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Week of October 10, 2023

USF Homecoming is one of our university's longest-held traditions, and I am thrilled to see celebrations happening across all three of our campuses as our students, faculty, staff, alumni and the broader Tampa Bay community come together to show their school spirit and reflect on what it means to be a USF Bull.

The festivities began yesterday with the Homecoming Kickoff and Lip Sync Battle, marking the start of a week filled with a variety of exciting activities. I hope to see you at the events scheduled throughout the week, including our USF football game on Saturday against Florida Atlantic. The full schedule of Homecoming events is available here.

Updates

• The Honorable Samuel P. Bell, III, known to many of us as "Sam," was a passionate champion of USF, and especially our College of Public Health, which he helped establish during his time in the Florida Legislature. To recognize Sam’s many contributions to our university, earlier today we announced that the College of Public Health building on USF's Tampa campus will be named in his honor. Sam's influence will continue to benefit our region and state for generations to come, and we are proud to honor his legacy and ensure his impact continues to be felt by our university community.

• Congratulations to the recipients of USF's 2023 Outstanding Staff Awards, who were honored at last week's awards ceremony. The Outstanding Staff Award is the most prestigious honor presented to our staff and administrative employees, and this year we recognized 40 individual recipients and 73 additional recipients across 13 teams. Our honorees demonstrate USF's core values of inquiry, innovation, integrity and inclusion, and I deeply appreciate their commitment to pushing our university forward. You can view a list of this year's recipients here.

• I was pleased to attend the Status of Latinos (SoL) Annual Awards Breakfast to join our university community in celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month and honoring those who are committed to providing access and opportunity to our students. In addition to celebrating our award recipients and the winner of the Hispanic Heritage poster contest, we heard a terrific presentation from keynote speaker Angela E. Batista. Celebrations like this demonstrate the power of community, and I extend my sincere thanks to the SoL Committee for making this wonderful event possible.

• We’re excited to announce a $4.4 million investment made by Tampa General Hospital to support the planning, construction and implementation of a new nursing simulation lab in our College of Nursing. USF's long-standing partnership with TGH continues to provide new and innovative training opportunities for our students, faculty and staff to create a healthier future for the Tampa Bay region. TGH's generous support will further strengthen the College of Nursing as we prepare our students for successful careers and help fill an important workforce need.

• The Florida Inventors Hall of Fame is celebrating its 10th anniversary, and I was delighted to congratulate our 2023 inductees at the Hall of Fame's Induction Ceremony and Gala this past weekend. Members of the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame, which is located at USF, are trailblazers who help fuel our state's innovation economy, and their groundbreaking discoveries have transformed a variety of disciplines. You can read more about this year's inductees and their accomplishments here.

• I had a lovely time attending USF Women in Leadership & Philanthropy's Fall Symposium, where we heard an inspiring talk from Kendra Scott and celebrated WLP's 2023 award honorees — Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Colleen Chappell and Community Leadership Award recipient Clara Reynolds. By opening doors to success for our WLP student scholars and funding innovative research conducted by women faculty members at USF, WLP makes an incredible impact both at our university and beyond. Thank you to everyone who joined us to support the work of this transformational organization.

Additional University News Sources

•  USF Newsroom

•  St. Petersburg campus

•  Sarasota-Manatee campus

•  USF Health

•  USF Athletics

Tampa Bay Business & Wealth Magazine published a Q&A with USF President Rhea Law in which she discusses recent news from USF.

NPR quoted Assistant Research Professor Brian Barnes in a story about a swimming robot that is being tested to help reduce the amount of sargassum seaweed in the ocean and mitigate the impacts of climate change.

The Tampa Bay Times published a story about a new podcast launched by the newspaper in partnership with USF St. Petersburg.

The USF Botanical Gardens will host its annual Fall Plant Festival on Oct. 14-15. The festival offers a delightful experience for plant enthusiasts and features numerous vendors, including commercial growers and local clubs from across the state who are expert growers and available to answer questions. Attendees can explore a wide variety of plants and enjoy food and treats. USF students, faculty and staff receive free admission to the festival with their USF ID.

Inside USF: The Newsletter is published every other week.

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