FGCU

Bonaventure Bondo is an environmentalist and climate activist based in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He is the founder and national coordinator of the Youth Movement for the Protection of the Environment. It’s a youth organization working in the fight against climate change and biodiversity loss in the DRC. His efforts focus on protecting forests, promoting renewable energies, defending the rights of local communities, and campaigning against the exploitation of fossil fuels in the Congo Basin Rainforest.

The Vester Marine & Environmental Science Research Field Station, basically scoured by Hurricane Ian's storm surge, is once again taking middle school students on an environmental journey of discovery.

Janet Mtali discovered her passion for radio when she was invited to host a children’s show on TWR Malawi when she was still in high school. Since then, she has worked her way up and is now its National Director. Mtali is one of 25 Mandela Fellowship for Young African Leaders participants who are in Southwest Florida for the 2024 Leadership Institute being hosted by Florida Gulf Coast University. We meet her today to talk about the work she does and the Mandela Fellowship experience.

NASA’s DEVELOP Program has brought a new research project to Southwest Florida bringing together a group of four students from FGCU, UCF, and Oregon State University to work with the Seminole Tribe of Florida to analyze water samples taken from tribal land.DEVELOP aims to give students hands-on experience in the field of earth science, and help partners of the program solve environmental problems.

Among the budget spending vetoed by DeSantis was $11.6 million for renovations to Florida Gulf Coast University’s Reed Hall classroom building.Also among the vetoes was $80 million for the Florida College System to participate in the state group insurance program, which provides health insurance to state workers.Among big-ticket items approved by the governor, the budget includes $14.5 billion for the state transportation work program and $232 million for cancer-research funding, including $127.5 million for the Casey DeSantis Cancer Research Program.Also included in the state budget is $15.547 million for Fort Myers Beach for a new Town Hall site and revenue replacement.

Florida Gulf Coast University trustees this week are slated to consider launching an “intensive English language program” to help fill a need after the closing of a private university. Hodges University in Fort Myers announced last year that it would stop enrolling new students, with only limited classes being offered through August. In a news release last year, Hodges University cited “financial challenges and declining enrollment numbers” as the reason for closing.

The University Police Department is conducting an active assailant training exercise from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 25, in Biscayne Hall, part of FGCU’s South Village residential area. A simulator that portrays the sound of gunshots may be heard throughout the training.

Earlier this year FGCU named its new Director of Intercollegiate Athletics, Colin Hargis, to take over the role after the past director, Ken Kavanaugh, stepped down in December, 2023 after serving about 15 years in the role. Hargis comes to FGCU after spending about a decade at North Carolina State University, where he worked his way from associate athletics director for ticket sales and operations to senior associate athletics director for external relations. Hargis takes the helm of a young athletics program with 15 intercollegiate athletics teams and about 300 student athletes. And he brings with him his knowledge of the world of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) which he managed at North Carolina State University, and part of what he’ll focus on here at FGCU.

The Northwest Florida State College Board of Trustees next week could name Henry Mack, a former senior chancellor at the state Department of Education, to serve as interim president as the college searches for a replacement for outgoing President Devin Stephenson.

Some Florida state universities have ramped up security and issued advisories for graduation ceremonies, amid an already heightened police presence on campuses because of a wave of student protests.Florida Gulf Coast University, on a webpage including advisories for people who will attend commencement ceremonies over the weekend, has a general reminder that guests should “be respectful and courteous of others” and lists items such as signs that are prohibited.