By Kristen Torres
On the Biscayne Bay Campus, Wolfe Day is an annual event paying homage to the University’s third president in the form of food, a costume contest and learning about him and his major contributions to the campus.
“Students who attend will learn about Wolfe and will be given the opportunity to meet new people,” said Jennifer Cooper, the assistant director of Teams Rope Adventure Challenge.
The first Wolfe Day was held on March 31, 2014, with University administration, students and staff present at a ribbon cutting ceremony in celebration of the newly renovated Panther Square and Panther Plaza.
The event that took place last year was medieval themed and students enjoyed thematic food and entertainment.
Every year, Wolfe Day will have a specific theme for the event in which students vote for in a survey. For this year, there was one theme that took the cake.
“They overwhelmingly requested that we do a Superhero themed event,” Cooper said about student votes.
The event’s highlight will be a superhero costume contest with the prize of a $50 Visa gift card given to the winner. There will also be hors d’oeuvres, games, karaoke and giveaways such as t-shirts. There will be stations to make your own superhero mask.
Cooper also encourages FIU departments to join in on the fun by participating in the decorating contest. The department that wins will receive a pizza party.
Gregory Baker Wolfe was FIU’s president for seven years from 1979 to 1986 and has guided FIU through its biggest shifts. He welcomed the first freshman class in FIU and received the approval and funding to make the university into a four-year institution.
But the expansion did not stop there. He added three new schools to FIU which are the school of nursing, the school of engineering and the school of journalism and mass communications. He has made major developments to Biscayne Bay Campus by adding Hubert library, the eponymous student center, the first student housing on campus and an aquatic center.
Wolfe died in December 2015 in his Sunny Isles Beach home a month before turning 94. He was a diplomat during a Kennedy and Johnson administration and continued to foster international studies at FIU. Wolfe wasn’t just the president at FIU, but also at Portland State University in Oregon. He was fluent in Spanish, French and Portuguese.
“Dr. Wolfe set out to ensure that FIU would be ‘higher education’s beacon in Miami,’” Dr. Rosenberg said in his letter addressing the passing of Dr. Wolfe.
Wolfe Day is a collaborative event organized by the Wolfe University Center with assistance from BBC Student Government, the WUC Advisory Board, Panther Power and Wellness & Recreation BBC. These groups have been meeting bi-weekly for six months to organize this event.
The event will start March 29 and will be held in Panther Plaza starting from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Students interested in participating in the event can learn more at the division of student affairs office in WUC325 or can reach Jennifer Cooper at 305-919-5912.
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