UNF Journal: Winter 2012

Noel San Antonio used his UNF connections to help in the fundraising and building of a community education center near his home town of Manila in the Philippines.

Future generations of UNF students in music, visual arts and business will benefit from the generosity of a remarkable Jacksonville couple — Doran Weinstein and Lu Ann Bear.

The directors of UNF's two newest Flagship programs — the Department of Music and the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics — are steadily planning the next steps for their distinguished departments.

The Freshman Experience, as it is being called on campus, will ensure that students get plugged into a more vibrant campus life, forge relationships with a diverse group of peers and build a strong academic foundation.

UNF graduate and donor Ann Hicks has become an ad hoc parent to hundreds of students who might have otherwise been left behind or attended another university.

UNF men's basketball head coach Matthew Driscoll and his staff elected to use a form of studying abroad with this year’s team during week-long trek in Canada this summer.

Bernard Osher and his wife, Barbro Sachs-Osher, have given the gift of lifelong learning to seniors in our community through the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at the University of North Florida.

Amber Barnes was about as far away from the University of North Florida as she could be when she worked in South Africa last summer, but she kept the lessons she learned as an Osprey close to her heart.

Plans are in place for a non-denominational campus sanctuary and meditation building to be built near the University Center off the University’s Kernan Boulevard entrance.

THE PLAYERS Championship last year announced a $250,000 pledge to the First Generation Scholarship program. THE PLAYERS announced an additional $500,000 commitment from the Red Coats to the UNF program this year.

A number of companies have stepped forward recently to donate software to be used in UNF’s logistics lab, making the UNF program one of the best in the country.

A UNF College of Education and Human Services graduate, Sabrena Bua is educating young minds in the classroom while planning a return to UNF for a doctorate in education leadership.

UNF professors have become regular guests on “The Academic Minute,” an educationally focused radio segment produced by WAMC in Albany, NY, a National Public Radio member station.

Daniel Kalisher took his training as a UNF jazz student to California and toured with the backing bands for Drake Bell, the former star of the Nickelodeon hit TV show “Drake and Josh,” and “Glee” star Matthew Morrison.