Best of
Florida Schools 2003
General Categories—Page
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Best Veterans
Counselor
Seminole CC’s Real G.I. Joe
College offices all look pretty much the same, right? Desk, chair, maybe a
diploma on the wall or plant in the corner. Not if you’re G.I. Joe.
At Seminole Community College, Veterans Affairs Counselor Joe Saunders doesn’t just have a heart for students. He’s also someone who’s been in their boots—combat boots, that is. And from his name and 30 years of Army service, Saunders earned the nickname “G.I. Joe” from family and friends, a name that’s affected his office décor to the extreme.
From the minute students walk in, they know they’re not in the dual enrollment or displaced-homemakers office. Floor to ceiling, the office is covered in G.I. Joe toys, lunchboxes, and vehicles. “My favorite is the figure of the Golden Knight because I served as one,” Saunders says. Interspersed among the toys are Saunders’ own photographs from two tours of duty in Vietnam and seven years in the Golden Knights U.S. Army Parachute Demonstration Team. He’s displayed the flags of all four branches of the military plus the American flag proudly displayed in one corner, and his medals hang on the wall in a shadow box. “Students walk in my office, and I don’t even have to tell them I’m a veteran,” Saunders says. “It’s a bond there right away.”
The G.I. Joe figures make a nice conversation starter, but more than anything, vets relax when they know they share common experience with the man behind the desk. “When they come in, they look at everything first and want to talk about it,” he says. “I guess it impresses them.”
Right now Saunders’ experience helps students more than ever. “We got a couple dozen already gone, got orders to leave for Afghanistan, so I’ll be taking their paperwork through for them and make sure they’re not penalized for getting active-duty orders,” he says. “It’s sad because I know what they’re going through. When I went, my wife didn’t have a driver’s license. We had four little kids, and I had to go. I know. I’m going to help them all I can.”
Contact Saunders at saunderj@scc-fl.edu.
Best
Marching Band
B-CC
Marches to the Big Screen
If you asked marching band members from
Bethune-Cookman College what their school has that others don’t, the big
screen comes to mind. Last spring, B-CC’s Marching Wildcats Band, also known
as “The Pride,” was busy filming the movie Drumline as one of the
black collegiate bands playing itself at a fictional battle of the bands.
Band members performed as extras and earned $120 each for just four minutes
of screen time.
“Pride” fans of the band don’t have to wait for a half time show or a special on the Black Entertainment Network to hear the band play. The Pride is featured on the movie’s soundtrack in a selection written by R&B artists Dallas Austin and Trick Daddy, with vocals by Trick Daddy, Deuce Poppi, Tre+6, and Unda Presha.
“The students were very excited about being in a major motion picture, but what made it even more special was being a part of the first movie about black collegiate marching bands,” says Donovan Wells, band director. “The next thing will be television commercials, television shows, music videos, music award shows, and securing sponsorships of equipment from instrument and uniform companies as advertisements.”
The band has performed at events such as the Lou Rawls-UNCF Parade of Stars Telethon, NFL halftime shows, gubernatorial inaugurations, and national television shows for BET. The Marching Wildcats also are the official band for the opening ceremonies at the Daytona 500 NASCAR race. —AS
Contact Wells at wellsd@cookman.edu.
Best Town
Hall Meeting
ERAU
Grills Administrators
Ever wonder what lurks in the minds of college or university administrators?
If you’re not too scared to delve into their inner workings, take a trip to
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University when the Student Government
Association holds its annual “University Town Hall” meetings. Students can
grill the school’s officials in an open-forum session on any and all campus
issues from parking problems, to tuition increases, to budget allocation.
A panel of eight administrators, plus the SGA president, faces the lunchtime cafeteria crowd of nearly 1,000 students and addresses any of their concerns. A moderator walks throughout the room with a microphone so students can pose their questions. “The Town Hall meeting is important because it’s the one forum where SGA can provide help to many students at one time and bring the administration community closer to students,” says Shaun Guevarra, SGA president.
The meeting begins with the administrators giving an update of relevant issues on campus. This year, ERAU has held several other forums in addition to the Town Hall meeting to address specific concerns of the students such as recent tuition increase. “The administration is very customer-service oriented,” says Kelly Austin, SGA advisor. “They want the students to know that they care.” —JL
Contact Austin at kelly.austin@erau.edu or Guevarra at sgapres@erau.edu.
Best College
Holiday
MDCC’s InterAmerican Pride
When you think of cultural celebrations in South Florida, Cinco de Mayo and
other international festivities immediately come to mind. Last Fourth of
July, however, the InterAmerican Campus at Miami-Dade Community
College emphasized the American in its name by kicking off its
first-ever Independence Day celebration.
Student Government promoted the event in the hopes of reducing the community’s apathy toward the ol’ Stars-and-Stripes holiday. “Since we come from such a Hispanic community, not a lot of people celebrate for the Fourth of July,” says Jhonathan Taveras, coordinator of public relations for SG. “They may set off a few fireworks or have a little barbecue in the back yard, but it’s not really their thing.”
At the celebration, M-DCC jumped at the opportunity to display its American spirit. Piles of red, white, and blue pins and miniature American flags were snapped up as 500 students and community members joined the celebration. “Many of our older students brought their kids by,” Taveras says. “We gave out finger sandwiches and candy and sang a lot of ‘Uncle Sam’ songs.”
SG plans to keep the event going as a means of uniting the community. “We plan on getting a lot more things. We ran out of flags this year. Everyone wanted those American flags,” Taveras says. —AT
Contact Taveras at lordjhonathan@yahoo.com.
Best Service Project
Southeastern Students Clean Up
Is that Tarzan? No. Swampman? No. Southeastern students? Yes. This
year, incoming freshmen and transfer students at Southeastern College
climbed trees and waded through swamps for “Great Air-Potato Round-up,”
a community service project designed not just to clean up Lakeland’s Lake
Bonny Park but to bring new students together. The inedible potato-like”tuber”
is a parasitic weed that was overgrowing at the lake.
After being organized into “Growth Groups,” which give new students spiritual and emotional support, students met at one of the residence halls for their first project. “They knew only that they were going to do a community service project,” says Duane Aagaard, activities director. “Through the project they were embarking on more than just cleaning up the community, it gave them a chance to meet people and build relationships.”
Throughout the day, students filled 500 trash bags with the pesky weed, and the freshman class of 450 had a chance to unite.
Contact Aagaard at daagaard@secollege.edu.
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