The University of West Florida (West Florida or UWF) is a

public university A public university or public college is a university or college that is in owned by the state or receives significant public funds through a national or subnational government, as opposed to a private university. Whether a national universi ...

Pensacola, Florida Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal c ...

. Established in 1963 as part of the

State University System of Florida The State University System of Florida (SUSF or SUS) is a system of twelve public universities in the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2018, over 341,000 students were enrolled in Florida's state universities. Together with the Florida College Syst ...

, the university sits on the third largest campus in the State University System, at . The university's mascot is Argie the Argonaut and its logo is the

chambered nautilus The chambered nautilus (''Nautilus pompilius''), also called the pearly nautilus, is the best-known species of nautilus. The shell, when cut away, reveals a lining of lustrous nacre and displays a nearly perfect equiangular spiral, although it ...

History

In 1962, the Florida Legislature authorized the State Board of Education to locate a state university in Escambia County. Harold Crosby was appointed the first president in July 1964. UWF became the sixth institution of the

, which today consists of twelve public universities. Ground was broken on April 16, 1965, and in the same year the

was adopted as the official UWF emblem. UWF was originally an upper-level institution, enrolling juniors, seniors and graduate students. The first students began classes in the fall of 1967, and in June 1968, 58 students received degrees in the first commencement ceremony. In 1969, the

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) is an educational accreditor recognized by the United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. This agency accredits over 13,000 public and priv ...

accredited the university undergraduate programs, and the first master's degree programs were established. In July 1979, the university organized into a more traditional structure by establishing three colleges: Arts and Sciences, Business, and Education. In 1999, the colleges reorganized into the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Business and the College of Professional Studies. In Aug. 2012, the former three-college structure transitioned into four academic colleges: College of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities; College of Education and Professional Studies; College of Science, Engineering and Health; and the College of Business. The most recent reorganization took place in 2015, splitting the former College of Science, Engineering and Health in two. Today, the university has five colleges: College of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities; College of Business; College of Education and Professional Studies; Hal Marcus College of Science and Engineering; and Usha Kundu, MD College of Health.

Chambered Nautilus

Harold Crosby, the university's first president, selected the chambered nautilus to represent UWF because he was inspired by the poem "The Chambered Nautilus" by Oliver Wendell Holmes; it is "a symbol of growth, change and accomplishment."

Administration, academics and organization

The University of West Florida is a public institution, receiving most of its funding through state funds and tuition. A 13-member Board of Trustees governs the university. The board is composed of six members appointed by the Governor of Florida, five appointed by the Board of Governors, the Faculty Senate president and the president of the Student Government Association. The undergraduate and graduate programs are divided into five Colleges: College of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities; College of Business; College of Education and Professional Studies; Hal Marcus College of Science and Engineering; and Usha Kundu, MD College of Health. The University of West Florida is composed of four divisions which manage the operations of the institution as well as its direct support organizations: Academic Affairs; Academic Engagement and Student Affairs; Finance and Administration; and University Advancement.

Campuses

Pensacola campus

The main campus of 1,600 acres (6.5 km2) of rolling hills and natural woodland along the Escambia River is ten miles (16 km) north of downtown Pensacola, in the Ferry Pass area. Its facilities have been designed to complement the natural forest and waterways. UWF's John C. Pace Library is the largest library in the Northwest Florida area. In addition to the main library on the main campus north of

, there is a branch library in

Fort Walton Beach, Florida Fort Walton Beach is a city in southern Okaloosa County, Florida. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 20,922, up from 19,507 in 2010. It is the principal city of the Fort Walton Beach− Crestview− Destin Metropolitan Statistical Are ...

. It has 628,000 printed volumes, 1 million

microfilm Microforms are scaled-down reproductions of documents, typically either films or paper, made for the purposes of transmission, storage, reading, and printing. Microform images are commonly reduced to about 4% or of the original document size. ...

s and microfiches, 3,000 serial subscriptions and nearly 2,000 online journal subscriptions. UWF has a second location, UWF on the Emerald Coast, in Fort Walton Beach, Florida.

Historic Pensacola Village

In 2001, the university acquired West Florida Historic Preservation, Inc, the previously state-controlled group that manages the Historic Pensacola Village. The university has created several classes taught by and/or in conjunction with the staff at Historic Pensacola.

UWF Historic Trust

The UWF Historic Trust collects, preserves and interprets the history of northwest Florida.

Arcadia Mill Complex

The Arcadia Mill complex is on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

. It was the first industrial complex powered by water in Florida. It included shops, mills, a railroad drawn by mules and a 16-mile log flume. It operated from 1817 to 1855. It is curated by the University of West Florida.

Student life

Currently, UWF enrolls more than 12,500 students between undergraduate and graduate programs across its colleges. UWF has conferred more than 100,000 associate, bachelor's, master's, specialist and doctoral degrees. UWF hosts many opportunities for involvement through student clubs and organizations. Registered student organizations, administered by Student Involvement, include academic clubs, Greek organizations, professional and honor societies, religious organizations and special interest groups. Additionally, UWF owns property on Pensacola Beach, frequently used by students for research and recreation. UWF also offers numerous on-campus mountain bike trails to students free of charge, in addition to a wide variety of recreational activities.

Housing

UWF offers traditional residence halls, small community residence halls and university-owned apartment complexes. The university also offers living learning communities, which provide signature programming and academic support to residents.

Greek life

''The following Greek letter organizations are recognized at UWF:'' *

North American Interfraternity Conference The North American Interfraternity Conference (or NIC; formerly known as the National Interfraternity Conference) is an association of intercollegiate men's social fraternities that was formally organized in 1910, although it began at a meeting ...

fraternities **

Alpha Tau Omega Alpha Tau Omega (), commonly known as ATO, is an American social fraternity founded at the Virginia Military Institute in 1865 by Otis Allan Glazebrook. The fraternity has around 250 active and inactive chapters and colonies in the United Stat ...

(ΑΤΩ) **

Pi Kappa Alpha Pi Kappa Alpha (), commonly known as PIKE, is a college fraternity founded at the University of Virginia in 1868. The fraternity has over 225 chapters and colonies across the United States and abroad with over 15,500 undergraduate members over 3 ...

(ΠΚΑ) **

Sigma Alpha Epsilon Sigma Alpha Epsilon (), commonly known as SAE, is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity. It was founded at the University of Alabama on March 9, 1856. Of all existing national social fraternities today, Sigma Alpha Epsilon is t ...

(ΣΑΕ) ** Sigma Alpha Mu (ΣΑΜ) **

Sigma Chi Sigma Chi () International Fraternity is one of the largest North American fraternal literary societies. The fraternity has 244 active (undergraduate) chapters and 152 alumni chapters across the United States and Canada and has initiated more t ...

(ΣΧ) *

National Panhellenic Conference The National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) is an umbrella organization for 26 (inter)national women's sororities throughout the United States and Canada. Each member group is autonomous as a social, Greek-letter society of college women and alum ...

sororities ** Alpha Gamma Delta (ΑΓΔ) ** Alpha Delta Pi (ΑΔΠ) ** Alpha Chi Omega (ΑΧΩ) ** Kappa Delta (ΚΔ) *

National Pan-Hellenic Council The National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) is a collaborative umbrella council composed of historically African American fraternities and sororities also referred to as Black Greek Letter Organizations (BGLOs). The NPHC was formed as a permanent ...

fraternities and sororities **

Alpha Phi Alpha Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. () is the oldest intercollegiate historically African American fraternity. It was initially a literary and social studies club organized in the 1905–1906 school year at Cornell University but later evolved in ...

(ΑΦΑ) **

Alpha Kappa Alpha Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. () is the first intercollegiate historically African American sorority. The sorority was founded on January 15, 1908, at the historically black Howard University in Washington, D.C., by a group of sixteen s ...

(AKA) **

Delta Sigma Theta Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. () is a List of African-American fraternities, historically African American Fraternities and sororities, sorority. The organization was founded by college-educated women dedicated to public service with an emph ...

(ΔΣΘ) **

Kappa Alpha Psi Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African American fraternity. Since the fraternity's founding on January 5, 1911 at Indiana University Bloomington, the fraternity has never restricted membership on the basis of color, cree ...

(ΚΑΨ) **

Omega Psi Phi Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African-American fraternity. The fraternity was founded on November 17, 1911, by three Howard University juniors Edgar Amos Love, Oscar James Cooper and Frank Coleman, and their faculty a ...

(ΩΨΦ) **

Phi Beta Sigma Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. () is a List of African-American fraternities, historically African American Fraternities and sororities, fraternity. It was founded at Howard University in Washington, D.C. on January 9, 1914, by three young Afr ...

(ΦΒΣ) **

Sigma Gamma Rho Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. () is a historically African American sorority, international collegiate, and non-profit community service organization that was founded on November 12, 1922, by seven educators on the Irvington campus (1875– ...

(ΣΓΡ)) **

Zeta Phi Beta Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. () is a historically African American sorority. In 1920, five women from Howard University envisioned a sorority that would raise the consciousness of their people, encourage the highest standards of scholastic ach ...

(ΖΦΒ) *Multicultural organizations ** Omega Delta Phi (ΩΔΦ) **Delta Phi Lambda (ΔΦΛ) **

Kappa Delta Chi Kappa Delta Chi Sorority, Inc. (), also known as K-D Chi (pronounced Kay-Dee-Kie) is a Greek letter, intercollegiate Latina founded sorority in the United States. KDChi is a 501(c)(7) organization that prides itself on graduating all of its membe ...

(ΚΔΧ) *

Professional Fraternity Association The Professional Fraternity Association (PFA) is an American association of national, collegiate, professional fraternities and sororities that was formed in . Since PFA groups are discipline-specific, members join while pursuing graduate (law, m ...

fraternities **

Delta Sigma Pi Delta Sigma Pi () (officially the International Fraternity of Delta Sigma Pi, Inc.) is a Mixed-sex education, coeducational Professional fraternities and sororities, professional business Fraternities and sororities, fraternity and one of the l ...

(ΔΣΠ) *National honor societies ** Gamma Theta Upsilon (ΓΘΥ) **

Psi Chi Psi Chi () is a college student honor society in psychology with international outreach founded in 1929 at the University of Kansas in the United States. Psi Chi is one of the largest honor societies in the United States, with more than 1,150 cha ...

(ΨΧ) **

Sigma Alpha Pi Sigma (; uppercase Σ, lowercase σ, lowercase in word-final position ς; grc-gre, σίγμα) is the eighteenth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 200. In general mathematics, uppercase Σ is used a ...

(ΣΑΠ)

Transportation

UWF offers a trolley service and public bicycles around campus known as "yellow bikes". There is parking for all visitors, students and employees. The Escambia County Area Transit bus system also offers students a discount rate.

Athletics

West Florida athletic teams are the Argonauts. The university is a member of the Division II level 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), primarily competing in the

Gulf South Conference The Gulf South Conference (GSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the Southeastern United States. History Originally known as the M ...

(GSC) since the 1994–95 academic year. The Argonauts previously competed in the

Southern States Conference The Southern States Conference (SSC) was an affiliate of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics that included member institutions in the U.S. states of Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and Florida. The league existed from 1938 to 1 ...

of the

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to its stu ...

(NAIA) from 1974–75 to 1993–94, with a brief hiatus of dropping its athletics program from 1976–77 to 1979–80. West Florida competes in 15 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer and tennis; while women's sports include basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis and volleyball.

Accomplishments

UWF's athletic program has won ten national championships, with the most recent being football in the 2019 NCAA Division II Football Championship; as well as winning a women's tennis GSC championship for the 19th time, making that its 100th conference championship in school history.

Football

In 2015, the university welcomed its first football team on campus and held intra-team scrimmages throughout the fall. In 2016, UWF hosted its inaugural season, kicking off with a 45–0 win against

Ave Maria University Ave Maria University (AMU) is a private Roman Catholic university in Ave Maria, Florida. It shares its history with the former Ave Maria College in Ypsilanti, Michigan, which was founded in 1998 and moved its campus in 2007. The two schools ...

. In 2017, the football program qualified for the NCAA Division II playoffs in just its second season. The team reached the championship game, losing to

Texas A&M-Commerce Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by bo ...

, 37–27, in just the 26th game in school history. In 2019, UWF's football program won the NCAA Division II national championship in its fourth season, winning against

Minnesota State University Minnesota State University, Mankato (MNSU, MSU, or Minnesota State) is a public university in Mankato, Minnesota, United States. It is Minnesota's second-largest university and has over 123,000 living alumni worldwide. Founded in 1868, it is t ...

, 48–40.

Notable people

Image gallery

File:Pensacola_HD_Julee03.jpg, Julee Cottage, 1805 File:Pensacola_HD_Tivoli02.jpg, Tivoli House, 1805 File:Pensacola Dorr House01.jpg, Clara Barkley Dorr House, 1871, residence of UWF president File:Pensacola_HD_Lear-Rocheblave01.jpg, Lear Rocheblave House, 1890 File:Pensacola_Old_Christ_Church03.jpg, Old Christ Church, cir. 1835; corporate charter as an act of the

Florida Territorial Legislative Council The Legislative Council of the Territory of Florida, often referred to as the Florida Territorial Council or Florida Territorial Legislative Council, was the legislative body governing the American territory of Florida ( Florida Territory) before s ...