FAU in History

I was looking through someone’s MySpace page the other day (yeah, I still use MySpace) and noticed a friend’s profile had the saying, “You don't know who you are until you know where you came from.”

I have a secret obsession for quotes and this one particularly interested me. I started thinking about it and tried to apply the thought-provoking theory to everything I do. Then I thought about school, and realized I didn’t know FAU’s history. So, I did some research and found out the facts.

Before it was turned into a state university, the grounds where the FAU Boca campus now stands were used as an Army airbase in the 1940s. The base was the only radar training facility in the United States at the time and was used to aide the Allied victory in World War II. Underground tunnels used for storage and shelter in the 40’s are still under our feet today. Keep that in mind next time you’re looking for a quiet place to study on campus.


The Boca Raton campus as an airbase in the 1940s.

Photos courtesy of FAU - Part of the Photo Gallary from FAU's 40th Aniversary web site.

In 1961, Florida Atlantic University was established by the Florida State Legislature as the fifth university in the state system. FAU officially opened its doors in 1964 to a student body of 867, offering only upper-division and graduate-level work – the first university in the country to do so. According to FAU’s Web site, the higher-ups at the time believed freshman and sophomores would be “served by the community college system.” It wasn’t until 1984 that FAU admitted its first freshman class.

The coolest fact I found was that U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson came to FAU to dedicate the university on October 25, 1964. Even cooler, you can listen to the 43-year-old speech on FAU’s site. It is a tad bit corny and there is a lot of clapping, but Johnson’s probably the most important person to ever speak at FAU. Click here to listen.



President Johnson, (center) Secret Service agent Rufus Youngblood (left) and FAU President Kenneth Williams (right) walk to the outdoor stage, where Johnson dedicated the university in 1964.

The commencement ceremony for FAU’s first graduating class was held on April 24, 1965, at a nearby church. At the time, there was no building on campus that could accommodate the 30-member graduating class. These days, there aren’t many classes with fewer than 30 students – we’ve come a long way.


FAU's first graduating class in April, 1965.

Probably more interesting than Johnson’s speech is the fact that the first Miami Dolphins cheerleaders were FAU students. In fact, the Dolphins’ first training site in the late 1960s was FAU.


The first Miami Dolphins cheerleaders were FAU students in the late 1960s.

Curious how we became the Owls? In 1971, the Boca campus became a burrowing owl sanctuary. FAU adopted the bird as the university mascot and our sports teams were tagged the Owls.


An FAU intramural softball team in the 1970s. Notice the dog in the picture? The owl was probably too cranky to pose.

FAU began to expand the campus in 1971 with the opening of a Fort Lauderdale campus, and then joined forces with Broward Community College in Davie in 1990. FAU bought part of Barry University in 1996, and established the Treasure Coast campus. SeaTech, FAU's state-of-the-art ocean engineering research center, opened in 1999, as well as the John D. MacArthur campus (and Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College) in Jupiter.


FAU's SeaTech campus, which opened in 1999, is funded by the Office of Naval Research and home to the university's nationally known Department of Ocean Engineering.

If you want more, FAU even has an entry on Wikipedia – but take the info on the site with a grain of salt: it is, in fact, an online encyclopedia where anyone can write just about anything.