USF St. Petersburg is an urban university that aims to integrate seamlessly into the fabric of the city and region, enhancing opportunities for students, businesses and the public. This community roundup series highlights the ways that USF faculty, staff, students and administration are active in the community. If you’d like to engage with USF St. Petersburg, or are a campus staff, faculty or student interested in engaging with the community, please contact Caryn Nesmith, Community Relations Director.
USF’s celebration of AAU membership comes to St. Petersburg
It’s been a month of festivities across the region as USF celebrated its invitation to join the Association of American Universities (AAU). In St. Petersburg, USF President Rhea Law, USF St. Petersburg Campus Board chair and Board of Trustees member Melissa Seixas and Regional Chancellor Christian Hardigree hosted a celebration at The Library Restaurant. The event gathered USF’s community and business champions, including Kate Tiedemann and Ellen Cotton, Mayor Ken Welch, Campus Board members Debbie Sembler, Isaac McKinney, Scott Goyer and Lisa Brody, as well as several members of our Pinellas legislative delegation, including Sen. Nick DiCeglie, Rep. Adam Andersonand Rep. Lindsay Cross. In case you missed it, check out this article on why joining the prestigious AAU puts USF on another level.
USF commemorates 9/11
Every year, students and employees from USF’s three campuses convene at USF Sarasota-Manatee to place in the ground 2,977 American flags – one for each person who died during the terrorist attacks on 9/11. Twenty members of USF St. Petersburg Student Government and Office of Veterans Success arranged transportation to the flag placing event on September 9, and then made the trip again for the September 11 Memorial Service this time at the Sarasota National Cemetery. The ceremony hosted speakers, including retired New York firefighter Matt Bruce, who was assigned to the New York City Fire Department on 9/11. It also featured members of the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office and Sarasota Police Department, and musical performances by students of St. Stephen’s Episcopal School in Bradenton and "America’s Got Talent" semi-finalist Daniella Mass, who sang the national anthem.
Rowdies honor Student Veterans Office on Superheroes Night
Every visitor to the campus Office of Veterans Success (OVS) receives a comforting greeting of “Welcome Home.” The office offers veteran and military-connected students GI Bill certifications, academic, career and overall wellness support, and a place on campus they can call home. On September 9 for Superheroes Night, the Tampa Bay Rowdies honored the work of OVS and showcased a video featuring OVS Assistant Director Todd Post and Regional Chancellor Christian Hardigree on the Jumbotron.
Psychology faculty promotes brain health for older adults in Tampa Bay
Jennifer O’Brien, Associate Professor and Psychology Department Campus Chair, is passionate about engaging with the local community to bring awareness and education on how to keep our brains healthy as we age. Many risk factors can contribute to cognitive decline, and some of those factors can be addressed to reverse decline. Dementia is one of the most feared medical conditions in later life. An estimated 6.7 million Americans 65+ years old are living with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, and that number is projected to grow to 12.7 million people by 2050.
Dr. O’Brien regularly gives free community talks about cognitive aging, dementia risk factors, the benefits of cognitive training and the need for routine cognitive screening. She also provides free memory screenings to the community through her lab on the USF St. Petersburg campus. Recent groups she has engaged with include the St. Pete Housing Authority, Westminster Suncoast, St. Giles Manor, USSOCOM Command Surgeon's Office, Philanthropic Educational Organization, Alpha Delta Kappa Sorority, Rotary Club of Tarpon Sunset and Classic Communicators. Her next upcoming talk will take place at the Temple Terrace United Methodist Church at 7:00pm on October 20 with the Caribbean Cultural Association. Groups interested in scheduling a talk by Dr. O’Brien can contact her at jenobrien@usf.edu.
Birmingham upbringing informs professor’s latest book
In her new book, “Learning from Birmingham,” USF English professor Julie Buckner Armstrong draws on her personal experiences growing up in Birmingham as well as her knowledge as a civil rights scholar to review the narratives of civil rights progress. A book reading at Tombolo Books featuring a conversation between Armstrong and NPR TV Critic Eric Deggins was standing-room only on September 6.
Armstrong is also author of “Mary Turner and the Memory of Lynching” and editor of “The Cambridge Companion to American Civil Rights Literature.”
Professor’s book of poems explores cultivating a “happy” life
In a packed auditorium at the Dali Museum on September 14, USF English professor Tom Hallock read excerpts from his latest book of poetry and prose, “Happy Neighborhood.” The book, a pandemic project, brought to life decades of poems to weave a personal experience of cultivation on contented life through place and family. Through thoughtfully crafted meditations, “Happy Neighborhood” seeks to define happiness at home and within a community. Hallock is Professor of English and Florida Studies and has published widely on environmental and early American literature. He co-authors a column on urban nature for Creative Loafing. “Happy Neighborhood,” his sixth book, is his first volume of poetry and will be published this coming October.
Employ-a-Bull Spotlight: Marine Bio student at Reef Renewal USA
Marine Biology student Min Min Kelly was part of a summer internship program with the Florida Keys “Aquarium Encounters” and Reef Renewal USA. She got hands-on experience with animal husbandry and played a role in the efforts to save corals from extreme ocean temperatures. Kelly, who hails from New Orleans, says she came to USF because of the weather, marine biology and the USF sailing team where she is a senior member. Kelly is set to graduate in December and hopes to work for the company that she interned with, Reef Renewal USA.
USF staff member selected for Tampa Bay Watch Leadership Council
In August, Tampa Bay Watch (TBW) invited Assistant Director of Communications and Marketing, Matthew Cimitile, to its Leadership Council. The mission of TBW is to foster a healthy Tampa Bay watershed through community-driven restoration projects, education programs and outreach initiatives. The Leadership Council’s aim is to help TBW better understand the community’s needs; advocate for TBWs projects, educational opportunities and mission; and to work with TBW to help identify and mitigate emerging environmental issues of concern.
Cimitile, besides being Assistant Director of Communications on the St. Petersburg campus where he writes news and manages outreach with media, has been a staff advisor to USF St. Petersburg’s Student Green Energy Fund for the past six years, helping the group fund sustainability and alternative energy projects and initiatives on campus. He previously has experience as a science communicator with the U.S. Geological Survey and the Appalachian Mountains Joint Venture.
“Alice in Wonderland Exhibition Extravaganza” at NMPL
This creative collaboration between USF Libraries and The Dali Museum features the Alice Suite of prints by Salvador Dali, accompanied by a colorful collection of Alice-related ephemera from the Library’s Special Collections. On September 13, USF faculty member Lindsay Persohn gave a talk entitled Alice in Retrospect, How Stories Shape our Lives, which highlighted the ways this classic has become an integral part of the cultural lexicon.
Family Study Center hosts Parent Cafes
Join USF’s Family Study Center and The Well for powerful community connection sessions where families with children ages 0-5 can engage in activities and conversations that support and strengthen the family-child relationship through touch, talking and listening. By taking care of ourselves and tapping into our history, culture and traditions, we can share stories and strategies that better equip us to care for and connect with our little ones! The next Parent Café will take place on September 28th, 2023. Sign up here.