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Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) is a
public university A public university or public college is a university or college that is in state ownership, owned by the state or receives significant government spending, public funds through a national or subnational government, as opposed to a private unive ...
in
Lee County, Florida Lee County is located in Southwest Florida on the Gulf Coast. As of the 2020 census, the population was 760,822. The county seat is Fort Myers (with a population of 86,395 as of the 2020 census), and the largest city is Cape Coral with an e ...
. It is part of the State University System of Florida and is its second youngest member. The university was established on May 3, 1991, and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) to award 58 different types of bachelor's, 25 different
master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.
, six doctoral degrees, and twelve
graduate certificate A graduate certificate is an educational credential representing completion of specialized training at the college or university level. A graduate certificate can be awarded by universities upon completion of certain coursework indicating masteri ...
s. All of the university's undergraduate engineering degrees are accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). The university's academics are divided into six main colleges: U.A. Whitaker College of Engineering, Lutgert College of Business, Marieb College of Health & Human Services, College of Education, College of Arts and Sciences, and Honors College. The prominent schools and departments within the colleges include; Bower School of Music & the Arts, The Emergent Technologies Institute (ETI), School of Nursing, School of Resort & Hospitality Management, and School of Entrepreneurship. FGCU's intercollegiate athletic teams, the
Eagles Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, jus ...
, compete in the ASUN Conference in
NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athletic ...
sports.


History


Establishment

In 1991, Charles B. Edwards, chair of the Board of Regents, lobbied the Florida Legislature to pass legislation recommending that Florida's 10th state university be built in the Florida Southwest Region. Florida governor Lawton Chiles signed the bill authorizing the school in May 1991. The Board of Regents selected a site in the south Fort Myers area donated by Ben Hill Griffin III, on which to build the university. On April 26, 1993, Roy E. McTarnaghan, who served as the executive vice chancellor for the State University System of Florida, was appointed president of the yet-unnamed “New University of Southwest Florida.” Founding president McTarnaghan and a small number of employees set up temporary base in downtown Fort Myers in a space provided by the Lee County Commission. The school was officially established by then-governor
Lawton Chiles Lawton Mainor Chiles Jr. (April 3, 1930 – December 12, 1998) was an American politician who served as the 41st governor of Florida from 1991 until his death in 1998. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as a United State ...
in 1991, although FGCU commemorates August 25, 1997, the first time classes were held on campus. Academic Building 5 at Florida Gulf Coast University was later renamed "Charles B. Edwards Hall", in honor of Edwards.


Expansion and growth

In July 1999, William C. Merwin became FGCU's second president. Merwin sought to create a traditional four-year university. Being an active fundraiser, Merwin raised more than $250 million for the university in a short eight-year period, rapidly expanding the school. New buildings included Lutgert College of Business, Holmes Hall (U.A. Whitaker School of Engineering), Whitaker Hall, Cohen Center (the student union),
Alico Arena Alico Arena is a multipurpose arena on the campus of Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, Florida. It is the home of the FGCU Eagles volleyball and Florida Gulf Coast Eagles men's basketball, men's and Florida Gulf Coast Eagles women's bas ...
and an expansion of on-campus housing. Student enrollment at FGCU increased from approximately 2,000 in its first year, to almost 15,000 . In 2007, Dr. Wilson G. Bradshaw became the university's third president. Bradshaw announced that he would step down after the 2016–17 academic year, and the Board of Trustees selected Michael V. Martin to replace Bradshaw in 2017.


Recent history

Responding to a challenge for state universities to improve their four-year graduation rate, FGCU in 2016 introduced a program called Soar in 4, which reimburses out-of-pocket tuition expenses for the freshman year of students who graduate within four years and meet certain other criteria. Mike Martin, former chancellor of Louisiana State University and the Colorado State University System, succeeded Bradshaw as Florida Gulf Coast University president on July 1, 2017. The transition from Bradshaw to Martin came during the university's celebration of it
20th anniversary.
In 2017, the College of Health Professions & Social Work was renamed the Marieb College of Health & Human Services after a $10 million gift from donor Elaine Nicpon Marieb, for whom Marieb Hall was named after her original $5 million pledge.


Main campus

FGCU's campus is located in unincorporated Southwest Florida in Lee County, from
Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
and south of
Fort Myers Fort Myers (or Ft. Myers) is a city in southwestern Florida and the county seat and commercial center of Lee County, Florida, United States. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 92,245 in 20 ...
. It is within San Carlos Park's fire district and uses a Fort Myers postal code. The center of the campus, known as the Academic Core, contains the buildings housing most of the school's classrooms and labs. There are three separate housing areas on the periphery of the campus: North Lake, South Village, and West Lake Village. North Lake Village overlooks Miromar Lake, with recreational activities including boating and water skiing, with a new boardwalk and dining facility opening along its waterfront in 2017.


Expansion

The Lutgert College of Business building opened in 2008, Holmes Hall (which houses the U.A. Whitaker School of Engineering) opened in 2009, and in 2008, the Herbert J. Sugden Hall (home to the School of Resort & Hospitality Management) opened. Academic Building 7 for the College of Arts and Sciences was completed in 2010 and named Seidler Hall in 2016 after donors Lee and Gene Seidler. In 2012, Academic Building 8 was completed. Now Marieb Hall, it was dedicated to Elaine Nicpon Marieb in 2012. The $24 million, building was designed for the College of Health Professions, which in 2017 was renamed the Marieb College of Health & Human Services after Marieb's second transformative gift, an additional $10 million pledge. Other construction projects include expansion of the Cohen Center (the student union building also affectionately known as "Harv's Place" in honor of donor Harvey Cohen), an addition to the fine arts building, a 2017 expansion of Alico Arena, an addition of one of the largest solar panel fields at a university, and the construction of academic building 9. FGCU also opened a new facility a few miles northeast of campus in 2016, the Emergent Technologies Institute. FGCU has created the Everglades Wetland Research Park (EWRP), housed in the Kapnick Education and Research Center on the campus of the Naples Botanical Garden in Naples, Florida, approximately 35 miles south of the main FGCU campus. The EWRP provides teaching, research, and service related to wetland, river, coastal science and ecological engineering. In 2019, FGCU began construction for The Water School, a facility to house research labs and classrooms focused on environmental implications of water quality in Southwest Florida. Upon its completion, The Water School will be FGCU's largest academic building. The facility is projected to open in the fall of 2021.


Satellite campuses

There are three other satellite campus locations: Naples, the Atrium in Fort Myers and Herald Court Centre in Punta Gorda, where continuing education and lifelong learning classes are held. The FGCU Board of Trustees voted in January 2010 to assume ownership of in Buckingham. Located between East Fort Myers and Lehigh Acres, the land already contains over 60 buildings and housing for 300 people. Originally, the property operated as Gulf Coast Center, a residential facility for people with developmental disabilities. After the state phased out such large-scale institutions, the FGCU Board of Trustees accepted the land donation. It is used for off-campus team-building exercises and storage, among other things. In 2007, the university purchased the former Bonita Beach Plantation Resort in Bonita Springs for use as a marine research laboratory. The Norm and Nancy Vester Marine and Environmental Science Research Field Station site has 10 boat slips and is located on Estero Bay. The site includes laboratories, offices, apartments for visiting researchers and a classroom.


Environmental sustainability

Since its founding, on the main campus have been set aside for environmental preservation. FGCU also has constructed a number of lakes on the campus that are home to large numbers of wildlife; the lakes also help promote the ecology of the area. Environmental sustainability is the principal goal expressed in the university charter. Seidler Hall, the new facility housing science laboratories and classrooms for the College of Arts and Sciences, achieved platinum certification, the highest level awarded by the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. The university's solar field supplies about 85 percent of the energy needed to operate Holmes, Lutgert and Seidler halls, reducing FGCU's reliance on Florida Power & Light Co. by 18 percent. An ice thermal storage plant sends chilled water through an underground loop that cools campus buildings, saving more than $1.64 million over five years. The newest residence halls — Everglades, Biscayne, Palmetto, Osprey and Eagle — heat their water via rooftop solar panels.


Library

The Library Complex is located on FGCU's main campus in Fort Myers. In the 2016–2017 school year, the main facility accommodated 1 million visitors for the first time. The library has more than 1.5 million items in its collection, which can be accessed by students or any patron with a library card. The library also subscribes to more than 400 databases to allow students and patrons access to more than 700 million full-text articles. The east wing of the library includes a 115-seat computer lab. In 2014, the Collection Analysis Project (CAP) began so that the FGCU library could determine what parts of the collection were being utilized by students and what could be removed in order to make way for various new projects within the library. In addition to its various print and electronic collections, the library also houses various art pieces, including seven signed lithographs by
Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (; ; ; 11 May 190423 January 1989) was a Spanish surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarre images in ...
. The Archives and Special Collections unit of the library has held various exhibitions since the fall of 2013. The list of past exhibits may be found on the library's website. Other resources located within the library complex are: * ArtLab Gallery * Center for Academic Achievement * Lucas Center for Faculty Development * Veterans Space * Writing Center In 2019, the Library Complex was formally named after FGCU's third president, Dr. Wilson G. Bradshaw.


Academics

Florida Gulf Coast University academics are divided into five colleges. In 2017–18, new freshmen averaged an ACT composite score of 23.3, a combined math and reading average
SAT The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and scoring have changed several times; originally called the Scholastic Aptitude Test, it was later called the Schol ...
score of 1143, and a high school grade point average of 3.9. The Lutgert College of Business is an
AACSB The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, also known as AACSB International, is an American professional organization. It was founded as the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business in 1916 to provide accreditation to ...
-accredited institution, offering undergraduate degrees in accounting, computer information systems, economics, finance, management, and marketing; and the Small Business Development Center, which offers counseling and other services to regional businesses. The college offers the following graduate degrees: accounting and taxation, computer information systems, and business administration (both traditional and executive). FGCU also added a real estate undergraduate degree, which began in the fall of 2012. FGCU's School of
Entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values t ...
is a nationally ranked and SACSCOC-accredited institution that offers an undergraduate degree in interdisciplinary entrepreneurship studies (
B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...
), entrepreneurship minor, and entrepreneurship
graduate certificate A graduate certificate is an educational credential representing completion of specialized training at the college or university level. A graduate certificate can be awarded by universities upon completion of certain coursework indicating masteri ...
. The School of Entrepreneurship houses the FGCU Institute for Entrepreneurship, which operates all
extracurricular An extracurricular activity (ECA) or extra academic activity (EAA) or cultural activities is an activity, performed by students, that falls outside the realm of the normal curriculum of school, college or university education. Such activities a ...
programs and activities such as the FGCU Runway Program Student and Alumni
Business Incubator Business incubator is an organization that helps startup companies and individual entrepreneurs to develop their businesses by providing a fullscale range of services starting with management training and office space and ending with venture c ...
, Freshman Entrepreneurship Living-Learning Community, and FGCU Veterans Florida Entrepreneurship Program. The Resort and Hospitality Management Department offers several majors, with students getting the opportunity to gain supervised field work experience at one of many resorts and spas in the area. Professional golf management is a unique program with limited access (it's the only remaining Professional Golfers Association–certified program in Florida and one of just 19 in the country), much like the nursing, music and athletic training programs. FGCU also has a unique requirement prior to graduation — University Colloquium: A Sustainable Future. The aim of this colloquium is to educate graduates on the importance of ecology, preservation and sustainability. FGCU also makes service learning a graduation requirement, and students have contributed more than 2.2 million volunteer hours in the community since the university opened in 1997. FGCU's College of Engineering also offers
civil Civil may refer to: *Civic virtue, or civility *Civil action, or lawsuit * Civil affairs *Civil and political rights *Civil disobedience *Civil engineering *Civil (journalism), a platform for independent journalism *Civilian, someone not a membe ...
,
environmental A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...
, bioengineering and
software engineering Software engineering is a systematic engineering approach to software development. A software engineer is a person who applies the principles of software engineering to design, develop, maintain, test, and evaluate computer software. The term '' ...
, the last of which began to phase out the overlapping computer science degree in 2011. Holmes Hall was built to facilitate the engineering programs, along with the Emergent Technologies Institute. FGCU's bachelor's programs in bioengineering, civil engineering, environmental engineering, and software engineering are accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of
ABET The ABET (incorporated as the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Inc.) is a non-governmental organization that accredits post-secondary education programs in applied and natural sciences, computing, engineering and engineering ...
. A Master of Science in engineering (MSE) program began in fall 2017. In 2017, FGCU elevated its honors program to an Honors College, opening in August with almost 900 students.


Research

In 2015–2016, nearly $10 million in funds were granted for research. Research institutes include the Biotechnology Research Group; the Lucas Center for
Real Estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...
; Coastal Watershed Institute; Center for Environmental & Sustainability Education; FGCU Center for Leadership and Innovation; Florida Institute of Government;' Center for Positive Aging; Whitaker Center for Science, Mathematics & Technology Education; Institute for Youth and Justice Studies, and the Regional Economic Research Institute. Since FGCU first opened, the total funds awarded for research has amounted to $204.8 million .


Rankings

For its 2021 rankings of '' U.S. News & World Report'' ranked Florida Gulf Coast #68 overall in Regional Universities South. In the south category, FGCU was also named the #16 Most Innovative School and #66 in Top Performers in Social Mobility. In 2020,
The Princeton Review The Princeton Review is an education services company providing tutoring, test preparation and admission resources for students. It was founded in 1981. and since that time has worked with over 400 million students. Services are delivered by 4,0 ...
ranked FGCU as the 30th best undergraduate entrepreneurship program overall and 1st in
Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
. ''U.S. News ranked'' FGCU as tied for 78th among all regional universities in the southern United States in 2019, and tied for 29th among public ones.


Athletics

FGCU's athletics teams are known as the
Eagles Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, jus ...
. FGCU completed the four-year transition to
NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athletic ...
for all athletics programs in 2011. The Eagles currently compete in the Division I
Atlantic Sun Conference The ASUN Conference, formerly the Atlantic Sun Conference, is a collegiate athletic conference operating mostly in the Southeastern United States. The league participates at the NCAA Division I level, and began sponsoring football at the Div ...
(ASUN), which they joined in 2007. FGCU intercollegiate athletics offers: * Men's and women's golf * Men's and women's tennis * Men's and women's basketball * Women's softball * Men's baseball * Men's and women's cross country * Women's volleyball * Men's and women's soccer * Women's swimming and diving * Women's beach volleyball FGCU is a member of the
National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...
(NCAA) Division I, and a member of the ASUN Conference, as well as the Coastal Collegiate Swimming Association. FGCU plays its men's and women's basketball games at
Alico Arena Alico Arena is a multipurpose arena on the campus of Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, Florida. It is the home of the FGCU Eagles volleyball and Florida Gulf Coast Eagles men's basketball, men's and Florida Gulf Coast Eagles women's bas ...
and its baseball games at Swanson Stadium, with other on-campus facilities including softball and soccer fields, tennis courts and an aquatics complex for intercollegiate competition. The average GPA of a student athlete at FGCU was 3.27 in the spring semester of 2017.


Baseball

The FGCU baseball team has sent several players to professional leagues, including
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
pitchers
Richard Bleier Richard Sidney Bleier (born April 16, 1987) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles and Miami Marlins. In hig ...
who was selected unanimously as the
Atlantic Sun Conference The ASUN Conference, formerly the Atlantic Sun Conference, is a collegiate athletic conference operating mostly in the Southeastern United States. The league participates at the NCAA Division I level, and began sponsoring football at the Div ...
Pitcher of the Year and First Team All Sun Conference, and all-star
Chris Sale Christopher Allen Sale (born March 30, 1989) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in MLB for the Chicago White Sox, with whom he made his major league debut ...
and Kutter Crawford, both of whom played for the 2021 Boston Red Sox. Pitcher
Casey Coleman Kenneth R. "Casey" Coleman Jr. (March 24, 1951 – November 27, 2006) was a sportscaster and radio personality in the Cleveland area for nearly 30 years. Early life Coleman was born in Cleveland in 1951 to legendary play-by-play announcer K ...
was the first Eagle to reach the major leagues, with the 2010 Chicago Cubs. Pitcher Justin Stiver was the first Eagle athlete drafted by a professional team in any sport, selected by the Houston Astros in the 2006 MLB draft.


Basketball

On March 24, 2007, FGCU's women's basketball team ended its 35–1 season with a loss in the Division II National Championship to
Southern Connecticut State University Southern Connecticut State University (Southern Connecticut, Southern Connecticut State, SCSU, or simply Southern) is a public university in New Haven, Connecticut. Part of the Connecticut State University System, it was founded in 1893 and is ...
. One year later, in 2008, the women's basketball team qualified for the WNIT, becoming the first team to qualify for the WNIT in its first season of Division I sports. During the 2008 WNIT Tourney, the team became the first
Atlantic Sun Conference The ASUN Conference, formerly the Atlantic Sun Conference, is a collegiate athletic conference operating mostly in the Southeastern United States. The league participates at the NCAA Division I level, and began sponsoring football at the Div ...
team to win a post-season game since 1998, when
Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in Miami-Dade County. Founded in 1965, the school opened its doors to students in 1972. FIU has grown to become the third-largest university in Florid ...
won in the women's NCAA tourney. The women's team has since won the Atlantic Sun Conference regular-season and/or tournament championship each year since (except for 2010) with annual postseason appearances either in the NCAA Tournament or the WNIT, in which the Eagles finished second nationally in 2016 after losing to South Dakota in the championship game. In 2012, FGCU's first year of full Division I postseason eligibility, the men's team played in the Atlantic Sun Championship final, losing to Belmont. In
2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...
, the team won the Atlantic Sun championship, beating top-seeded Mercer in the conference tournament final earning the automatic invitation to the
2013 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The 2013 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament was a single-elimination tournament that involved 68 teams playing to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 19, 2013, and concluded wit ...
. In its first-ever tournament appearance, the No. 15 seeded Eagles upset the No. 2 seeded
Georgetown Hoyas The Georgetown Hoyas are the collegiate athletics teams that officially represent Georgetown University, located in Washington, D.C. Georgetown's athletics department fields 23 men's and women's varsity level teams and competes at the National ...
in the first round of the tournament and the No. 7 seeded
San Diego State Aztecs The San Diego State Aztecs are the athletic teams that represent San Diego State University (SDSU). San Diego State currently sponsors six men's and eleven women's sports at the varsity level. The Aztecs compete in NCAA Division I ( FBS for foo ...
in the second round. The Eagles became the seventh No. 15 seed to advance to the round of 32 and the first to advance to the Sweet 16. The Eagles went on to win two more ASUN Conference championships in 2016 and 2017.


Student life


Residence life

On-campus housing is made up of three sections: North Lake Village, South Village and West Lake Village. North Lake Village is located on an 80-acre lake and features apartment-style residence halls with waterfront recreation. West Lake Village was previously owned by American Campus Communities and formerly called College Club Apartments. Housing 501 students, it was bought by the university for $17 million and the apartments officially became part of FGCU Housing and Residence Life in October 2010. Themed housing is available, such as Honors and Wellness communities. South Village (SoVi) is composed of suite-style residence halls with five buildings: Everglades Hall, Biscayne Hall, Palmetto Hall, Osprey Hall and Eagle Hall, housing a total of more than 1,720 first-year students. In the summer of 2013, South Village opened the SoVi Pool, a resort-style pool featuring a "beach-entry" and built-in pool volleyball court. FGCU enhanced the North Lake Village complex in 2017 by opening a new lakefront boardwalk and dining facility. In total, there are annually more than 3,200 students living in both North Lake Village and SoVi. Freshmen are not required to live on campus; however, on-campus housing is usually filled to capacity every year. Individual halls sponsor their own activities and socials, and leadership positions are available in the Resident Hall Association. A commonly used form of transportation on campus is called the Eagle Express. This shuttle operates daily, taking students from their residence halls to classes and activities around campus.


Greek life

Florida Gulf Coast University has 28 fraternity and sorority chapters on campus. Greek life is governed by the Panhellenic Council, the Interfraternity Council, National PanHellenic Council and the Multicultural Greek Council. There is no separate Greek housing on campus.


Campus recreation

The official Campus Recreation department organizes several day and overnight trips annually, including rock climbing, skydiving, white-water rafting, sea kayaking and more. There are also 27 official sports clubs on campus, many of which engage in intercollegiate competition with their peers.


Student organizations

There are more than 250 Registered Student Organizations at FGCU, including Student Government, which appropriates funding for many of them.


Media

The university has operated
public broadcasting Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...
stations WGCU television and
WGCU-FM WGCU-FM (90.1 FM) is an NPR-member radio station. Licensed to Fort Myers, Florida, United States, the station is owned by Florida Gulf Coast University. WGCU also operates WMKO 91.7, a full-time satellite station licensed to Marco Island to ser ...
since 1996, when the license was transferred from the
University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF i ...
in Tampa. WGCU is a
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
member while WGCU-FM is an
NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
member and broadcasts news, talk, and jazz. FGCU 360 Now is a website that features university news and complements the official university periodical, ''FGCU 360 Magazine'', which was rebranded in 2016 after originally publishing as Pinnacle. ''Eagle Media'' is the university's official, independent student media group. Originally founded in 1997 as "''The Eagle''" newspaper, the media group now publishes a weekly newspaper, a website that's updated daily and TV/radio programming when classes are in session. In 2017, the Student Media Advisory Board recognized ''Eagle News'', ENTV and Eagle Radio jointly as Eagle Media, FGCU's only student-led media program.


Notable alumni

*
Eli Abaev Eli Abaev (Hebrew: אלי אבייב; born December 13, 1998) is an American-Israeli basketball player who last played for Hapoel Be'er Sheva in the Israeli Basketball Premier League, at the power forward and center positions. He played colleg ...
(born 1998), professional basketball player *
Jacob Barnes Jacob Andrew Barnes (born April 14, 1990) is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Texas Rangers organization. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee Brewers, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels, Ne ...
, professional baseball player *
Richard Bleier Richard Sidney Bleier (born April 16, 1987) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles and Miami Marlins. In hig ...
(born 1987), professional baseball player * Sherwood Brown, professional basketball player *
Matt Caldwell Matthew H. Caldwell (born August 12, 1981) is an American Republican politician and a former member of the Florida House of Representatives, representing the 79th District, which includes northern Lee County, stretching from Lehigh Acres to N ...
,
Florida state representative The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida Senate being the upper house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopted ...
*
Don Carman Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name *Don, Benin, a town in Benin *Don, Dang, a vill ...
, professional baseball player *
Ross Chastain Ross Lee Chastain (born December 4, 1992) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series driving the No. 1 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Trackhouse Racing Team. He is the older brother of NASCAR Ca ...
, professional racecar driver *
Casey Coleman Kenneth R. "Casey" Coleman Jr. (March 24, 1951 – November 27, 2006) was a sportscaster and radio personality in the Cleveland area for nearly 30 years. Early life Coleman was born in Cleveland in 1951 to legendary play-by-play announcer K ...
, professional baseball player * Kutter Crawford, professional baseball player *
Dane Eagle Dane Eagle (born May 22, 1983) is an American politician from Florida. A Republican, Eagle was appointed by Governor Ron DeSantis as Secretary of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity in September 2020. Eagle was a member of the Florida ...
, Florida state representative * Tiffany Esposito, Florida state representative *
Chase Fieler Chase Fieler (born June 10, 1992) is an American basketball player for the Saga Ballooners of the Japanese B.League. Fieler usually plays at the power forward position. College career Fieler played for Florida Gulf Coast University from 2010 to ...
, professional basketball player * Brandon Goodwin, professional basketball player *
Courtney Jolly Courtney Jolly (born September 18, 1986) is an American former professional monster truck driver who drove Pastrana 199 on the USHRA Monster Jam circuit. Career Courtney Jolly, a former beauty queen, comes from a family which is heavily invol ...
, professional
monster truck A monster truck is a specialized off-road vehicle with a heavy duty suspension, four-wheel steering, large-displacement V8 engines and oversized tires constructed for competition and entertainment uses. Originally created by modifying stock p ...
driver * Derek Lamely, professional golfer * Priscila Navarro, concert pianist * Spencer Roach, Florida state representative *
Chris Sale Christopher Allen Sale (born March 30, 1989) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in MLB for the Chicago White Sox, with whom he made his major league debut ...
, professional baseball player


See also

*
Hertz Arena Hertz Arena is a 7,181-seat multi-purpose arena in Estero, Florida, which is located between Miromar Lakes, Florida and Bonita Springs, Florida. The arena opened in November 1998 and serves as the home of the Florida Everblades of the ECHL. His ...
, facility south; home to FGCU's
ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...
clubs *
List of Florida Gulf Coast University people This list of Florida Gulf Coast University alumni includes current students, former students, and graduates of the Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, Florida. Athletics * Eli Abaev (born 1998): professional basketball player * Ki ...


Notes


References


External links

*
Florida Gulf Coast Athletics website
{{Authority control Gulf Coast University
Florida Gulf Coast University Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) is a public university in Lee County, Florida. It is part of the State University System of Florida and is its second youngest member. The university was established on May 3, 1991, and is accredited by the ...
Education in Fort Myers, Florida Buildings and structures in Fort Myers, Florida Educational institutions established in 1991 1991 establishments in Florida Universities and colleges accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Tourist attractions in Fort Myers, Florida