President Rosenberg: FIU Expansion


President Mark B. Rosenberg sent the following memo to the university community on Friday, Sept. 5, 2014. 

Dear FIU family:

Wednesday evening marked an important moment in the history of our MBR-headshot-266x40012university. The Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners approved ballot language for a Nov. 4 referendum on FIU’s proposed expansion to land adjacent to our Modesto A. Maidique Campus.

We are thankful for the support the County Commission and Mayor Carlos Gimenez and his staff have shown for the future of FIU and our community. On Wednesday they were able to see first-hand the difference their support will make to so many of our students who took time out of their busy schedules to attend the County Commission meeting in support of this initiative. More than 500 supporters were in attendance at the Stephen P. Clark Government Center in downtown Miami.

We are also thankful for the work of a dedicated team of professionals, headed by Senior Vice President Sandra Gonzalez-Levy, who has worked with the county and fair representatives for the past four years.

The approved ballot language is as follows:

“Charter amendment exempting from Article 7 Florida International University’s expansion onto Youth Fair site.

The Dade County Youth Fair site at Tamiami Park is exempt from the public park purposes use restrictions and construction limitations in Article 7 of the charter. Shall the charter be amended to:

  • Extend this exemption to Florida International University (FIU) for its expansion onto up to 64 acres of such site upon relocation of the Youth Fair; and
  • Provide that no county funds be used for FIU’s expansion and the Youth Fair’s required relocation?”

Commissioners also approved a memorandum of understanding between the County and FIU, paving the way for relocation of the fair to a new site.

Thank you for your dedication to FIU and for doing your part in making our university great and worthy of the support of our community.

To learn more about this initiative, please visit expand.fiu.edu.

Go Panthers!

Sincerely,
MBR signature

Mark B. Rosenberg
President

Comments are closed.