Every time I see an announcement for another ground-breaking at the University of Tampa, it’s cause for reflection.
In a few weeks, UT will begin construction on what will be the biggest academic facility on campus, a six-story, 90,000-square-foot Graduate and Health Studies building. It will house the nursing program, physician assistant studies and graduate studies. It will also be the 19th academic building refurbished or built since 2000. Another year, another upgrade.
For context, I go back to the 1990s when USF was seriously considering UT for a downtown campus. Enrollment was less than 1,500 and heading farther south. It was a private university without impressive credentials or cachet. Budgets were in deficit and bankruptcy rumors were in the mix. UT was hurting and USF was hunting for that long-coveted DT presence.
Then, as we know, President Ronald Vaughan, who took over in 1995, and the John H. Sykes family became key catalysts in re-energizing UT. Benefactors started digging deeper–a combination of pure philanthropy and vote-of-confidence investment. Barack Obama was the first sitting president to visit. The impressive run continues.
Now enrollment is 8,300, and UT is a major synergistic player in the ongoing re-development of downtown Tampa. And, BTW, there are construction plans beyond that new Graduate and Health Studies building–as in a twin building. Is the sky the limit? Well, the two academic facilities would literally–and symbolically–be connected via skywalk.