The University of South Florida St. Petersburg is pulling out all the stops for its upcoming 50th anniversary block party.
The Sept. 12 on-campus festivities will go from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and include food, entertainment, the Saturday morning market, a Rowdies soccer clinic, a watch party for the USF/FSU football game, a Kids Zone, and 3 Daughters Brewing’s new USFSP 50th anniversary beer.
Groups representing the university’s student affairs office, its student government, and its campus recreation center will be among the block party participants.
The event will also feature St. Pete Mayor Rick Kriseman unveiling the soon-to-be-co-named University Way, now known as Second Street South.
“This is truly exciting,” USFSP Regional Chancellor Sophia Wisniewska said. “The street becomes a physical reminder of the tremendous synergies between the city of St. Petersburg and the university.”
The block party will represent the first of over 50 university-hosted public events happening during this new academic year, all of which will be in commemoration of USFSP’s 50th anniversary.
“This anniversary provides a wonderful opportunity for us to look back and celebrate our accomplishments and community partnerships over the years,” Wisniewska said. “It also serves as an opportunity to look ahead and imagine how much more we can become.”
Founded in 1965, as the USF Bayboro Campus, it wasn’t until 2006 that USFSP earned separate accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Today the university offers 37 undergraduate and graduate programs to a student population of about 6,000 per semester.
Block party sponsors include the Tampa Bay Rowdies, the Tampa Bay Times, Wells Fargo, WUSF, St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership, Suskey Consulting, LLC, and LEMA Construction.
For information about the USF St. Pete 50th anniversary celebration, visit usfsp.edu/50years
