भिडियो हेर्न तल को बक्समा क्लिक गर्नुहोस
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Following President John F. Kennedy's September 1962 speech, in which he described his goal of accomplishing a manned space flight to the moon by the end of the decade, the space program grew in importance and scope in Central Florida because of its proximity to Cape Canaveral.[15] Prominent residents and local leaders began lobbying the Florida State Legislature to increase access to higher education on the Space Coast. With the help of former State Senate President William A. Shands and Senator Beth Johnson, the legislature passed and Governor Farris Bryant signed into law Senate Bill No. 125 on June 10, 1963, which authorized the Florida Board of Regents to create a new state university in East Central Florida.[16] The university was founded as a non-segregated and coeducational university, with the mission of educating students for promising space-age careers in engineering and other technological professions.
On January 24, 1964, the Board of Regents purchased 1,000 acres (4.0 km2) of remote forest and pasture land along Alafaya Trail (SR 434) in northeast Orlando at the cost of $500,000 as the site of the new university. Local residents donated another 227 acres (0.92 km2), and raised more than $1 million in funds to secure the land acquisition.[16] In December 1965, the Board of Regents appointed Charles Millican the first president of the new university.[17] Millican with the consultation of a citizen advisory group, chose the name Florida Technological University, as well as co-designed the school's distinctive "Pegasus" seal.[18] Millican is also responsible for the university's slogan – "Reach for the Stars" – and for the two key principles of the school, "accent on excellence" and "accent on the individual." Millican was also responsible for the university's unique pedestrian oriented concentric circle campus layout, which was based on plans by Walt Disney and has become a model for other universities.[19] Millican and then-Governor Claude Kirk presided over FTU's groundbreaking in March 1967. Eighteen months after the groundbreaking, the inaugural classes were held in the school's first academic building, the library on October 7, 1968. 1,948 students were enrolled in fifty-five degree programs within five colleges, and were led by 90 instructors, and aided 150 staff members during the university's first year.[20] FTU graduated its first class of 423 seniors on June 14, 1970, with astronaut and Orlando native John Young giving the commencement address.
Millican was also responsible for selecting the official colors of the university, and had a role in selecting its first mascot, the Citronaut, a mix between an orange and an astronaut.[21] The Citronaut temporarily proved unpopular, so in 1969 the student newspaper–The Central Florida Future–encouraged mascot suggestions from students and faculty. The search for a replacement proved unsuccessful until 1970, when Judy Hines, a night nurse, proposed "Vincent the Vulture." He served as the university's unofficial mascot for more than a year. In late 1971, students voted and selected the "Knight of Pegasus" as the school's official athletic mascot.[22] After retiring as president in 1978, Millican would identify his proudest moment leading the school as when President Richard Nixon delivered the university's spring 1973 commencement address.
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