The Purposes of the University: Selected Speeches

A selection of speeches from UF's 11th president Bernie Machen, offering insights on public higher education and its challenges and changes



"Write your own story. Find the strength, whatever your hardships, to tell the powerful story within each of you. Write the best stories you can for your families, your communities, and your country. Live the biographies everyone will read."—Remarks to Palm Beach County’s most accomplished graduating seniors at the Scholastic Achievement Foundation of Palm Beach County

"We injure our humanity in discriminating against others, and we deny ourselves the richness of experience on this earth. We cannot be the nation we want to be, or the university we want to be, without everyone participating in equal measure."—Remarks at a reception for Federal Judge Stephan P. Mickle, the first black student to earn an undergraduate degree from UF

"Science is far from perfect, but it’s all we have. When you shine a light on scientists and their work, revealing both the strengths and the flaws, you beat back the darkness and denial that offer no future."—Remarks to the National Association of Science Writers



The modern university is a beacon for students, a home for scholars, a hub of culture in the community, an engine of discovery, an economic force—a place of many purposes, all facing change or reinvention. This selection of speeches from University of Florida's 11th president Bernie Machen, with executive speechwriter Aaron Hoover, offers insights on public higher education and its challenges from the helm of one of the largest land-grant universities in the country.



The Purposes of the University sheds light on many upheavals within academia. Machen defended against legislative pressures and criticism of the liberal arts and sciences, cemented the university's bonds with donors as public funding crumbled, worked to maintain student diversity post-affirmative action, sought to define innovation as a central mission, led a major turn toward sustainability, and forged new educational models online and on campus.



The speeches in this volume also highlight milestones and key moments at UF, from the expansion of the campus to mediation of town-gown relations to the launch of research projects all over the world. They offer candid portraits of the life and people of the university and its hometown of Gainesville, celebrating iconic figures like Gatorade inventor Robert Cade and campus personalities such as UF's longest-serving employee, Betty Jones. And they include reflections on university life: tributes to the first black students, the history of the marching band, the trees of the historic campus, and the legacy of student veterans who enrolled after returning from the nation's wars.

Perhaps the most traditional public role for university presidents is to encourage and help students. In his speeches—at commencements, convocations, and other events across the state—Machen aimed to inspire and to celebrate young people and their passion. On topics both weighty and whimsical, his perspective combines openness to change with full faith in the university and its many purposes.

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The Purposes of the University: Selected Speeches

A selection of speeches from UF's 11th president Bernie Machen, offering insights on public higher education and its challenges and changes



"Write your own story. Find the strength, whatever your hardships, to tell the powerful story within each of you. Write the best stories you can for your families, your communities, and your country. Live the biographies everyone will read."—Remarks to Palm Beach County’s most accomplished graduating seniors at the Scholastic Achievement Foundation of Palm Beach County

"We injure our humanity in discriminating against others, and we deny ourselves the richness of experience on this earth. We cannot be the nation we want to be, or the university we want to be, without everyone participating in equal measure."—Remarks at a reception for Federal Judge Stephan P. Mickle, the first black student to earn an undergraduate degree from UF

"Science is far from perfect, but it’s all we have. When you shine a light on scientists and their work, revealing both the strengths and the flaws, you beat back the darkness and denial that offer no future."—Remarks to the National Association of Science Writers



The modern university is a beacon for students, a home for scholars, a hub of culture in the community, an engine of discovery, an economic force—a place of many purposes, all facing change or reinvention. This selection of speeches from University of Florida's 11th president Bernie Machen, with executive speechwriter Aaron Hoover, offers insights on public higher education and its challenges from the helm of one of the largest land-grant universities in the country.



The Purposes of the University sheds light on many upheavals within academia. Machen defended against legislative pressures and criticism of the liberal arts and sciences, cemented the university's bonds with donors as public funding crumbled, worked to maintain student diversity post-affirmative action, sought to define innovation as a central mission, led a major turn toward sustainability, and forged new educational models online and on campus.



The speeches in this volume also highlight milestones and key moments at UF, from the expansion of the campus to mediation of town-gown relations to the launch of research projects all over the world. They offer candid portraits of the life and people of the university and its hometown of Gainesville, celebrating iconic figures like Gatorade inventor Robert Cade and campus personalities such as UF's longest-serving employee, Betty Jones. And they include reflections on university life: tributes to the first black students, the history of the marching band, the trees of the historic campus, and the legacy of student veterans who enrolled after returning from the nation's wars.

Perhaps the most traditional public role for university presidents is to encourage and help students. In his speeches—at commencements, convocations, and other events across the state—Machen aimed to inspire and to celebrate young people and their passion. On topics both weighty and whimsical, his perspective combines openness to change with full faith in the university and its many purposes.

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The Purposes of the University: Selected Speeches

The Purposes of the University: Selected Speeches

The Purposes of the University: Selected Speeches

The Purposes of the University: Selected Speeches

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Overview

A selection of speeches from UF's 11th president Bernie Machen, offering insights on public higher education and its challenges and changes



"Write your own story. Find the strength, whatever your hardships, to tell the powerful story within each of you. Write the best stories you can for your families, your communities, and your country. Live the biographies everyone will read."—Remarks to Palm Beach County’s most accomplished graduating seniors at the Scholastic Achievement Foundation of Palm Beach County

"We injure our humanity in discriminating against others, and we deny ourselves the richness of experience on this earth. We cannot be the nation we want to be, or the university we want to be, without everyone participating in equal measure."—Remarks at a reception for Federal Judge Stephan P. Mickle, the first black student to earn an undergraduate degree from UF

"Science is far from perfect, but it’s all we have. When you shine a light on scientists and their work, revealing both the strengths and the flaws, you beat back the darkness and denial that offer no future."—Remarks to the National Association of Science Writers



The modern university is a beacon for students, a home for scholars, a hub of culture in the community, an engine of discovery, an economic force—a place of many purposes, all facing change or reinvention. This selection of speeches from University of Florida's 11th president Bernie Machen, with executive speechwriter Aaron Hoover, offers insights on public higher education and its challenges from the helm of one of the largest land-grant universities in the country.



The Purposes of the University sheds light on many upheavals within academia. Machen defended against legislative pressures and criticism of the liberal arts and sciences, cemented the university's bonds with donors as public funding crumbled, worked to maintain student diversity post-affirmative action, sought to define innovation as a central mission, led a major turn toward sustainability, and forged new educational models online and on campus.



The speeches in this volume also highlight milestones and key moments at UF, from the expansion of the campus to mediation of town-gown relations to the launch of research projects all over the world. They offer candid portraits of the life and people of the university and its hometown of Gainesville, celebrating iconic figures like Gatorade inventor Robert Cade and campus personalities such as UF's longest-serving employee, Betty Jones. And they include reflections on university life: tributes to the first black students, the history of the marching band, the trees of the historic campus, and the legacy of student veterans who enrolled after returning from the nation's wars.

Perhaps the most traditional public role for university presidents is to encourage and help students. In his speeches—at commencements, convocations, and other events across the state—Machen aimed to inspire and to celebrate young people and their passion. On topics both weighty and whimsical, his perspective combines openness to change with full faith in the university and its many purposes.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780813047683
Publisher: University Press of Florida
Publication date: 05/20/2014
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 208
File size: 1 MB

About the Author

Bernie Machen served as the eleventh president of the University of Florida from 2004 to 2014. Prior to UF, he spent six years as president of the University of Utah. He also served as provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at the University of Michigan and dean of the UM School of Dentistry. He is a past president of the American Association of Dental Schools and was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Salt Lake Olympic Organizing Committee.


Aaron Hoover is an award-winning speechwriter who worked closely with President Machen. A former science writer and newspaper reporter, he was the executive speechwriter in the UF President’s Office and currently serves as chief of staff for UF’s Office of the Provost.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

1 Words for Students

A University without Walls 1

Write Your Own Story 2

Great Beginnings at the UF Hall of Fame 8

John Steinbeck, the iPhone, and the Value of a Weil-Rounded Life 9

Reshaping College for the Better 14

This Is Your Time and Your University 16

Treat Time as a River 17

UF Student Government on Its Centennial 22

At the End of Your Journey Come Home 24

2 The Nature of Education

All That and More: The True Purposes of College 30

Bricks and Mortar in a Digital Age 39

In Celebration of a New Recreation Center 41

In Support of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences 43

People before Politics 49

Thinking Deeply in a Twitter World 52

3 Equality and Education

A Long Staircase to Equality 57

A Model for All People 59

A Story Worth Telling: The History of UF Women before Coeducation 62

A Striking Symmetry 64

"Arouse the Conscience of the Nation" 66

In Praise of Stephan P. Mickle 68

Now Is the Time to Gather Our Memories 71

The Conscience of the Campus 74

"The Only Queer People" 76

4 Celebrating with Ceremony

9/11 and Roosevelt's Four Freedoms 78

Our Newest and Truest History 81

Our Debt to Student Veterans 82

Pioneering Education at P. K. Yonge 84

The Enduring Legacy of Our Student Veterans 86

'Twas the Night before Christmas … at UF 88

5 Our Worthy Cause

In Celebration of Our New Cancer Hospital 91

In Recognition of Donors and Faculty 92

Of Buildings and Blueberries 96

Of Donors and Dreams 97

6 Joining Discovery to Technology

A Building and an Idea 101

A New Frontier in Orlando 104

A New "Mental Giant" 106

Bringing Science to the Public Square 109

A Shared Voyage of Discovery 111

Building Collaboration 112

Grow the Little Fish 115

7 Building Bridges, Bridging Differences

A Dwelling Place for Goodness 119

Bourbon Redeemers, Toledo Mud Hens, and the Tom Petty Tree 121

Building Bridges, Bridging Differences 127

In Praise of Alachua General Hospital 129

UF and Florida's Children in Need 131

We Are Gainesville 136

8 A First Lady Speaks

Me and My Ten-Pound Title 139

Of Pets and People 144

"Spokespersons for Freedom" 146

In Celebration of the Stetson Kennedy Collection 147

9 Of Nature and the Arts

A Historic Opportunity for Our Most Precious Resource 150

A Home in the Woods 152

"A Very, Very, Very Fine House" 153

Art as Ambassador 155

Our Trees Ground Us 159

Planting Green Shoots 160

10 In Tribute

A Tribute to "Miss Betty" 165

Our Brilliant Maverick 167

Under Ed, the Alligator Roared 171

11 Our Past, Our Future

Toward UF as a Global Beacon 176

Our Morrill Act Tradition 181

Inventing Our Future 189

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From the Publisher

"Write your own story. Find the strength, whatever your hardships, to tell the powerful story within each of you. Write the best stories you can for your families, your communities, and your country. Live the biographies everyone will read."—Remarks to Palm Beach County’s most accomplished graduating seniors at the Scholastic Achievement Foundation of Palm Beach County

"We injure our humanity in discriminating against others, and we deny ourselves the richness of experience on this earth. We cannot be the nation we want to be, or the university we want to be, without everyone participating in equal measure."—Remarks at a reception for Federal Judge Stephan P. Mickle, the first black student to earn an undergraduate degree from UF

"Science is far from perfect, but it’s all we have. When you shine a light on scientists and their work, revealing both the strengths and the flaws, you beat back the darkness and denial that offer no future."—Remarks to the National Association of Science Writers

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