Dedication of Jim and Alexis Pugh Hall - February 9, 2008
Hello!
The University of Florida is one of the nation's most diverse research universities. Whether it is in the sciences or the humanities, we all rely on the bedrock principle of free, open and unrestrained exchanges of ideas. That is what sets us apart from commercial, private and partisan institutions. It is what allows our creativity to flourish. And, it is the essence of Pugh Hall.
We are gathered today in the Ocora, which means "place of assembly" in the language of Florida's native Timucuan Indians. This unique name fits this room, which is unlike any other on campus.
On most days, the Ocora serves as a reading and conversation hub for students, complete with its own cafe. But, when we have a visiting speaker, he or she will address crowds gathered not only here on the ground floor, but also in small pods arrayed along the twin stairwells, and on the balcony overhead.
Part auditorium, part amphitheatre, this Ocora is most precisely...a forum. Amid these elegant, oak-paneled surroundings, this room will give as many as 400 people and a speaker the opportunity for deep conversations.
We modeled the Ocora on Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, but we also improved on that building. With a pending installation of the state-of-the-art sound system, the Ocora is both a classic and a thoroughly modern venue for the exchange of ideas.
The other major elements of this building reinforce that purpose. Up one floor is the Graham Center for Public Service, named, of course, after two-term Florida governor and three-term senator, Bob Graham, who is here with us today.
The Graham Center is special, and it will have its own dedication later this spring. But, for now, I note that the Graham center is devoted to cultivating future leaders of this country, people in the same mold as Senator Graham. It's no accident that these future leaders will be immersed in the din of speeches, discussions and debates that will occur here.
On the west side of Pugh's second floor is the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program, dedicated to preserving eyewitness accounts of Florida history and the South. This program adds the voices of our past to discussions of the present.
On the third floor, visitors will find the Department of African and Asian Languages and Literatures. The relocation of this department means that all of UF's language studies are based either in Pugh or neighboring Dauer Hall. Here in this very historic, very small region of the UF campus, our dialogue is modern and global.
There is much more to these 40,000-square feet, including a large classroom, a 230-seat teaching auditorium and a gorgeous light-filled reading room. Central to each and all are learning, conversation and civil engagement over ideas.
Let me turn now to the couple who made all of this possible, Jim and Alexis Pugh.
I am proud to say that Jim is a Gator who earned his bachelor's degree in building construction from UF in 1963. He was a U.S. Army Airborne ranger and commander of a Special Forces unit. Since 1970, he has owned Epoch Properties, a property development company that builds extensive residential communities around the nation.
Alexis is a 30-year veteran of advertising and public relations and the owner of Lakeshore Advertising Consultants in Orlando.
The Pughs have not only been great friends of the University of Florida, they are also active philanthropists in many other important public causes, including leading the drive to create the Orlando Performing Arts Center.
Jim and Alexis are highly successful and generous people. But, they are also warm and down-to-earth. Everyone who has been involved in this building will tell you how much they enjoyed working with the both of them. In his welcome, Dean Glover mentioned Jim Miller, who has overseen all the day-to-day aspects of this building's construction. Jim remembered recently that he and Jim Pugh got along great after they learned of each other's passion for climbing mountains. Jim Pugh is just that kind of man: His interest in and affection for others comes through immediately.
When Jim was an undergraduate here, he befriended a fellow Sigma Nu fraternity brother, Bob Graham. Nearly a half century later, that friendship helped to make this building happen. Jim will speak later in this ceremony, and I'll leave it to him to tell the rest of the story behind this wonderful gift.
But, I want to close with my own little anecdote about Jim. Once at a fundraising event at Jim's house in Orlando, I asked him what the University of Florida had done for him. He said, and I quote, "if it wasn't for UF, I would probably be pumping gas in downtown Orlando." I personally doubt that would be true, but I am glad that his experience at UF helped Jim fulfill his dreams.
With this unique and important building, he and Alexis are certainly fulfilling ours.
Thank you.
Bernie Machen