FLORIDA SOUTHERN COLLEGE

'Florida Southern College' (commonly referred to as 'Florida Southern' or 'FSC') is a private college located in Lakeland, Florida. It was selected by ''U.S. News & World Report'' as one of the top ten Southern Comprehensive Colleges-Bachelors, and by The Princeton Review as a Best Southeastern College, a Best Value College, and included in the Best 366 Colleges: 2008, Florida Southern is the home of the world’s largest single-site collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture.

History

The college was founded in Orlando in 1883, and moved to Leesburg in 1885 (some debate this to be the true establishment) under the sponsorship of the United Methodist Church and was open to both male and female students. It moved to Sutherland (now Palm Harbor) in 1901 and changed its name to Southern College. Due to fires in the early 1920s it was temporarily relocated to Clearwater Beach and then moved to Lakeland in 1922. In 1935 it was renamed Florida Southern College by the trustees.
The present campus comprises some 64 buildings on 100 acres (405,000 m²) of land and is the home of the largest collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture in the world. The campus itself is designated a National Historic Site, due to the historic significance of its buildings.

Notable Alumniae

★ Robert McGrady Blackburn (1919-2002) - bishop of the United Methodist Church (B.A., 1941)

★ Robert Eugene Fannin (c. 1935-) - bishop of the United Methodist Church (B.S. in Business Administration)

★ Lee Janzen (1964-) - professional golfer on the PGA Tour

★ Rocco Mediate (1962-) - professional golfer on the PGA Tour

★ Lance Niekro (1979-) - first baseman for the San Francisco Giants

★ Brett Tomko (1973-) - pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers

★ Robert L. Goulet - CEO of Entertainment Sports Partners

Sports

Florida Southern Mocs logo

Florida Southern's athletic teams are known as the Moccasins, often shortened to Mocs. The school adopted the nickname in 1926 (prior to then the teams were known as the Southerners). The official colors are scarlet and white, though athletes sport red, white, and blue uniforms. The college's athletic teams participate in the Sunshine State Conference, or SSC, an NCAA Division II institution. Florida Southern has won 26 NCAA Division II championships in Men's Golf (11), Baseball (9), Women's Golf (4), Men's Basketball (1), and Softball (1). Florida Southern's most recent championship came in May of 2007 when the women's golf team won their fourth NCAA national title.
Florida Southern offers men's teams in baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, swimming and tennis and women's teams in basketball, cross country, golf, softball, soccer, swimming, tennis and volleyball.
The men's basketball program (the school's flagship program) has experienced significant success, dominating the SSC and winning a national title in 1981. In the first 30 seasons of SSC basketball (1975-2006), the Mocs have won the regular season 16 times (10 outright) and have been crowned tournament champions 17 times. FSC also has more conference wins than any other SSC team (290), along with owning the best winning percentage of any current member (.697). Since 1980, FSC has also recorded more overall wins (641) than any other four-year institution in the state of Florida. However, the team faltered in the 2006-2007 season, only managing an 8-20 record. (See 2006-07 Media Guide)
Rivaling (and purhaps surpassing) the basketball program in accomplishments, the baseball program has also experienced its own success. The Mocs have won 17 SSC baseball championships and nine national championships (1971, 1972, 1975, 1978, 1981, 1985, 1988, 1995, and 2005). The Moccasins finished the successful 2007 season with 44 wins and only 16 losses. (See 2006-07 Media Guide)
The Detroit Tigers, who conduct their Spring Training in Lakeland, traditionally play an exhibition game against Florida Southern's baseball team prior to the start of the Grapefruit League season of major league spring games.

Greek Life

Fraternities

★ Kappa Alpha Order - Gamma Pi chapter, 1958

★ Sigma Chi - Epsilon Sigma chapter, 1959

★ Lambda Chi Alpha - Epsilon Xi chapter 1938

★ Sigma Alpha Epsilon - Florida Gamma chapter

★ Alpha Gamma Rho 2006

★ Theta Chi - Gamma Delta chapter, 1946, recolonization 2007

★ Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia - Theta Sigma chapter (non IFC fraternity), 1955, refounded 1962
Sororities

★ Alpha Omicron Pi-Kappa Gamma Chapter 1946

★ Alpha Chi Omega 1936

★ Alpha Delta Pi 1946

★ Kappa Delta 1955

★ Zeta Tau Alpha 1957
Currently Not Active

★ Delta Zeta 1937 (closed since 1979)

★ Phi Sigma Sigma 1947 (closed since 1958)

★ Phi Mu 1954 (currently closed)

★ Sigma Sigma Sigma 1955 (closed since 1975)

★ Alpha Gamma Delta 1958 (closed since 1976)

★ Pi Kappa Alpha

★ Pi Kappa Phi

★ Sigma Phi Epsilon

★ Alpha Kappa Alpha

★ Kappa Alpha Psi

Social Life

Organizations

★ ACE (Association of Campus Entertainment)

★ Sigma Rho Epsilon (Religious Community Service Fraternity)

★ SteppenDwarf(former second stage comedy troupe)

★ Beta Beta Beta (Biology Fraternity)

★ Delta Omicron (Chapter Alpha Phi, International Professional Music Fraternity)

★ Omicron Delta Kappa (Leadership Fraternity)

★ Psi Chi (Psychology Fraternity)

★ Theta Chi Beta (Gimel Chapter, Religion Honorary)

Resident Life

Residence Halls

★ Allan Spivey (Freshmen Women)

★ Joseph Reynolds (Freshmen Women. Called 'JR' by students)

★ Hollis (Freshmen Men)

★ Miller

★ Dell

★ Jenkins

★ Publix Commons (includes all sororities houses, Lambda Chi Alpha and Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity houses)

★ Columbia

★ Princeton (no longer present)

★ Harvard (no longer present)

★ Panhellenic (former sorority houses, currently being torn down and rebuilt)

Frank Lloyd Wright Architecture at FSC

Annie Pfeiffer Chapel

The collection of Frank Lloyd Wright Architecture at Florida Southern College is called ''Child Of The Sun''. This includes:

★ Annie Pfeiffer Chapel - First completed Frank Lloyd Wright Structure, dedicated 1941

★ Buckner Building (Original Roux Library) - Completed 1946

★ Ordway Building (Originally called the Industrial Arts Building) - completed 1952

★ Danforth Chapel - completed 1955

★ Polk County Science Building (Called Polk Science by faculty and students) - completed 1958

★ Watson/Fine Building (Administration Building) - completed 1949

★ Water Dome - completed 1949

★ Seminars (Now the Business Office) - completed 1941

★ The Esplanades - various completion times, currently undergoing restoration around the campus

Fine Arts

Theatre

Generally the FSC Theatre Department puts on 4 mainstage shows a year in the Buckner Theater, with the 3rd show usually a musical. As of the 2005-2006 school year, the theatre dept consisted of two full-time professors and one adjunct professor.

FSC logo

Music

The music department teaches individual lessons, ensemble participation, music classes, and performance. The school's musical groups include the wind ensemble, symphony band, jazz ensemble, Moccasin pep-band, symphony orchestra, and several choral groups. Smaller ensembles include the flute choir, clarinet choir, saxophone choir, horn choir, trumpet choir, trombone choir, tuba choir, percussion ensemble, vocal chamber ensemble, and opera theatre.
Students have the option of minoring in music, or majoring with the concentration of music, performance, management, education, or sacred music. The music department is a prestigious component of Florida Southern College's degree of excellence.

Festival of Fine Arts

Robert MacDonald, Director of the Festival of Fine Arts, presents both departmental and world-renowned shows throughout the year.