USF Curiosities: Sand as far as the eye could see?

The year was 1956…

At the time, an old WWII Hillsborough Army Airfield occupied a large expanse of Fowler Avenue. On December 18^th, the Florida Cabinet voted to transform that airfield into the location of a new public university. The University of South Florida Tampa campus would eventually be built on what once was the practice bombing range. Two years later, ground breaking ceremonies took place on the Tampa campus, with contracts for the first three university buildings complete.[1]

In the fall of 1960, USF opened its doors to its first class of students. The university consisted of just five buildings: the teaching auditorium, science laboratory, cafeteria and college union building, library, and classroom administration building.

What the faculty and students remember most about the campus was the SAND.

Recorded in the 50^th Anniversary Oral History Project, many USF faculty and students describe their first impressions of the Tampa campus in a similar way: expansive but barren with sand as far as the eye could see. Ernest Boger, USF’s first African American student, remembers his initial impression of USF in 1960 as:

“A lot of sand. A lot of sand. A lot of wild foliage and that sort of thing. It was just totally isolated. I mean, you drove for miles through nothing but brush and then, suddenly, there was this—as you entered the college, there were just two brick—what do you call them? Standers or something, with the logo in the middle, and you drove in.”[2]

Dr. Susan Northcutt, associate professor in the Department of Government and Campus Library International Affairs, remembers that “USF looked like an industrial site. There was a lot of sand – not many trees. There were more parking lots than buildings.”[3]

Dr. Eugene Scruggs, professor of French, recalls that “there were few trees and lots of sandspurs. Sandspurs were the first things he noticed in Florida. USF had little grass, and a lot of sand and palmettos.”[4]

Even in 1981, Dr. Kathleen Heide, professor of Criminology, described the campus as “expansive,” noting that the front entrance of the university had no marquee and there were very few trees, “it was almost barren and stark … It looked like there was a lot more room for growth and a lot of undeveloped or uncharted land.”[5]

And yet, in all that sand, there was a distinct sense of closeness among the students. Florence Jandreau, administrative assistant to the Dean of the USF Libraries, notes that “it wouldn’t be unusual to see half of the campus in one day because of so few buildings to go to and interact in.”[6]

It’s hard to believe that just 64 years ago, our strong, diverse USF community emerged from the sand of an old Army Airfield.

Learn more about USF’s early history and the fun, and sometimes curious, events that occurred here by listening to the USF 50^th Anniversary Oral History Project, housed in Digital Collections.

Want more USF Curiosities? Check out the posts in this series:

• USF Curiosities: An elephant on the roof?
• USF Curiosities: Chickens in the elevator?
• USF Curiosities: Bottle Cap U? Sandspur U?
• USF Curiosities: Planting trees at “Sandspur U”?
• USF Curiosities: The Golden Brahman? 
• USF Curiosities: A Pablo Picasso sculpture 10 stories tall? 
• USF Curiosities: A faculty airplane?
• USF Curiosities: Chariot races?
• USF Curiosities: A 40-foot Band-Aid?
• USF Curiosities: A solar rotary?

REFERENCES

[1] Factual information in this paragraph was found on: University of South Florida. (2020). History. University of South Florida website.  https://www.usf.edu/about-usf/history.aspx.

[2] Boger, E. (2003, December 5). Ernest Boger, Interview by Andrew Thomas Huse [Transcript]. USF 50th (2006) Anniversary Oral History Project (U23-00016). USF Digital Collections, Tampa, FL. p. 5. http://digital.lib.usf.edu/SFS0024325/00001. Learn more about Ernest Boger by reading our post on “Celebrating Black History Month with the USF Photograph Collection.”

[3] Northcutt, Susan. (2003, May 28). Susan Northcutt, Interview by Andrew Thomas Huse [Transcript]. USF 50th (2006) Anniversary Oral History Project (U23-00103). USF Digital Collections, Tampa, FL. p. 1.  https://digital.lib.usf.edu/SFS0024410/00001.

[4] Scruggs, Eugene. (2003, March 20). Eugene Scruggs, Interview by Yael V. Greenberg [Transcript]. USF 50th (2006) Anniversary Oral History Project (U23-00125). USF Digital Collections, Tampa, FL. p. 3. https://digital.lib.usf.edu/SFS0024432/00001.

[5] Heide, Kathleen. (2003, March 11). Kathleen Heide, Interview by Yael V. Greenberg [Transcript]. USF 50th (2006) Anniversary Oral History Project (U23-00063). USF Digital Collections, Tampa, FL. p. 1. https://digital.lib.usf.edu/SFS0024371/00001.

[6] Jandreau, Florence. (2003, June 24). Florence Jandreau, Interview by Yael V. Greenberg [Transcript]. USF 50th (2006) Anniversary Oral History Project (U23-00071). USF Digital Collections, Tampa, FL. p. 2. https://digital.lib.usf.edu/SFS0024378/00001.