1950s

USF was the first state university in Florida built during the 20th century.^[18] Former U.S. representative Samuel Gibbons was instrumental in the school's creation when he was a state representative and is considered by many to be the "Father of USF".^[19] Although founded in 1956, the university was not officially named until the following year, and classes did not begin until 1960.^[18] The university was built off Fowler Avenue on the former site of Henderson Air Field, a World War II airstrip.^[18] Before Henderson Field, the area was part of a 5,000-acre temple orange grove, the largest citrus grove in the world at the time, which gave the nearby city of Temple Terrace its name.

In 1957, the Florida Cabinet approved the name "University of South Florida".^[18] At the time, USF was the southernmost university in the state university system.^[18]

1960s

The first five buildings on campus when the student opened were the old library (now the student services building), the science building (now the chemistry building), the teaching auditorium (no longer standing, on the site of what is now the music building), the university center (no longer standing, on the site of what is now the Marshall Student Center), and the administration building (now called the John and Grace Allen Administration building).

The university was founded as a school for whites only. It integrated and admitted its first African-American student, Ernest Boger, in 1961, the school's second year after opening. Boger graduated in 1964 with a B.A. in psychology.^[20]

In 1962, students voted to make the "Golden Brahman" the university's mascot, named after the state's cattle raising industry.^[18] In the early 1980s, the mascot evolved into the "Bulls".^[21]

In 1963, USF held its first graduation ceremony. 325 degrees were conferred.^[22]

The university grew rapidly under the leadership of John S. Allen, who served as its first president from 1956 until his retirement in 1971.^[18] During this time, the university expanded rapidly, due in part to the first master's degree programs commencing in 1964.^[18] Allen was infamously known for his opposition to college sports in favor of placing an "Accent on Learning", USF's original motto.^[23] He received national attention after declaring in 1959 that the school would have no sports teams, though he later had a change of heart and USF's first varsity teams would begin in 1965.^[24] Allen's ultimate legacy was to be the first person to build a modern state university from scratch, famously stating: "As a completely new and separate institution, the University of South Florida became the first new institution of its kind to be conceived, planned and built in the United States in the 20th century".^[25] Today the John and Grace Allen Administration Building, named after the university's founding president and his wife, houses vital Tampa campus departments including Student Affairs, the Admissions Welcome Center, and the Controller's Office.^[26]

USF's St. Petersburg campus opened in 1965 as a satellite campus. The site was known as the "Bay Campus" at the time and sat on the former site of the U.S. Navy Maritime Training Center.^[27]

USF's campus was damaged by an F4 tornado during the tornado outbreak of April 4–5, 1966, with the cooling towers at the university's power plant partially collapsing and the roof being ripped off of one of the dormitories.^[28]

1970s

In 1970, M. Cecil Mackey became the university's second president.^[18] During his time at USF, Mackey opened the university's medical school, School of Nursing, and first-ever Ph.D. program.^[18][29] Additionally, Mackey worked to strengthen the St. Petersburg campus, while opening new satellite campuses in Sarasota and Fort Myers.^[18] While serving as university president, Mackey continued to teach economics courses in a conference room across from his office.^[29] Mackey first coined a new descriptor for USF: a "metropolitan university".^[29] The term is still used to describe USF and other colleges in large cities today.

USF Sarasota–Manatee was founded in 1975 and shared a campus with New College of Florida, which later became part of the USF system as well before becoming an independent university again.^[30]

Moffitt Cancer Center on the USF campus.

1980s

USF emerged as a major research institution during the 1980s under the leadership of the university's third president John Lott Brown.^[31] During his tenure, the USF Graduate School was established in 1980.^[18] In 1986, Brown oversaw the opening of the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute on the USF Tampa campus.^[18] USF became the first university in the nation to offer a Ph.D. in applied anthropology and the first in the State University System of Florida to offer a degree program in women's studies.^[18] In January 1988, USF Lakeland opened.^[18]

On February 15, 1988, Francis T. Borkowski was inaugurated as the university's fourth president.^[18] He served as president for five years, laying the groundwork for the university's football program, establishing on-campus housing for the USF president at the Lifsey House, and merging several colleges into the College of Arts and Sciences.^[32]

1990s

Betty Castor became the university's fifth president and first female president when she was inaugurated in January 1994.^[18] She served as USF president for six years until 1999. During this time, USF grew to be one of the largest universities in the nation in terms of enrollment.^[18] In 1997, the university began its inaugural season of NCAA football.^[18] The Florida Board of Regents named USF a "Research 1" University in 1998.^[18]

2000s

Judy Genshaft was selected as the new president in 2000. Under Genshaft's leadership, the university emerged as a top research university (achieving "preeminence" per the Florida Board of Governors in June 2018) and major economic engine with an annual economic impact of $3.7 billion in the 2018–2019 fiscal year, her last year as president.^[9][33] In 2006, Castor returned to USF to lead the Dr. Kiran C. Patel Center for Global Solutions;^[34] she stepped down in 2009.^[35] The university expanded its global reach, opening the first Confucius Institute in Florida in 2008 and creating the Genshaft/Greenbaum Passport Scholarship Fund in 2011, which provides financial support to USF students who want to study abroad.^[18] Under Genshaft, USF has continuously been ranked among the top veteran-friendly universities in the country.^[8] In 2009, USF became the first university in the nation to partner with the United States Department of Veterans Affairs to offer specialized services for veterans taking advantage of the new G.I. Bill.^[18] USF continues to improve academically, being ranked among the best colleges in the nation by U.S. News & World Report.^[8]

2010s

In 2012, USF was recognized as one of the nation's largest producers of Fulbright Program scholars.^[8] The university closed its Confucius Institute in 2018, citing falling enrollment, misalignment with the university's research focus, and possible consequences on US-government funding to USF.^[36] In 2018, Genshaft announced her retirement from position as president of USF.^[37]

The university's seventh president, Dr. Steven C. Currall, took office on July 1, 2019.^[18] Under his leadership, the university broke into the top 50 best public colleges in the nation according to rankings by U.S. News & World Report, achieving a 44th-place ranking in 2019^[38]

2020s

Currall led the university through the COVID-19 pandemic, which included budgetary hardships brought by a loss in state funding (including a controversial proposal to phase out the College of Education - later dropped due to fierce opposition).^[39] On July 19, 2021, Currall announced his retirement as president, citing "health and family reasons." He remained on the faculty of the Muma College of Business.^[40]

After Currall's resignation, Rhea Law, a USF alumna and former USF Board of Trustees chair, was appointed as interim president.^[41] The Board of Trustees selected Law for the permanent job as president on March 22, 2022, and she is the first USF graduate to serve in the role.^[42] Law stated her top priorities were for USF to reach a top-25 public university ranking, to gain admission into the Association of American Universities, and to build an on-campus football stadium.^[43] USF was accepted into the AAU in 2023.^[44]

Seal and colors

In 1958, President John Allen commissioned a seal for the new university, wanting a symbol that would represent education on a global scale. Each element of the seal has a special meaning:

• The Sun represents life to all living things
• The lamp symbolizes learning
• The globe signifies the broadened perspective and opportunities provided by higher education.
• Truth and Wisdom, USF's motto and President Allen's cornerstone for the university

USF's original colors were green, gold, and purple. These are also the colors of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity, of which President Allen was a member. Purple was later dropped and the official colors became just green and gold, but purple accents are visible on some of the older buildings on campus including the administration building which now bears the name of John Allen and his wife, Grace. Purple has since returned as a tertiary color for the university, though it has very limited use aside from some of the women's sports teams having purple accents featured on their alternate jerseys.^[45][46]

As mentioned, the current primary colors of the university are green and gold, though the shades of these colors changed from the original kelly green and yellow to a darker green and vegas gold in the late 1990s. Green represents all life on Earth and gold symbolizes the life giving heat and light of the Sun.^[47]

Preeminence

In 2018, USF was classified as the third Preeminent university in Florida by the state university system.^[48] For a public institution to achieve a status of preeminence, they must meet or surpass benchmarks in at least 11 of 12 metrics set forth by Florida lawmakers.^[49]

University of South Florida System (1965–2020)

USF was previously identified as a university system from 1965 until 2020, but is now chartered as one university geographically distributed across three campus locations: Tampa, St. Petersburg and Sarasota-Manatee. Before being consolidated into one university geographically distributed, the University of South Florida System included three member institutions: USF Tampa (which was the flagship campus), USF St. Petersburg, and USF Sarasota-Manatee.^[53] Each institution was separately accredited, had a distinct mission, and its own strategic plans.^[53] The USF System once included three other member institutions: one in Fort Myers, one in Lakeland, and a second Sarasota campus.

USF Fort Myers opened in 1982 and closed in 1997 with the opening of Florida Gulf Coast University.^[56][57]

The Sarasota institution was originally a private college called New College which sold itself to USF in 1975 to pay off debt, and became New College of the University of South Florida.^[58] As part of the deal, New College was allowed to keep its unique grading system.^[58] It shared a campus with USF Sarasota-Manatee, which opened in 1975, but was accredited differently as USFSM was considered a branch campus rather than a member institution at the time. New College became the independent New College of Florida in 2001, but continued to share a campus with USFSM until a new one was built for USFSM in 2006.

USF Lakeland opened in 1988 and split off from the USF System in 2012 to become the independent Florida Polytechnic University.^[59]

In summer 2020, the system was consolidated into "one university geographically distributed"^[60]

The 212-foot tall water tower is one of the tallest structures on USF's Tampa campus

Tampa campus

Established in 1956, the USF Tampa campus serves more than 41,000 students.^[61] The institution houses 14 colleges and is the doctoral granting campus of USF. The University of South Florida Office of Graduate Studies is based on the Tampa campus and serves as the center of leadership for graduate education at the University of South Florida.^[62]

The Tampa campus is located in North Tampa east of the University neighborhood, about seven miles north of downtown. It is by far the largest of the three campuses, spanning 1,562 acres.^[4] The campus is divided into different districts, with most housing located in the northeast, athletics and recreation in the east and southeast, research in the south and southwest, USF Health in the west, northwest and north, and undergraduate classes and student services in central campus.^[63] Each college is divided into its own section within the district, for example with fine and performing arts in the north and northwest parts of the district, social sciences in the east, natural sciences and engineering in the south, and education and business in the southeast.

The campus is known for having over 19,000 trees, and has been named a Tree Campus USA by the Arbor Day Foundation every year since 2011.^[64] In honor of this, nearly all streets on campus are named after trees, as are six of the 14 dorms. The tree motif is also seen on USF's ceremonial mace, which has a gold pinecone on the top to symbolize both growth and the fact that the first trees to be planted on the campus were pine.^[65] These pine trees are still around today, in the field next to the main south entrance to the campus on LeRoy Collins Boulevard between Fowler Avenue and Alumni Drive.

St. Petersburg campus

USF first occupied the site of the USF St. Petersburg campus in 1965, taking over the former U.S. Maritime Training Center along Bayboro Harbor in downtown St. Petersburg.^[18][27] It is located next to Albert Whitted Airport and less than a mile from the Salvador Dalí Museum and Al Lang Stadium. USFSP was a satellite campus from 1965 until 2006, when it was accredited as a separate entity from the USF Tampa campus within the University of South Florida System by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.^[66] USFSP serves approximately 4,500 students per year and offers 33 undergraduate and graduate programs in arts and sciences, business, and education.^[61]

Sarasota-Manatee campus

When USF Sarasota-Manatee was established as a branch campus in 1975, it originally shared a campus with what is now the independent New College of Florida, but was at the time a USF system member called New College of the University of South Florida.^[67] New College became independent of the USF system in 2001 and USFSM took its place as a member institution in the USF system, but USFSM and New College continued to share a campus until a new campus was completed for USFSM across the street in 2006.^[68] Nearly 2,000 students take classes at USFSM each year. The campus offers 43 academic programs and certificates in arts and sciences, business, education, and hospitality and technology leadership.^[69]

Tuition

As of the 2022–23 academic year, tuition costs are:^[3]

Undergraduate

$213.65 per credit hour for in-state students, and $577.47 per credit hour for out-of-state students. Total (assuming 30 credit hours): $6,409.50 for in-state students and $17,324.10 for out-of-state students.

Graduate

$434.51 per credit hour for in-state students, and $880.25 per credit hour for out-of-state students. Total (assuming 24 credit hours): $10,428.24 for in-state students and $21,126.00 for out-of-state students.

Tuition has been frozen at all Florida public universities since 2014.^[80]

Demographics

Nearly 50,000 students are enrolled at USF as of the 2022–23 academic year, including over 36,900 undergraduate students, 9,500 graduate students, 1,500 doctor of medicine students, and 1,700 non-degree seeking students.^[3] USF is one of the 40 most diverse universities in the nation, with students representing every state, U.S. territory, and more than 140 countries.^[8][81] International students represent approximately 12% of the total USF student population.^[3] As of the Fall 2022 semester, the student diversity profile of the university was approximately: 50% White, 9% African American, 23% Hispanic of any race, 9% Asian, 0.2% American Indian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, 4% two or more races, and 5% students who did not report their race.^[4] Roughly 60% of USF students are female and 40% are male.^[4]

The Fall 2022 Freshman class of approximately 4,000 students earned admission to the university with an average SAT score of 1309 out of 1600, ACT score of 29 out of 36, and high school GPA of 4.21. 41% of the members of the incoming class graduated in the top 10% of their high school class. Among the incoming class were 79 National Merit Scholars.^[3]

Rankings

For 2023–2024, U.S. News & World Report ranked USF as tied for #89^[98] overall on its list of Tier I National Universities and #45 among public universities. This made USF the fastest rising university in America, jumping 84 spots on the overall list and 58 spots on the public university list in 10 years.^[99] This ranking also put USF as #4 in Florida overall and #3 in Florida among public universities. In other rankings released by U.S. News, USF was the only Florida university in the Top 10 Best Value Colleges, at #8 among public universities. USF also ranked #17 in the nation overall, #12 in the nation among public institutions, and #1 in Florida on the U.S. News ranking of top National Universities for Social Mobility. Niche ranked USF #19 for top public universities in America and #67 for best colleges in America 2023. According to Niche, USF was home to the #6 Education Program, #10 Criminal Justice Program, #12 Information Technology Program, #18 Accounting and Finance Program, and #25 Nursing Program in the United States.^[100]

Colleges

The 14 colleges of the university are:^[101]

The Natural and Environmental Sciences building.

• College of Arts and Sciences
• College of Behavioral and Community Sciences
• Muma College of Business
• College of Education
• College of Engineering
• Patel College of Global Sustainability
• College of Graduate Studies
• Judy Genshaft Honors College
• College of Marine Science
• Morsani College of Medicine
• College of Nursing
• Taneja College of Pharmacy
• College of Public Health
• College of The Arts

Faculty

As of Fall 2022, there were more than 15,000 instructional faculty and the student to faculty ratio for the campus was 22:1.^[3] Approximately 86 percent of full-time faculty members held the highest degree in their field of expertise. Additionally, the university had more than 1,500 adjunct professors, 300 post-doctoral scholars, 2,000 graduate assistants, and 3,000 student assistants.^[3]

USF faculty include over 200 scholars receiving prominent scholarly awards, including Fulbright, National Science Foundation, AAAS, Guggenheim, and National Endowment for the Humanities fellowships.^[3][8] In 2012, USF mechanical engineering professor Autar Kaw, was one of four in the nation to receive the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and Council for Advancement and Support of Education 2012 U.S. Professor of the Year award.^[102]

Graduation

The first USF Commencement ceremony was held in 1963 where 325 degrees were conferred.^[22] Now, the school awards over 13,000 degrees each year. Commencement ceremonies are held three times a year at the end of the Fall, Spring, and Summer semesters.^[103] Spring ceremonies are generally the largest, with five separate ceremonies held each semester.^[22] Commencement ceremonies are held in the USF Sun Dome.^[103] Since 2013, graduate's names have been announced by Associate Athletic Director Jim Louk, who is known for being the "Voice of the Bulls" as the radio announcer for USF football and basketball games.^[104]

USF Health

USF Health consists of the Morsani College of Medicine, College of Nursing, Taneja College of Pharmacy, College of Public Health, the School of Biomedical Sciences (within the College of Arts and Sciences), the School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences, and the USF Physician's Group.^[115] USF Health researchers work in the fields of cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, prosthetics, heart health, genomics, and more.^[116] The College of Nursing ranks first in Florida for universities receiving research funding from the National Institutes of Health.^[8]

More than 400 healthcare professionals at USF Health treat patients throughout the state of Florida.^[117] In 2012, the university opened the Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation in downtown Tampa.^[118] The 90,000 square foot facility serves as an education and training center for health professionals around the world.^[118] In 2020, the Morsani College of Medicine and USF Health Heart Institute moved to a new 395,000 square foot, 13-story highrise tower in the Water Street district of downtown Tampa.^[119] The Taneja College of Pharmacy moved to the facility the following year.^[119]

Sustainability

USF was given a gold rating by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education for building an environmentally-conscious campus.^[8] In 2010, the USF School of Global Sustainability was created as part of the College of Behavioral and Community Sciences.^[120] In 2012, the new Patel College of Global Sustainability, consisting of the Dr. Kiran C. Patel Center for Global Solutions, the Master of the Arts in Global Sustainability Program, and the Office of Sustainability, was introduced.^[120] The college is housed in the first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design GOLD certified building on the USF Tampa campus.^[120]

USF signed the American College and University President's Climate Commitment in 2008 and submitted its Climate Action Plan in 2010 with a goal of a 10 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2015.^[121][122] Since then, the university has introduced several sustainability initiatives, including electric vehicle charging stations, water bottle filling stations, reusable plastic food containers in dining halls, recycling programs in residence halls, new, more efficient busses for the fare-free campus bus service, solar-powered golf carts, and more.^[123] In 2011, the university introduced the Student Green Energy Fund, which allows students to propose and vote on projects that aim to reduce campus energy consumption, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and promote sustainable technologies.^[124]

The nearly 20,000 trees on the Tampa campus provide an estimated $1.8 million yearly benefit to the university through energy conserved, stormwater management, and carbon dioxide removal. The campus is renowned for its number of trees and has been named a Tree Campus USA by the Arbor Day Foundation every year since 2011.^[64]

Currently, the university has six LEED certified buildings, all of which are on the main Tampa campus or the downtown medical campus. They are the Dr. Kiran C. Patel Center For Global Solutions (Gold), Interdisciplinary Science Building (Gold), Yuengling Center (Silver), Center For Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation (Silver), Chowdhari Golf Practice Facility (Certified), and Morsani Center for Advanced Health Care (Certified).^[125]

Engineering buildings II and III at USF, with the library in the background.

Center for Urban Transportation Research

Founded in 1988, The Center for Urban Transportation Research conducts over $13 million in research annually for a variety of public and private sector sponsors in Florida and the United States, including the Florida Legislature, the Florida Transportation Commission, and state and local governments, agencies, and organizations. CUTR houses the National Center for Transit Research, designated by the U.S. Congress in 1991, and reaffirmed in 1998, 2002, 2012 and 2013. Areas of research include public transportation, transportation planning, intelligent transportation systems, transportation demand management, transportation economics and finance, geographic information systems, access management, alternative fuels, and transportation safety, among others.^[126]

Materials Simulation Laboratory

The Materials Simulation Laboratory of the Department of Physics was established in 2002. The MSL researches condensed matter and materials physics using supercomputers as tools, focusing on quantum simulations under extreme temperatures and pressures, such as those conditions that occur in planetary interiors and during inertial confinement fusion.^[127]

Marshall Student Center

In 2011 the university opened a new student union called the Marshall Student Center. The name pays homage to Phyllis P. Marshall, the longtime director of the former student union, which was also named after her.^[130] The four-story building features a 1,200 seat ballroom, 800-seat auditorium, 100 workstation computer lab, study and meeting spaces, several student lounge areas, and outdoor courtyards.^[131] The facility offers several retail outlets including a pharmacy, computer store, credit union, commuter lounge, and identification card center.^[132] The MSC features ten dining options including Panera, Chick-fil-A, and Subway.^[133]

As the home of the USF Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement, Student Government, the Center for Student Involvement, the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life, and the Office of Multicultural Affairs, the center is considered to be the gathering place for all things student life at USF.^[134]

Bull statues

The bull statues in front of the Marshall Student Center.

The university has a total of 9 life size bronze bull statues across the three campuses, with one on the St. Petersburg campus, one on the Sarasota-Manatee campus, and seven on the Tampa campus (three in front of the south entrance of the Marshall Student Center, three in The Village housing complex, and one in front of the student entrance at the Yuengling Center, plus a 15-foot tall topiary bull at the north entrance of the Marshall Student Center). Each statue has its own distinct design with every bull standing in a different position.

These statues are a rich part of USF tradition. The original three statues (the ones outside the MSC, dubbed the "Running of the Bulls") plus the topiary bull represent the four years a student spends in college, with the topiary bull representing a student's senior year as it symbolizes the student's growth over the past four years and faces one of the main entrances to campus (Palm Drive) as it will soon run off into the world.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Plaza

One of the most popular gathering spots on the Tampa campus is Martin Luther King, Jr. Plaza, which is located between the John and Grace Allen Building and the Marshall Student Center, marked by a small bust of the civil rights activist. Beneath the bust of Dr. King are five granite lines pointing in the directions of five cities significant to his legacy: Atlanta, Boston, Memphis, Montgomery, and Washington D.C. The bust faces a reflecting pool with fountains which marks the geographical center of campus. On the other side of the pool are stone tablets engraved with Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech.^[47]

Botanical Gardens

The 15 acre botanical garden on USF's Tampa campus was established in 1969 for use by the Biology Department.^[136] The garden contains over 3,000 taxa of plants including fruit trees, bonsai trees, grasses, begonias, orchids, bromeliads, palms, aroids, bamboo, gingers, carnivorous plants, cycads, cactus and succulent plants, an herb and scent garden, wetland forest, temperate forest, subtropical shade garden, and Florida upland scrub and sandhill habitats. The gardens also has a medicinal herb garden, which is used by the USF College of Pharmacy for research purposes.^[136] The garden is open to the public six days a week and admission is free for students.

Castor Beach

Castor Beach

Castor Beach is an artificial beach on campus by the lake outside of Betty Castor Hall, one of the largest dorms on the Tampa campus.^[137] The beach is complete with white sand taken from the nearby Clearwater Beach, which is regularly voted as one of America's best beaches.^[138] The area has a beach volleyball net, hammocks, and chairs with umbrellas and is a popular spot for relaxing on campus. Swimming in the lake is not allowed due to alligators.

Housing

Juniper Hall (front) and Poplar Hall (back), the two largest dorms on campus.

There are 39 residence halls on the USF Tampa campus in 14 complexes, offering traditional, suite, and apartment-style housing.^[139] In total, these residential halls provide housing to more than 5,600 students.^[139] The university also offers specialized housing options such as family housing, female-only housing, graduate student housing, and 14 houses for fraternity and sorority members in the Greek Village.^[139] Each bedroom on the Tampa campus is furnished with a twin extra-long bed, dresser, desk, chair, trash can, and closet space for every resident.^[139] Each residence hall has at least one resident assistant.

In 2009, the university implemented a new policy requiring all first-year, full-time undergraduate students at the Tampa campus to live on campus.^[140] Students exempt from this new rule include those who remain living with their parents and/or legal guardians within Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties, are above the age of 21 by the first day of fall classes, have a dependent child or family member, or are married.^[140]

The university offers 12 Living Learning Communities (LLCs) in residence halls throughout the Tampa campus.^[141] The residential communities place special interest on academic majors or areas of interest, such as business, education, engineering, and sustainability.^[141] Residents are required to submit an application and meet certain eligibility criteria to be admitted into an LLC.^[141]

The St. Petersburg campus opened its first residence hall in 2006, and has since opened two more.^[27][142] The campus has space for over 600 students.

Campus recreation

Harborwalk

Harborwalk is an area on the St. Petersburg campus that connects the campus with other nearby attractions in the downtown area, including Poynter Park, the Salvador Dalí Museum, and Al Lang Stadium.^[158] It runs along Bayboro Harbor on the east border of campus and is home to things like the University Student Center and Sembler Fountain.^[27]

Student involvement

There are more than 600 registered student organizations at USF, including academic, professional, special interest, Greek, and multicultural groups.^[159] USF students are welcome to join existing organizations or apply to create their own.^[159] The USF Center for Student Involvement, located in the Marshall Student Center, provides multiple programs throughout the academic year, including the University Lecture Series, Homecoming Week, USF Week, and more.^[159] In addition to the Center for Student Involvement, the Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement offers numerous opportunities for organization involvement, personal and organizational leadership development, and community service.^[160]

University and student media

Beginning in 1961, a local afternoon newspaper, The Tampa Times, covered university news in the one-page weekly "Campus Edition".^[172] Now defunct, the newspaper was succeeded by The Oracle.^[172] First published in 1966, the weekly broadsheet was distributed every Wednesday.^[172] Housed today in the Student Services Building of the Tampa campus, the student-run newspaper is published four times a week during the Fall and Spring semesters and twice a week during the Summer semesters.^[172] The 12,000 circulation newspaper has been recognized by the Society of Professional Journalists and the Associated Collegiate Press for excellence in journalism.^[172]

Owned by USF, WUSF (FM) first began airing in 1963.^[18] A member station of National Public Radio, the broadcast studio is located on the USF Tampa campus.^[173] Currently, the FM station broadcasts NPR and local news during the day and jazz music in the overnight hours.^[174] The station is funded by local corporate and private contributors, as well as the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and is affiliated with the Public Broadcasting Service.^[174] In 2003, WUSF 89.7 became the first public radio station in the nation to broadcast a digital signal.^[173] Today, WUSF Public Media offers local and national news coverage, educational programming, and jazz and classical music through WUSF 89.7, WSMR 89.1, WEDQ, IntellisMedia, and WUSF New Media.^[173]

The student-run radio station at USF, now known as Bulls Radio, first went on the air in 1988.^[175] Formerly known as "WBUL" until 2009, the station broadcasts from the Marshall Student Center, where student reporters and DJs broadcast from a studio featuring a window that overlooks the Bullpen restaurant.^[175] Now one of the largest student-run radio stations in the state of Florida, Bulls Radio can be heard on 1620 AM, 88.5 HD2 or online.^[175]

Traditions

USF's water tower lit up green after a Bulls win

USF's hand sign is "Horns Up", similar to Texas's "Hook 'em Horns". The sign is used by fans at games for good luck during field goals, extra points, free throws, etc.; and as a general greeting or show of school spirit.

Since 1995, the university has shined green lights (as opposed to the usual white lights) on its iconic water tower the night following a victory by any of the Bulls sports teams to let the campus and surrounding area know of the win.^[176] The school also lights the water tower green for special events like homecoming and commencement ceremonies.^[177]

The Bull Market is an open air weekly market that hosts a combination of vendors, student organizations, and not-for-profit organizations showcasing their products and services. The Bull Market takes place every Wednesday outside the Marshall Student Center and is one of the oldest traditions at USF.^[178]

The university has a motif of trees, with nearly 20,000 on the Tampa campus alone.^[64] The love of trees started with USF's first president John Allen, who wanted to cover the university with them since there were zero trees on the campus when it was founded. Still today, students plant dozens of trees every year on Arbor Day. In honor of this, much of the campus is or once was named after trees. Nearly every road at the Tampa campus is, besides Alumni Drive, LeRoy Collins Boulevard (named after the governor of Florida who signed the bill that created USF), and Genshaft Drive (known as Maple Drive until 2019 and named after former USF President Judy Genshaft, who filled the position for nearly 20 years). Many dorms are also named after trees, and the football team's original meeting facilities were called "the Ponderosa".^[179] In addition, the university mace is crowned with a gold pinecone which signifies both growth and that the first tree planted on campus by President Allen was a pine tree.^[65]

On the floor near the south entrance to the Marshall Student Center sits a large USF seal. Students are told at orientation that if they ever step on the seal from the time between their first ever class until their last final exam they will not graduate. However, they can reverse this "curse" if they run outside the building and rub the nose of the large bronze bull statue that sits at the bottom of the hill leading up to the south entrance within 30 seconds. There is a similar superstition with the smaller USF seal in the courtyard of the John and Grace Allen Building, but if a student steps on that seal they must jump into the reflecting pool in the nearby Martin Luther King, Jr. Plaza.

For men's and women's basketball and women's volleyball games, rubbing the back hoof of the bull statue outside the student entrance to the Yuengling Center is said to bring the team good luck.

At the St. Petersburg campus and Sarasota-Manatee campuses, rubbing on the horns of their respective bull statues is said to bring good luck on exams.

Teams

Bulls Athletic wordmark

The university currently sponsors 19 varsity men's and women's sports:^[193]

Additionally, USF will add a women's lacrosse team and a women's beach volleyball team in the 2024–25 and 2025–26 school years, respectively.^[194][195]

USF also offers many club teams, including men's and women's rugby, cricket, and men's ice hockey.^[196] USF's club teams have won 11 national championships in their various divisions.^{[152][153][157][154][155][197][198]}

Athletic facilities

Lee Roy Selmon Athletic Center.

Located along the eastern edge of the Tampa campus, the USF Athletic District is the home for 18 of the Bulls 19 varsity sports, with sailing being the only one not located there.^[199] The district includes the Lee Roy Selmon Athletic Center, Corbett Stadium, the Frank Morsani Football Practice Complex, the Pam & Les Muma Basketball Practice Center, the Yuengling Center, The Claw, the USF Baseball Stadium, the USF Softball Stadium, the USF Track and Field Stadium, the Corral, and the USF Varsity Tennis Courts.^[199]

Spirit squads

USF Herd of Thunder Marching Band at the Sun Bowl.

The USF Spirit Squads — consisting of the USF Sun Dolls dance team, USF Cheerleading Squad, Rocky the Bull, and the Herd of Thunder marching band — play an integral role in USF Athletics.^[209] In addition to supporting USF varsity athletic teams during sporting events, the spirit squads themselves compete at the national level.^[209] Both the all-girl and co-ed teams regularly rank among the best in the country, with the co-ed team winning the UCA Division I-A national championship in 2021, 2022 and 2023 and the all-girl team winning the title in 2024.^[210][211]

Rocky the Bull first began as a toy idea for the USF Bookstore in 1965.^[21] Today's version Rocky was unveiled in 2003.^[21] As the official mascot for USF, Rocky the Bull can be seen at USF Athletic events, as well as other major university and community events.^[209]

The USF Herd of Thunder consists of several bands, including a 370-member marching band, pep band, show band, and winter guard.^[212] The marching band performs at all home and some away USF football games.^[212] The pep band, called the Herd of Thunder Rumble Pep Band, performs at all home men's and women's basketball games, plus conference and NCAA tournament games when applicable.^[212] The show band is a 30-piece group that performs at select events that are unable to accommodate the full marching band.^[212]

Academics

• Jamal Nassar, MA 1974, Dean of California State University, San Bernardino
• Seth Kalichman, 1983, Professor of Social psychology, known for research into HIV/AIDS treatment and HIV/AIDS denialism
• Lee Kump, 1986, Dean of Penn State University
• Michael Rao, 1987, President of Virginia Commonwealth University
• Amine Bensaid, 1990, MS 1992, PhD 1994, President of Al Akhawayn University, expert in machine learning, neural networks, and genetic algorithms
• Tonjua Williams, MA 1996, president of St. Petersburg College
• Aysegul Timur, PhD 2006, president of Florida Gulf Coast University
• Heather Judkins, Ph.D. 2009, associate professor and cephalopod researcher at USF-St. Petersburg ^[214]

Athletes

• 

  Tony La Russa
  Tony La Russa, 1969, MLB infielder and manager, three time World Series champion as a manager, member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame
• Ed Baird, 1982, two-time America's Cup champion (1995, 2007), seven-time world champion, member of the National Sailing Hall of Fame
• Roy Wegerle, 1983, member of the U.S. Men's National Soccer Team, third-most goals by an American in Premier League history, 1997 MLS Champion
• Ken Eriksen, 1984, USF softball head coach 1997–present, winningest head coach in USF history, Team USA softball manager 2011–present
• Tomer Steinhauer, 1989, Israeli basketball player and coach
• Radenko Dobraš, 1992, Serbian basketball player
• Mark Chung, 1992, member of the U.S. Men's National Soccer Team
• Derrick Sharp, 1993, EuroLeague basketball player and coach, 29 club titles including three EuroLeague championships as a player (2001, 2004, 2005), 9 club titles as a coach
• Chucky Atkins, 1996, NBA point guard, 14-year NBA career, 2004 NBA Champion
• Kemel Thompson, 1996, two-time Olympic track & field athlete
• Jeff Cunningham, 1997, member of the U.S. Men's National Soccer Team, third most goals in Major League Soccer history
• Damu Cherry, 2000, Olympic track & field athlete
• Jason Pierre-Paul, 2009, NFL defensive end, two-time Super Bowl Champion (XLVI with the New York Giants and Super Bowl LV with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
• Paige Railey, 2010, three-time Olympic sailor for the U.S.
• 

  Évelyne Viens
  Sam Barrington, 2012, NFL linebacker
• Christiane Endler, 2014, member of the Chile Women's National Football Team and Olympique Lyon, 2021 FIFA Best Women's Goalkeeper of the Year, 2012 Copa Libertadores champion, 2022 UEFA Women's Champions League champion, and eight-time champion in various club leagues
• Chase Koepka, 2016, professional golfer
• Shane McClanahan, 2018, first pitcher in Major League Baseball history to make his debut in the postseason
• David Villar, 2018, baseball player for the San Francisco Giants
• Évelyne Viens, 2020, member of the Canada Women's National Soccer Team and AS Roma, 2020 Olympic gold medalist

Business and Commerce

• John R. Patrick, MS 1971, former vice president of IBM
• George Reyes, 1976, former CFO of Google, former director of BEA Systems, Symantec, and LifeLock
• Jordan Zimmerman, 1978, MBA 1980, founder of Zimmerman Advertising, one of the largest advertising agencies in the world
• Jim Atchison, 1988, President/CEO of SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment
• Robert B. Carter, 1990, co-chief executive officer and chief information officer of FedEx

Entertainers and writers

• Richard Oppel, 1964, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, director of American Society of Newspaper Editors
• Lobo, 1965, singer/songwriter, three Billboard top-10 songs
• Robert Stackhouse, 1965, artist and sculptor
• James Carlos Blake, 1969, MA 1971, author, winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for fiction
• Jack E. Davis, 1983, MA 1989, author, Pulitzer Prize-winning author.
• Gallagher, 1970, comedian
• Heather Graham Pozzessere, 1975, best-selling author
• Richard King, 1976, sound engineer, four Academy Awards for Best Sound Editing
• Guy Babylon, 1979, musician, keyboardist/composer, noted for his work with Elton John
• Ann Liguori, 1982, sports journalist
• Kerry Sanders, 1982, journalist
• Aasif Mandvi, 1988, actor and comedian
• Lucia M. Gonzalez, MA 1991, children's author, winner of the Pura Belpré Award, library director, Alice G. Smith Lecture.
• 

  Grace Byers
  Greg Pitts, 1992, actor
• Mark Consuelos, 1994, actor
• Nicole Johnson, 1996, DPH 2013, Miss America 1999, now an activist for diabetes research
• Kissy Simmons, 1998, actress
• Matthew Lopez, 2000, playwright, Tony Award for Best Play nominee
• Quentin Earl Darrington, 2004, Broadway actor and singer
• Grace Byers, 2006, actress
• Marcus DeSieno, MA 2015, artist

Military

• Matthew L. Nathan, 1984, Vice Admiral and former Surgeon General of the United States Navy
• John Kirby, 1985, Rear Admiral, Press Secretary for the United States Department of Defense and Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs
• Adam M. Robinson Jr., 1994, Vice Admiral and former Surgeon General of the United States Navy
• Michael S. Devany, 1996, Vice Admiral in the United States Navy

Politicians

Pam Iorio

• H. Lee Moffitt, 1964, founder, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center; former Florida Speaker of the House
• Michele Elliott, 1967, psychologist and founder of child protection charity Kidscape^[215]
• Dale Fischer, 1977, Judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California
• Mark Meadows, A.A. 1980, former U.S. Congressman and White House Chief of Staff
• Kurt S. Browning, 1982, M.A. 1994, former Florida Secretary of State
• J. Michelle Childs, 1988, Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
• M. Rony Francois, M.D. 1994, MSPH 1998, PhD 2003, former U.S. Delegate to Haiti
• Pam Iorio, M.A. 2001, Mayor of Tampa from 2003 to 2011

Scientists

• Joanna Fowler, 1964, director of Brookhaven National Laboratory's Radiotracer Chemistry, Instrumentation and Biological Imaging Program, National Medal of Science award winner
• Alan Boss, 1973, astrophysicist and chair of multiple International Astronomical Union and NASA grounds
• Mark Hulsbeck, 1978, Oceanographic Operations Field Manager and research diver for the Aquarius Reef Base, the world's only undersea research laboratory
• Adelaida K. Semesi, 1982 - postdoctoral research, Director of the Institute of Marine Sciences of the University of Dar es Salaam
• David Mearns, 1986, Director of Blue Water Recoveries; Guinness World Record holder for deepest shipwreck ever found
• Donna K. Arnett, PhD 1992, epidemiologist, one of the world's leading experts in hypertension
• Katherine Seley-Radtke, 1992, cancer researcher, Professor in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County
• Michael S. Devany, MPH 1996, former Chief Operating Officer of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
• Carlos Del Castillo, PhD 1998, Program Scientist for the Ocean Biology and Biogeochemistry Program at NASA, winner of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers
• Saraju Mohanty, 2003, Director of Smart Electronic Systems Laboratory, 2020 Fulbright Specialist award winner
• Monica Webb Hooper, 2005, behavioral scientist, clinical psychologist, and deputy director of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities

*bachelor's degree unless otherwise noted