Five hours south of campus, UF’s latest satellite office aims to connect prospective students in South Florida with the university.
Dubbed UF Coral Gables, the center will serve as a place to hold university events, connect alumni and draw in potential students, said UF spokesperson Margot Winick. It will open officially today.
“With 20,000 alumni that hail from Miami and 4,000 students that are currently enrolled in the University of Florida, Miami Dade County seems like a great location for doing more outreach,” Winick said.
UF President Kent Fuchs, Provost Joe Glover and Student Body President Susan Webster gathered Monday at the office with alumni to dedicate the space. The center will allow students from to learn more about the university without visiting the main campus and allow alumni to support their alma mater, Winick said.
“This is an opportunity to rally alumni and establish more of a presence in South Florida so that people can learn more about what the University of Florida offers everyone in the state and beyond,” she said.
The idea for centers like this came about six or seven years ago, said Mark Trowbridge, the CEO and president of the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce, and a UF alumnus.
UF is about 297 miles away from Miami, so the 4,000-square-foot center will remind the city’s residents of the university’s impact in the community, Trowbridge said.
Peter Cooper, a 20-year-old UF fi nance and economics junior, said an admissions outlet in South Florida could have been helpful to him when he applied to the university.
“If I had a chance to talk to representatives from the school and learn more about the school without having to take the trip up to Gainesville, then yeah, I think that would have been super helpful,” he said.
Correction: This story has been updated to reflect the correct distance between UF and Miami. The two are about 297 miles apart, not 250 as the Alligator previously reported.
