Apopka seeks new FAMU campus
Apopka hopes to persuade Florida A&M University to build a satellite campus in the near future on the city’s west side.
“This is an Apopka initiative,” City Commissioner Alexander Smith said of a proposed memorandum of understanding with FAMU, the only public, historically black university in Florida.
The City Council likely will discuss the memorandum at their meeting Wednesday.
Smith, a 1977 graduate of FAMU, said Apopka is poised to donate valuable, city-owned land near State Road 429 to show the university “we’re serious” about wanting a satellite
campus.
He said a community group also has pledged to raise $25 million for the project.
The university’s five-year strategic plan set goals to boost enrollment, improve four-year graduation rates and increase fundraising but doesn’t mention plans for a new campus, which would need the approval of FAMU’s board of trustees as well as the Board of Governors, which oversees the state university system, and the Legislature — all tall hurdles. The university didn’t comment on the Apopka proposal.
Based in Tallahassee, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University also operates several branch campuses in Florida, including a law school in downtown Orlando and pharmacology colleges in Tampa, Jacksonville and Miami.
Smith said he was inspired to pursue his alma mater after examining the “Grow Apopka 2025 Vision Plan,” the city’s longterm growth blueprint, published in 2015 before he was elected.
The plan, drafted with input from residents who filled out surveys or attended visioning sessions, calls for “establishing an educational district/college campus near the new hospital area…”
AdventHealth opened a sevenstory, 120-bed hospital on OcoeeApopka Road in December 2017 under its former name, Florida Hospital.
Located east of the toll road, the $203-million hospital is reshaping Apopka’s west side, luring medical offices and new neighborhoods to what had been empty fields.
AdventHealth also owns 22 acres immediately south of its hospital and another 14 acres nearby, sites that could be developed into medical offices, a wellness center or education facilities.
According to the as-yet unsigned memorandum of understanding, the FAMU branch would be developed in two phases, the first of which calls for a $73-million education building. Phase II would include construction of a $22 million student services/administration building; a $23 million agricultural sciences building; and a $28 million nursing/allied health building.
The second phase would expand academic offerings in health care and STEM education, shorthand for science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Smith said the convenience of a campus nearby would improve opportunities for Apopkans.
The document doesn’t lay out a specific timeline, although the memorandum of understanding is good for two years from the signing date.
Smith said he envisions the campus as a future magnet for high-tech businesses and a place that produces teachers and nurses.
He hoped the campus also could somehow complement ecotourism, a pillar of the city’s future plans for Lake Apopka, which is considered a must-see for birding enthusiasts.
Established in 1887, FAMU boasts an enrollment of about 9,600 students and offers 54 bachelor’s degree programs, 29 master’s degree programs and 12 doctoral programs.
Though its alumni include sports stars, rappers and a famous surgeon, FAMU may be best known for its world famous band, the Marching 100.
The high-stepping band has performed at presidential inaugurations, the Grammys and the Super Bowl.
But infamously, a 2011 hazing incident aboard a parked bus at the Rosen Plaza Hotel in Orlando caused the death of drum major Robert Champion, 26.
More than a dozen members accused of participating in the ritual were charged with felony hazing. Several received jail sentences.
The fatal hazing occurred after the band performed during halftime of the Florida Classic, the annual football game in Orlando between FAMU and traditional rival Bethune-Cookman University.