor faculty who have demonstrated excellence in service to UCF and its students at the Founders’ Day Honors Convocation on April 1. More than 150 faculty members were recognized for outstanding teaching, advising, research, professional service, and librarianship, including UCF Reach for the Stars recipients for highly-successful early-career research and creative activity and Pegasus Professor Award recipients, UCF’s highest honor of excellence. Faculty members who have completed 20, 30, 40, and 45 years of service and who recently retired or who are retiring soon, and those designated with the title emerita or emeritus were also recognized for their dedicated service. Eleven students who demonstrated exceptional ability in a particular area of study were featured in videos highlighting their accomplishments. Each student was chosen by a committee within their college and presented
their award by the dean of that college. Four Honors in the Major students who wrote the most outstanding theses were recognized for their achievements. The event concluded with a moment of silence in honor of UCF’s second president, Trevor Colbourn, who passed away on January 13. For a complete list of honorees visit https://provost.ucf.edu/2015-foundersday-honors-convocation-honorees/. More at http://today.ucf.edu/ucfcelebrates-best-brightest-foundersday/
CBA Conference Explores Future of Central Florida’s Real Estate Market The UCF College of Business Administration hosted its third annual real estate conference, “Developing Opportunities: The Future of the Central Florida Real Estate Market,” on May 6. Following addresses by City of Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and UCF President John C. Hitt on the development of UCF’s downtown Orlando campus, Dr. Diane Trees, director of the UCF Metro Center, moderated a roundtable discussion on significant projects and trends in office, retail, multi-family and tourism development
in Central Florida. Panelists included Dan Holladay, managing director of the International Consortium for Advanced Manufacturing Research, John Walsh, CEO of Port Canaveral, James Russell, executive vice president of The Pizzuti Companies, and Omar Quddus, president and managing partner of Digital Risk. The conference was presented by the UCF College of Business Administration Dr. P. Phillips Institute for Research and Education in Real Estate and Dr. P. Phillips School of Real Estate.
kurdish studies conference
Academics from all over the world gathered at UCF on January 27 for a special event, “On the Outside Looking In: A Kurdish Studies Conference.” This was the first conference in a pair of collaborative, interdisciplinary forums organized by UCF and Soran University. A wide array of topics covered by presenters allowed attendees the opportunity to “look in” on pressing Kurdish issues. Presentations included “When States and Societies Fall Apart: Kurdistan and the Middle Eastern ‘State of Violence’” by Hamit Bozarslan of France’s École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, as well as “Kurdistan, Iraq and the Emerging Middle East” by Steven A. Cook, Hasib Shabbagh Fellow for Middle East Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, among many others. Conference attendees also had an opportunity to view an interactive exhibit of black and white photos titled, “What We Lost in Sinjar,” by photographer Robert Leutheuser. COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS
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wucf tv event tackles teen homelessness, high school dropout crisis
WUCF TV presented a special preview of the film The Homestretch on April 13 at the Orlando Public Library. The Homestretch follows three homeless teens as they fight to stay in school, graduate,
and build a more stable future. Through haunting images, intimate scenes, and first-person narratives, the teens take us on their journeys of struggle and triumph. As their stories unfold, the film explores their plight within the larger issues of poverty, race, juvenile justice, immigration, foster care, and LGBTQ rights. Following the screening, Dr. Diane Trees, host of WUCF TV’s Metro Center Outlook, led a panel discussion on the plight of homeless students in Central Florida. Panelists included Dexter Foxworth, director of the Zebra Coalition, Andrae Bailey, CEO of the Central
Florida Commission on Homelessness, and Christina Savino, Orange County Public Schools homeless education specialist. “We have 13,000 registered homeless children in Central Florida,” said Bailey. “We need caring people on the front lines to help reverse those numbers, but they are only as good as the top leaders encouraging them.” The Homestretch is part of American Graduate: Let’s Make It Happen, a public media initiative supported by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to help local communities across America address the high school dropout crisis.
Around the Community On April 11, more than 5,000 students, parents, teachers and staff visited UCF’s main campus for the 2015 Florida Odyssey of the Mind State Tournament. The Office of Constituent Relations works with Odyssey of the Mind staff, the CFE Arena, and the UCF Student Union each year to coordinate the annual state tournament which brings some of Florida’s brightest young minds from kindergarten through college to the University of Central Florida campus.
Knightro joined Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and city commissioners in kicking off the 31st annual MLK Holiday Parade on January 17. UCF had two entries in this year’s parade, with nearly 100 students participating.
The eighth annual Heart of Florida United Way Women’s Leadership Luncheon on February 26 featured New York Times best-selling author Cheryl Strayed and raised more than $150,000 for educational programs focused on increasing literacy in local schools. Vice President of Community Relations Helen Donegan founded the Women’s Leadership Council in 2007 to address critical problems impacting women and children in Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties.
University of Central Florida Division of Community Relations
UCF Downtown | 36 West Pine Street | Orlando, FL 32801 Phone: 407.235.3935 | Fax: 407.317.7744 | Email: communityrelations@ucf.edu
UCF representatives and members of the Oviedo-Winter Springs and Greater Sanford Regional chambers of commerce met with Florida Lieutenant Governor Carlos Lopez-Cantera during the annual Capitol Connection trip to Tallahassee on April 14–15. Seminole County high school students made business presentations to the Oviedo-Winter Springs Chamber of Commerce Young Entrepreneurs Academy investor panel on May 20. Representatives from the UCF Business Incubation Program and the Blackstone LaunchPad served on the panel and helped disburse $7,500 in start-up funding to 14 new companies.
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