FIU Magazine gave alumni and students an opportunity to pose questions to FIU’s new president, Mark B. Rosenberg. We selected the 10 best questions and got his responses.

1. Eduardo Hondal ‘88, MS ‘00: The university’s leadership has always benchmarked FIU with UCLA because of similarities in demographics, history and local competition. What must FIU do now, academically and in terms of selectivity in admission, etc., in order to meet our benchmark of being the UCLA of the east?

UCLA and FIU have much in common - a great urban community, a commitment to academic excellence and a strong faculty. FIU’s continued success is dependent on enhanced attention to our students through better advising, mentoring, and job placement, as well as enhanced extracurricular opportunities. To achieve our destiny we must also take our research and creative energies into the community through partnerships that will address community issues.

2. Alberto Padron ‘98, MBA ‘09: What are the Top 5 academic programs that will serve as the cornerstones of FIU’s future?

All of our academic programs will come under review in the next year as a consequence of the SACS reaccreditation process and the development of a new strategic plan. We expect all units and academic programs at FIU to have an improvement strategy that includes national benchmarking and goal-setting. To ensure quality, all programs must be nationally and internationally competitive.

3. Felipe Inoa MS ‘08: What will your approach be to making sure our university can be clearly distinguished among all other universities given the hard economic times and other challenges that lie ahead?

The best way to differentiate FIU is to ensure that we are taking advantage of the unique location that is Miami. Multicultural, global and edgy, our community is a bellwether for how the rest of the United States will look in two decades. Miami is the asset that gives FIU distinctiveness.

4. Valerie Graves, communication major: What will you do to improve customer service at FIU?

Customer service must be enhanced. I will be insisting on aggressive training, evaluation and review of all levels of student and customer service. I will insist on excellence in this domain, for it is a key to our long-term success.

5. From Abby Berman, speech language pathology major: What is your recommendation to students who will not be able to graduate in four years of college because the classes they need are only offered once a year?

There is no short-term solution to remedy the shortage of classes for our students. However, we will initiate a review of our curriculum to make sure that we are not making it more difficult for students to graduate as a result of courses that are rarely offered and therefore serve as bottlenecks to student success.

6. From Maria Vallasciani, FIU tennis team member and psychology and nutrition major: How can FIU promote and get more support for every sport on campus?

This year, we will be reviewing our overall plan for institutional promotion. Intercollegiate athletics is a key element in the university’s quest to be more recognized.  Every sport must have a strategy for success - including promotion to the community.

7. From Chrisna Luus, FIU swim team member and psychology major: What traditions and legacies would you like to establish here at FIU?

It is important to build greater affinity for FIU with our students and alumni. Student pride in FIU is important - there is much to be proud about. I still aggressively challenge our students to tell the story of FIU throughout the community. They know that they are getting a quality and affordable public education from excellent faculty. I will also aggressively support and promote our Alumni Association. They are our lifeline for a lifetime!

8. From Yuniel Molina, political science and international relations major: What do you feel is the relationship between school involvement and academic success?

We know that students who are engaged in a range of activities at the university tend to be successful academically. We will be promoting greater student engagement in the range of student activities and interests on all of our campuses!

9. From Candida Iglesias MA ‘07: What was the most frustrating moment you had as a graduate student with the administration of your alma mater, how did you overcome your frustration and who do credit with helping you?

As a graduate student at the University of Pittsburgh, the most frustrating issues revolved around getting more access to faculty for advice and counsel.

10. From Sky Jarret ‘07: How do you plan to ensure that a solid infrastructure is in place to facilitate FIU’s rapid growth?

We will spend more time on ensuring quality operations within the university. During the next few years, we will be consolidating operations and seeking out greater efficiencies in our efforts, in part as a consequence of budget cuts and in part in an effort to maintain public confidence in our ability to steward public funds.

The 8th Annual Torch Awards Gala is an affair to remember

Martin Haro ‘05

They came dressed to the nines.

Some, like Kirill Reznik ‘95, came from out of town, while others, like former FIU Senior Vice President of External Relations Marcos Pérez ‘90, MBA ‘00, are no strangers to campus.

The occasion that brought Reznik, Pérez and more than 400 FIU alumni, students, faculty/staff, administrators, donors, friends and families was February’s 8th Annual Torch Awards Gala, the FIU Alumni Association’s premier social event and fundraiser.

Held in the Graham Center Ballrooms at Modesto A. Maidique Campus, the 2009 ceremony raised approximately $30,000 in cash for the future FIU Alumni Center, plus $20,000 in in-kind gifts, and featured a performance by FIU Theatre alumna and 2008 “American Idol” finalist Syesha Mercado.

“I’m really excited to be here,” Mercado said before performing two songs - Alicia Keys’ “If I Ain’t Got You” and “Listen” by Beyoncé. “Earlier I was looking through the windows in the Graham Center, out to the Green Library. It definitely brought back a lot of memories.”

The evening was a memorable one for Alumni Association President Jose M. Perez de Corcho ‘93.

“Tonight is special for me. It’s my first Torch Awards Gala as president of the Alumni Association,” he told the Golden Panthers in attendance before introducing Betty Perry ‘74, FIU’s first First Lady and the university’s self-professed “oldest cheerleader.”

Perry presented Eddie León ‘93, MFA ‘98, president and CEO of the Miami-based Spine3D, the largest architecture visualization studio in the United States, with the Charles E. Perry Young Alumni Visionary Award, named in honor of her late husband and FIU’s first president, Charles Perry.

Jorge J. González ‘88, president of City National Bank of Florida, was recognized with the Community Leadership Award, while Rocco M. Angelo, a professor and associate dean of the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, received the Outstanding Faculty Award.

Before FIU President Modesto A. Maidique was presented with the Wachovia Outstanding Achievement Award, the audience enjoyed a video of his many achievements during more than two decades at FIU.

“This is an honor,” he said before paying tribute to the foundation laid by President Perry. “FIU is the little engine that could. Chuck built that foundation and we have been building ever since,” he added, referencing, among others, FIU’s public and private partnerships, as well as the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, the Frost Art Museum and FIU Stadium.

Addressing the tough economic times the university continues to face, Maidique said, “We will never give up on building Chuck’s dream. I believe in FIU and I believe in you.”

Believing in their alma mater and the changes that lie ahead was in the minds of attendees such as Reznik.

“I haven’t been to campus in a few years because I live in Maryland, so it’s nice to get the chance to come here,” he said. “I don’t recognize a thing, but one of the things I love about FIU is that it’s a living thing, always evolving.”

The 9th Annual Torch Awards Gala is scheduled for March 6, 2010.

Meet the highly qualified and diverse group of aspiring doctors accepted into the inaugural class of the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine

By Sissi Aguila ‘99, MA ‘08

On a historic August afternoon, the 43 students who make up the inaugural class of the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine slipped into their medical coats and swore to “be loyal to the profession of medicine and just and generous to all,” at FIU’s first White Coat Ceremony.

“I am very proud,” said Nelcy Morlote, mother of medical student Diana M. Morlote ‘09. “This is a major accomplishment.”

“We are very proud of FIU. I cannot fit inside of myself,” added her father Ramiro. The family immigrated to the United States from Cuba five years ago.

“The White Coat Ceremony is a rite of passage, a formal welcoming into the art of healing,” remarked Dr. John Rock, founding dean and senior vice president for Medical Affairs. These students “will help shape the college of medicine.”

The ceremony concluded a week of orientation activities for the medical students, which included a tour of Jackson North Medical Center that will serve as the major public teaching hospital for the college.

The class of 2013’s training will be based on NeighborhoodHELP^TM (Health Education Learning Program), FIU’s new model of medical education that will bring together students, local families and community organizations in groundbreaking ways. Each student will be required to work directly with a family in one of Miami’s struggling neighborhoods.

“Working with the underserved is the best part of the curriculum, said Gabriel Thornton, who chose FIU because of its emphasis on cultural competency.

Thornton, who grew up in Florida City, worked full-time at the West Gables Healthcare Center while he attended the University of Miami. One of five kids, he wanted to work in the healthcare field since he was a kid. “My pediatrician was the coolest person I knew.”

Patricio Lau, the oldest of four kids, is the first in his family to go to college. “We were really poor,” he said. “We would pick up things that people threw away. You’d be surprised to see the good stuff people just toss.”

After immigrating to Miami from Nicaragua in 2001, Lau says the only thing that made sense was science and math. “Just because I didn’t understand the language, I was put in all remedial classes.” He graduated from FIU with a double-major in biology and chemistry.

Like Thornton, Lau has worked full-time during his entire academic career. In high school, he sold cable services over the phone, cashiered at K-Mart and washed cars. At FIU, he worked in the law library and the admission’s office.

FIU medical students are not allowed to work while in school. Lau says the extra time scares him. “I’m freaking out because when I had a job things were simple: when I wasn’t at work or school, I studied. That was the time I had - no more, no less. Now I’m afraid I won’t schedule my time wisely.”

Miguel Flores says he has had the advantage because he was born here. “I’ve made the most of the opportunities I’ve had.” A Bill Gates scholar, Flores started a tutoring program at his former middle school and chose FIU because he wanted to give back to the community.

Morlote first decided she wanted to be a doctor when visiting hospitals with her father, a cardiologist in Cuba. “I love that medicine combines science with helping people,” she said. The summa cum laude FIU alumna and her father are especially excited by the college’s integrated systems curriculum.

The inaugural class has a mean GPA of 3.5 and a 30.4 MCAT. Eighty-one percent are Florida residents and in addition to the United States, there are students who were born in Argentina, Bulgaria, Brazil, Canada, China, Cuba, India, Nicaragua, the Philippines and Romania.

“With these beautiful young seeds, 43 of them, you are going to see the blossoming of a wonderful organization that will deliver health care to our community,” said Dr. Herbert Wertheim, in honor of whom the medical school was named in recognition of his historic $20 million gift.

By Deborah O’Neil MA ‘09 | Photos by Michael Upright

On the morning of Aug. 3, FIU President Modesto A. Maidique stood before 43 young adults, each brimming with enthusiasm on this, their first day of medical school at the university.

“Now,” Maidique announced, “we have a medical school.”

FIU’s fourth president had waited a long time to say those words. And he finally got the chance on the very last day of his 23-year tenure as president. The moment culminated the journey of a man and an institution that grew up together in the public eye, achieving what no one imagined. The arrival of the inaugural class of the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine signaled both a triumphant new beginning and a proud professional finale.

The president, with a thriving testimony to his own history, told the new students, “You are part of history.”

Later, Maidique ended his last day on stage before a much bigger crowd. More than 700 administrators, faculty/staff, students, alumni and community leaders gathered to pay tribute to his public service and mark the transferal of the presidency to Mark B. Rosenberg. The event brought out local, state and national elected officials, Maidique’s two children and five grandchildren and a host of longtime FIU supporters and donors. At the podium and in a specially created tribute video, those who have known him best described an unfaltering optimism and visionary leadership that transformed FIU.

“Vision is the art of seeing the invisible and there is no one better than Mitch Maidique at seeing the invisible,” said incoming FIU President Mark Rosenberg, who worked closely with Maidique throughout his presidency. “Mitch Maidique’s vision of FIU as a great public research university stands as what we have today, a vision that has come to fruition.”

Board of Trustees Chairman Emeritus David Parker noted that FIU awards more than half of all the college degrees earned in Miami-Dade County. “He’s built a first-class institution and in the process, transformed our community,” Parker said. “He will be succeeded but cannot be replaced.”

President emeritus

State Rep. Luis Garcia presented Maidique with a laudatory proclamation signed by the Miami-Dade delegation, adding, “Whatever documents you get here will not measure up to your stature.

“President Maidique has been a shining example of what people can accomplish in this great country of ours,” Garcia said.

In a lighter moment, Miami-Dade County Commissioner Joe Martinez turned to Maidique and asked, “Are you ready for the title of past president?”

Maidique reminded him that his new title will be “president emeritus.”

Martinez joked, “He’s not ready.”

He then recounted how each time Maidique scheduled an appointment, Martinez would wonder, “What does he want?” knowing it would be almost impossible to say no.

“It was so hard to turn him down because it always made sense,” Martinez said.

Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart recalled that he was elected in 1986 shortly after Maidique’s appointment. “What an extraordinary legacy this longevity has left for the community,” he said. “It is an honor to spend just a few minutes saying thank you for the public service, the legacy you were able to achieve.”

And in a rare honor, the congressman and his brother, Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart, presented Maidique with an American flag which had been flown over the United States Capitol in his honor. “We still get goosebumps every time we do this,” Mario Diaz-Balart said. “This man and this flag symbolize the greatness of America.”

In his remarks at the end of the ceremony, Maidique returned to the College of Medicine, where his day had begun. He shared the story of the hundreds of individuals from FIU, local and state government, the healthcare industry and private sector who played essential roles in bringing the college to fruition. The story of the College of Medicine, he said, is the story of FIU itself.

“A lot of people give me great credit for the medical school and they also give me credit for many of the good things that have happened,” Maidique said. But, he added, no one could have done this alone. “If you multiply the story of the medical school 10, 20, 30 times, you have an idea of how this university was built.

“Thanks to all of you,” he said, “FIU is now a power to be reckoned with in our community and in the state of Florida.”

Profession: I anchor the morning newscast for WLTV Univision 23.

FIU degree: Mass Communication with an emphasis on broadcast journalism.

FIU affiliations: Lifetime Member, FIU Alumni Association Alumni, FIU Golden Dazzler

What are your fondest memories of FIU?
My fondest memories include those of the new friendships I built and which I maintain until today. To witness the growth of the university was also amazing. The football team had its inaugural season while I was still in school, and I remember thinking how special it would be to one day go back and attend a game with my kids. The basketball games were also very special, since I had the chance to share many of them with my fellow Golden Dazzlers. I also remember dearly all the days I spent at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication (SJMC) at Biscayne Bay Campus, catching up on some reading or feeling so lucky to finish work at the library and then head to the beach to enjoy the beautiful Miami weather.

What advice would you offer your fellow Golden Panthers?
I think the best advice I could give is to really take full advantage of the fact that FIU is located in such a diverse and fast-paced metropolitan city. It truly offers a unique opportunity to begin networking within your aspired field, and allows you to take what you learn in the classroom and apply it to the real world very early on in your college years. I would also advise Golden Panthers to get involved in extracurricular activities that will enhance their FIU experience and help them build special bonds with their classmates.

In what ways have you been involved with FIU and why is it important to be involved with our Alumni Association?
I have had the chance to go back a few times and speak to undergraduate students in the SJMC and it really has been a very rewarding experience. I remember when I was in their shoes how hungry I was for information and guidance. I feel that as alumni it is our duty to assist these students as much as we can. Helping the student body at FIU is beneficial to our community and also our personal growth.

What is your proudest accomplishment?
I think my proudest accomplishment is the fact that I am able to serve my community by informing them day after day through my job. I was a young Peruvian immigrant who grew up in Miami with the vision of one day anchoring the newscast my family and I always tuned in to. I am living my dream.

Photo courtesy of madelinemarshall.com.

A longtime advocate of the homeless and underserved, Dr. Pedro José “Joe” Greer Jr., chair of the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine’s Department of Humanities, Health & Society, accepted a Presidential Medal of Freedom - the nation’s highest civilian honor - in a ceremony at the White House in August.

Less than 24 hours later and back on campus, the Miami native said he was shocked and humbled by the honor.

“The honest truth, this goes to prove that any government can make a mistake,” he said with a healthy dose of self-deprecation. “It was a wonderful experience. To be among that type of company [Stephen Hawking, Harvey Milk, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor were among the 16 honorees], I was thinking I was going to trip, I’m going to fall….

“But it was humbling, it was exhilarating, it was shocking. Like President Obama said, as ‘agents of change’ we can make the world better. If we work together, if we learn to be accepting of others, we can make a difference. That’s what we’re doing at FIU.”

Greer looks forward to working with the medical school’s first class and sharing with Golden Panthers the qualities that earned him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

“If we can set the base for our students to give back to social justice the ethics of medicine with the science that is needed, then we have an army of young physicians that can go out and really save the world.”

By Dan Grech | Photos by Roldan Torres ‘85

Mark Rosenberg was named the fifth president of Florida International University on a Saturday in April. On Sunday morning, he called Bill Draughon, associate vice president for Alumni Relations. “Bill, I need you to get the board of the Alumni Association together,” Rosenberg said. “Tomorrow.”

Rosenberg, the first FIU professor to rise to FIU president, met the next day with 26 of the 29 members of the alumni board. The incoming president was effectively mobilizing the university’s troops, the more than 135,000 university graduates who hold a central role in his immediate strategy and long-term vision for FIU’s future.

“Mark sees alumni support as one of the important pieces of the puzzle for FIU,” Draughon said. “The university has done so well with growth. Now we need to bring everybody together as a family.”

Rosenberg says a strong FIU family will provide stability as the university faces worsening state budget cuts. By building alumni affinity, he hopes to plant seeds in the community that can flower into donations, partnerships and influence. A solid alumni base will be the foundation of national excellence.

“We want alumni to breathe blue and gold,” Rosenberg, 59, said. “That means returning to the university to go to the theater or a sporting event. That means helping an FIU graduate find a job. That means donating to the university. The Alumni Association has to be a network that works for the university, for its students and for its graduates.”

In the year before Rosenberg’s appointment, the Alumni Association had increased its membership by 20 percent - the top rate of growth nationwide. At the meeting, he challenged the board to add another 2,000 members in two months - a jump of an additional 13 percent.

The Alumni Association board sprung into action and hit and surpassed the goal he set by the June 30 deadline, signing 2,782 new members.

Rosenberg says his model is the University of Florida. He saw firsthand the power of the Gator Nation while serving for the past three years as chancellor of Florida’s 11 public universities. “UF is very aggressive at building brand loyalty to the Gator Nation. It has a significant endowment and major donors that are lifelong Gators,” he said. “But this isn’t just about fundraising. It’s about a conscious effort by the university to instill pride among its graduates.”

He takes over FIU after 23 years of leadership by Modesto A. Maidique, who doubled enrollment, turning FIU into the 25th largest university in the nation. He opened a new law school and a new medical school, added a Division I-A football team and built a new football stadium. He turned Miami-Dade’s first public four-year college into a 21st century urban research university.

Rosenberg was an important part of that growth as well. He came to FIU in 1976 as a political science professor specializing in Latin America. Within three years, he founded the Latin American and Caribbean Center, which remains one of the nation’s premier federally funded hubs for area studies. In 1998, he was named provost and over the next eight years, orchestrated the university’s transition to a center for advanced research and doctoral studies. He calls FIU a “modern American success story.” Rosenberg’s two children, Benjamin and Ginelle, are Golden Panthers; he is a management and international business major who has studied at FIU’s campus in Tianjin, China, and she is studying theater and history.

“Thirty years ago, FIU wasn’t even known,” he said. “Today, it’s a major player and economic engine in the community. FIU’s story is about reaching for the stars and hitting them. My challenge as president will be to achieve our aspirations, to turn the impossible into the inevitable.”

Rosenberg arrives at FIU during a painful contraction. Programs have been closed, faculty and staff laid off and tuition increased. He says his first priority “will be to advocate for the finance and budget strength of FIU.” He plans to spend more than half of his time off campus, building partnerships and raising money in the community.

Before taking the helm of FIU - a job that pays a base annual salary of $475,000, $25,000 of which he will give back to the university during each of his first two years at the university - he spent three years in Tallahassee leading the State University System of Florida. As chancellor, Rosenberg worked closely with state and federal legislators on funding and strategy.

He says the job schooled him in state politics and national education policy. But it wasn’t a perfect fit. He missed being on a college campus.

‘I’m coming home’

During his candidacy for FIU president, Rosenberg’s allies emerged from all walks of the university. Supporters started a Facebook group - Mark Rosenberg for FIU President - that soon added more than 1,000 members. A parade of colleagues and community leaders spoke on his behalf. The Student Government Association (SGA) and the FIU Alumni Association supported his candidacy.

“Everyone in the FIU community is enthralled by him,” said Arthur “AJ” Meyer, a senior majoring in construction management and former president of the Modesto A. Maidique Campus SGA.

Meyer tells the story of a meeting of the Florida Student Association last summer in Deston, in the Florida panhandle. Rosenberg, who was chancellor at the time, drove from Tallahassee with his wife Rosalie to spend the weekend of his 59th birthday with the student group.

“Every student I spoke to was blown away by Mark’s candor, his sympathetic point of view and his ability to relate to us,” Meyer said. “His capacity to reach across the generation gap and interact with students is like no one I’ve seen before.”

At the end of the weekend, the student association bought Rosenberg a cake - and a “Star Wars” action figure of the chancellor character, a token that he still holds dear.

Throughout his career, even while chancellor, Rosenberg has mentored dozens of students. But he doesn’t simply dole out advice: he befriends their families, attends their subsequent graduations and forges a lifelong friendship.

Alumni Relations Vice President Bill Draughon says Rosenberg has a prodigious memory for personal details.

“When Mark was provost, I saw him walk up to a student once and say, ‘Hey, you had a 3.2 GPA last semester. Have you kept that up?’” Draughon said. “That told me he was a person who cares deeply about our students. He truly loves FIU and that shines through.”

Rosenberg, a first-generation college graduate who earned a Ph.D. at the University of Pittsburgh, says he learned his love of people through his parents. His father owned a small scrap recycling plant in Athens, Ohio, and served as chairman of the city’s school board for nearly 16 years. Rosenberg started working in the family scrap yard at age 9.

“In the morning, we would go out on calls to manufacturers,” he said. “In the afternoon, we’d get itinerant collectors from the hills bringing in plant roots, beef hides and rags. And at night, my dad chaired school board meetings and hosted university dignitaries.”

His mother was a Holocaust survivor. “She raised the four kids with a determination to succeed. That same survivor’s blood flows through my veins.”

FIU’s fifth president says that survivor’s ethic also runs through the “hungry hearts” of FIU students. Many Golden Panthers are first in their families to attend college and most work their way through school, juggling jobs, family responsibilities and their studies.

“I identify with their struggle, their challenges, their desire to succeed,” he said. “It’s very natural that I’d be the president of a university like this. I came out of a family that had that same hunger.”

Rosenberg says he started his academic career at FIU, so it is fitting that he will end it here. He calls the FIU presidency the last big job of his career.

“When you live through the Liberty City riots, the Mariel and Haitian boatlifts, Hurricane Andrew; when you watch your students as they mature into adults and become successful in the community; when you raise your kids in South Florida and bury your parents in South Florida, it all becomes part of a single tapestry,” he said. “I’m coming home.”

President Rosenberg also answered questions from alumni and students for this story. Click here to read his answers. For a behind-the-scenes look at our photo shoot with President Rosenberg, click here.

This year, a total of $10,000 was awarded in scholarships to FIU students. Golden Panthers Elizabeth Arenas, Pablo Martinez and Wen-Ju Chien each received a Legacy Scholarship, awarded to family members of FIU alumni, while Arthur “AJ” Meyer, Chantel Anido, Darcelle Skeete, Felix Gil, Kassandra Pool, Kate Stuart, Melissa Pierro and Yahurys Gomez each received a Panther Pride Scholarship, given to students who are involved in campus life.

Arthur “AJ” Meyer; FIU Alumni Association President José M. Perez de Corcho ’93; Manny Matalón ’01, FIU Fishing Tournament director; Ramón Ferrán ’79, the tournament’s committee chair; Roary Rage; then-FIU President-elect Mark B. Rosenberg; Elizabeth Arenas; Alumni Relations VP Bill Draughon; Wen-Ju Chien; Darcelle Skeete; Chantel Anido; Pablo Martinez.

Thirty-four boats registered for the 2009 tournament and attendees tried their luck in a raffle featuring FIU Gear, among other prizes. Some participants, like first-timers Jose Fernandez ‘03 and Victor Pelaez ‘05 caught up with old friends and fished out what was to be a “delicious” dinner, while others, like Juan Andres ‘87, were happy to be there in spite of catching only two fish.

This year’s tournament winners were:

• Most Aggregate Dolphin Weight:
• Team Ocean Bank ($2,500 and
• Gary Traczyk sculpture)
• Largest Dolphin: Team Ocean Bank ($1,000 and large fishing trophy)
• Largest Ladies Dolphin: Team Bonita Turtles ($500 and large fishing trophy)
• Largest Fun Fish: The Murray Boys ($250)
• Largest Junior: Team G&R Marine ($100 gift certificate to GameWorks and trophy)
• 2nd Place Most Aggregate Dolphin Weight: Team T-Zer ($500)
• 2nd Place Largest Dolphin: Team TAM Training ($250)
• 2nd Place Junior: Team Reel Hard ($50 gift certificate to GameWorks)

Team Ocean Bank donated the prize money for both their largest dolphin and most aggregate weight back to FIU, totaling $3,500. In total, the event raised enough money to award $13,000 in student scholarships in 2010.

Once again, TotalBank presented the event. Other sponsors included GEICO, Oceania Cruises and University Credit Union.

If you are interested in participating or sponsoring the 2010 tournament, call Elena Balsinde at 305-348-0159.

“I ‘Feel the Pride’ Because…” is a section of FIU Magazine in which Golden Panthers everywhere can share their own stories of how they “Feel the Pride.” We hope that you will be inspired to do the same.

To tell us how you “Feel the Pride,” e-mail Associate Editor Martin Haro ‘05 at harom@fiu.edu or leave your testimonial as a comment in the comments box below. (All stories may be edited for length and clarity to appear in issues of FIU Magazine.)

Julio Saenz ‘94, editor and publisher of Excélsior, an Orange County Register Communications publication: I “Feel the Pride” whenever I come across the subtle indicators of our present and future greatness. It can be the ESPN sports score ticker at the bottom of the TV screen flashing our latest victory or sitting at a bar pointing out our alumni in an NFL, NBA, MLS or MLB game to my buddies. It’s meeting FIU alumni on the other side of the country during important business meetings or reading in a trade journal that yet another Golden Panther has been promoted to yet a higher position. I “Feel the Pride” whenever I come back to Miami and the campus has transformed on its way to being one of the top universities in the world. Most of all, I “Feel the Pride” when I remember hearing FIU President Modesto A. Madique’s vision in the early ’90s as a student and seeing it met with ridicule and now seeing it all come to pass because of hard work and perseverance. The realized vision that FIU is today inspires me to remember that my FIU education has prepared me to accomplish what seems impossible and be a trailblazer.

Beverly Combs ‘73, MS ‘75, teacher and writer: I graduated with FIU’s first graduating class in a ballroom at the Marriott. We did not wear caps and gowns during the ceremony, but after, we passed a few caps and gowns among us to have our pictures taken with Dr. Charles Perry. Over the years, I’ve taught American history and U.S. government in junior and senior high schools and the adult education GAE program and co-written two language arts programs for Dade County Public Schools. I’ve worked as a social worker, as an ad rep and as a writer. I worked full time while going to school - one of those jobs was at FIU’s library - and I’m so proud of everything FIU and its graduates have accomplished. The recognition and accolades our alma mater has received are well-deserved. The diversity of its students and faculty were a great asset in helping me to view others. Plus, FIU’s plans for the future are wonderful and exciting. At FIU, I gained much of the knowledge and many of the skills I have needed and which have enhanced my professional careers and personal life. Today, I am 60 years old and have written both my autobiography, “I Knew I Was a Lesbian at Age 4 - Long Before I Ever Had Sex,” and a screenplay.

On game day, for a nominal fee, enjoy food and refreshments, free giveaways (in the alumni tent for FIU Alumni Association members), visits from university mascot Roary and the FIU cheerleaders and Dazzlers.

Panther Pit tailgates will begin two hours prior to kickoff. The 2009 home football schedule is as follows:

• Sept. 26 vs. Toledo (7 p.m.)
• Oct. 17 vs. Troy (7 p.m.)
• Oct. 31 vs. Louisiana-Lafayette (Noon)
• Nov. 14 vs. North Texas (7 p.m.)
• Dec. 5 vs. Florida Atlantic (7 p.m.)

The FIU Alumni Association will host two Panther Pit tailgate parties at away games on Sept. 19 when FIU faces off against Rutgers in New Jersey and Nov. 21 when the Golden Panthers play the University of Florida in Gainesville.

For season tickets and more information, call 305-FIU-GAME. For tailgate information, contact 1-800-FIU-ALUM or alumni@fiu.edu. For 2009 sponsorship opportunities, call the office of Alumni Relations at 305-348-3334.