Bulls Notebook: USF Sarasota-Manatee schedules 9/11 event

The 2,977 flags will be placed Sept. 10 in the late afternoon in anticipation of the 9/11 ceremony. USFSM is asking staff, faculty and students, along with local veterans’ groups and community members, to assist with planting the flags.

“We’re basically encouraging everybody to come out and help,” said Carlos Moreira, USFSM’s veteran services administrator and one of the ceremony’s organizers.

“It’s so important to remember those who lost their lives on 9/11, as well as the courageous efforts of our first responders and military,” he said. “Our nation owes them a debt of gratitude.”

The Sept. 11 ceremony will start at 8:20 a.m. in order for other events at the observance to begin on time.

The Marine Corps color guard from the 4^th Amphibious Assault Battalion in Tampa will raise the flag at the campus’ entrance. After that, attendees will be directed to an area behind the courtyard where USFSM Regional Chancellor Dr. Karen Holbrook will offer welcoming remarks at 8:30 a.m., followed by Dr. David Kotok of Cumberland Advisors.

A noted financial advisor and generous supporter of USFSM, Mr. Kotok was inside the World Trade Center’s south tower when the building was struck by one of the hijacked jets. He’ll offer his recollection of the attack and talk about its effects, even to this day.

Also at the ceremony, the choir from Saint Stephen’s Episcopal School in Bradenton will sing the National Anthem and representatives from the Sarasota Military Academy will participate in a flag-passing ritual to symbolize the nation’s response to the terrorist attacks.

Academy representatives will pass the flag, attached to a flag-stick, to a group of first responders who in turn will hand it to the Marine Corps color guard to plant into a flag holder. This is meant to signify the response after the attack, first by firefighters and police and then by the military.

Moreira said the campus planned a similar ceremony last year but cancelled it following Hurricane Irma. An abbreviated ceremony was held weeks later inside the rotunda.

Like last year, he said, “This event will depend on the weather.”

Bucs donate tickets to USFSM’s student vets, active military

USF Sarasota-Manatee’s military and veteran community thanks Tampa Bay Buccaneers player Ryan Jensen and the Buccaneers organization for their recent generous support.

Jensen, the team’s center, donated tickets last week to the USFSM’s Military and Veterans Success Center to allow 13 student veterans and active military personnel to attend Friday’s Buccaneers-Lions game in Tampa. He also donated T-shirts emblazed with the phrase “Jensen’s G.I.’s,” along with 13 tickets to this Thursday’s pre-season game against the Jaguars.

“This is outstanding,” said Carlos Moreira, USFSM’s veteran services administrator. “To have an athlete of Ryan’s stature support the campus’ student veterans and active military members, it really says a lot about his character and generosity.”

The Military and Veterans Success Center also thanks Ernie Withers, a USF alum and general manager of Mercedes-Benz of Sarasota, for donating parking passes to the Buccaneers-Lions game.

Moreira and Jay Riley, USFSM’s director of business outreach and engagement, met Jensen last month during “Beyond the End Zone,” a luncheon sponsored jointly by the Sarasota and Manatee counties’ chambers of commerce. Jensen, who joined the Buccaneers in March, attended the event with Brian Ford, the Buccaneers’ chief operating officer.

The game day tickets were provided through the Buccaneers’ Community Ticket Program, started in 1999 to allow players and coaches to donate tickets to charitable organizations in the Tampa Bay area.

Applications to PAInT Scholar Program available

The Florida Center for Partnerships for Arts-Integrated Teaching (PAInT) is partnering with USF Sarasota-Manatee’s School of Education (SOE) to institute the PAInT Scholar Program.

Under this special program, PAInT will offer five SOE students an opportunity to engage in arts-integrated academic projects while interning with the center’s arts partners. Students who complete the program will be recognized as PAInT Scholars upon graduation from the School of Education.

Participants must complete 100 hours (a minimum of 20 hours each semester of community service and leadership in arts integration) over four consecutive semesters in the School of Education.

With the support of advisors Dr. Denise Davis-Cotton, coordinator of the PAInT Center, and Dr. Helene Robinson, arts-integration curriculum coordinator in the School of Education, students will conduct arts-integrated research presentations as well as a variety of arts-integrated tasks, projects and leadership/service efforts designed to demonstrate scholarship, skill development and experience in arts-integration pedagogy.

Selection priority will be made in consultation with resident faculty and will promote equal representation across a variety of academic programs. Application to the program will be open through Sept. 30, 2018. To apply, visit: usf.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2s1zr84QesJmVjn.

USFSM to host Dr. MacManus Sept. 5

USF Sarasota-Manatee is proud to welcome esteemed political analyst Dr. Susan MacManus for a discussion about the “The State of Politics” Sept. 5 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at USFSM’s Selby Auditorium, 8350 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota.

Dr. MacManus, who recently retired from USF, is one of the state’s most authoritative and oft-quoted political analysts. She’ll offer an overview of her most recent book, Florida’s Minority Trailblazers, as well as her unbiased view of the current political climate in Florida and the nation. The free talk is sponsored by USFSM and USF Women in Leadership & Philanthropy.

To attend, visit eventbrite.com/e/the-state-of-politics-featuring-dr-susan-macmanus-tickets-48960728858.

USFSM students invited to Women’s Equity Luncheon

Kudos to USF Sarasota-Manatee students Laura Serbin, Madison Duelge and Keianna Hawthorne on their attendance of Saturday’s 24^th Annual Women’s Equity Luncheon as guests of the Bradenton branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW).

Serbin, Duelge and Hawthorne are members of USF Sarasota-Manatee’s AAUW student chapter. Dr. Jane Rose, dean of the College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences, attended the luncheon as advisor to the chapter.

The event, at the Carlisle Inn of Sarasota, celebrated the ratification of 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution granting women the right to vote. The event was sponsored by Sarasota League of Women Voters, Manatee League of Women Voters, Suncoast Commission on the Status of Women and the AAUW’s Bradenton, Manatee and Venice chapters. Sarasota Police Chief Bernadette DiPino was the keynote speaker.

USFSM career fair to ‘turn the tables’

USF Sarasota-Manatee’s Career Services Office is proposing a unique way to match students and employers – a “reverse career fair.”

Unlike regular career fairs, “reverse” fairs put students in control by having them conduct interviews with potential employers. The technique provides insight into jobs and internships students wouldn’t otherwise get at regular job fairs, says Ben Heins, coordinator of internships and service learning at USFSM.

“If a student is seeking a full-time job or an internship in late 2018 or any time in 2019, they need to apply for this unique opportunity,” he said. “The odds of securing that next big break through this event couldn’t be higher.”

Heins learned about the idea at an educational conference. He’s working with Student Engagement, Student Government and E-Learning to launch the fair on Nov. 8 at the campus’ Selby Auditorium.

The event is dubbed “The Tables Have Turned: USFSM’s Inaugural Reverse Career Fair.” Students must apply by Sept. 7 to participate. Twenty participants will be selected to attend four training sessions in October to prepare them to interview the prospective employers.

“We will invite employers based on the student-finalists’ interests and, before the event, provide those employers with briefings on the backgrounds of each student to build excitement,” Heins said.

Students can learn more by sending their resumes to Heins at heins@sar.usf.edu or by visiting www.usfsm.edu/tables.

Brunch on the Bay tickets, sponsorships available

Tickets and sponsorships for Brunch on the Bay are now available, and this year’s event is shaping up to be extra special as it marks 25 years of local support.

Since 1994, Brunch on the Bay attendees have given graciously to fund scholarships for USF Sarasota-Manatee students while also savoring the finest brunch fare from local restaurants and caterers.

This year, as Brunch celebrates its Silver Anniversary, many special features are planned and the guest list is quickly growing, so don’t delay in securing your tickets and table sponsorships.

The event is set for Sunday, Nov. 4, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., at the USF Sarasota-Manatee campus, 8350 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota.

“More than 1,700 local students have received scholarship support from Brunch on the Bay, and we’re thrilled to continue this significant tradition — with a few twists for 2018!” Vice Chancellor for Advancement Lee Williams said. “We’re featuring a Brunch on the Bay Honorary Committee, in addition to the Organizing Committee, and the Honorary Committee co-chairs will be announced soon.”

“Brunch is presented by Mary Kenealy Events of Sarasota, and working with Mary and her talented team has simply been exceptional,” Williams said. “We have a few special guests arranged for the annual gathering; so it’s sure to be memorable. USFSM’s Brunch on the Bay is a fantastic way to spend a Sunday, enjoy wonderful culinary delights and support area students with scholarships.”

Since its start, Brunch has distinguished itself as USF Sarasota-Manatee’s premier fundraising event, adding more than $1.3 million to the university endowment and generating more than $1 million in scholarships, including those to First Generation students, the first in their families to attend college.

“It’s one of the very best events in this community and it’s been around longer than most other events,” said Bob Turner, a USFSM alum and former publisher of the Bradenton Herald. “It’s extremely important to support this event to support the students who need a leg up to further their careers and help our businesses with a workforce that’s ready to go.”

Turner and USFSM graduate Lauren Henry are co-chairs of this year’s Brunch on the Bay Organizing Committee.

“I see so much potential in what this university has to offer in terms of partnering with businesses and leaders in our community,” said Henry, a 2016 graduate. “And so Brunch on the Bay is a culmination of that, where the university and community come together and support the cause of higher education.”

For more about Brunch of the Bay, including tickets and table sponsorships, visit usfsm.edu/brunch or call Pam Gleason at (941) 359-4603.

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