UNF Journal: Winter 2016

Ann Hicks sees a little bit of herself in every honors student who passes through the University of North Florida and goes on to become an Osprey alum. She admires their intellectual curiosity. They view in-depth class conversations with excitement ...

The University of North Florida’s new initiative to start an open and engaged conversation about race in our country kicked off with an event spotlighting an incident that occurred just miles from campus. The UNF Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnic Relations co-hosted the Distinguished Voices Lecture “Race, Justice and the Law” in October, which included a viewing of the Sundance award-winning HBO documentary “3 1/2 Minutes, Ten Bullets.”

The freshman who first enrolls at the University of North Florida is a completely different person than the senior who confidently strides across the stage to accept a diploma four years later. Those semesters of study, hours of classroom discussion and exposure to dynamic learning opportunities serve as catalysts. They jumpstart personal growth and craft graduates who are academically distinguished, community-aware and driven to make a difference.

It took four-year old Maddex Hart only 15 minutes to learn to maneuver the joystick of the Spiderman riding toy that was designed just for him. Once he got the hang of it, he was off. The joystick— which was engineered by University of North Florida students — enables Maddex, who was born with cerebral palsy, to move around, steer and accelerate without using the pedals or a steering wheel.