Florida Gulf Coast University

Immigrants living in Florida are in threat of being deported, due to protective status being removed. One family risks being sent back to Venezuela, despite a decade building a life here in America.

Florida is renowned for its beaches, sunshine and plethora of outdoor activities. For Andrew DiMaggio, this was the perfect region to launch a new app and website designed at bringing those events to the people of Southwest Florida. And after meeting with Florida Gulf Coast University’s School of Entrepreneurship, DiMaggio was able to put his vision into action as he looks to build a recreational empire.

For 10 years, FGCU’s Contemplative Life community has been helping students learn to tackle life's challenges.The Contemplative Life course teaches students meditation, yoga and other skills that allow for greater mindfulness, stress management and emotional resilience. Dr. Maria Roca introduced the class – and what eventually became a community — to FGCU.

Education has some lessons to learn about what artificial intelligence can and should do, according to one local expert.Santiago Luaces got involved with a study on artificial intelligence in the classroom because he is in the process of earning a doctorate in education, and a part of that is doing a research internship with FGCU faculty.

'Lucky Stiff' continues through the weekend at Florida Rep

The League of Women Voters of Lee County visited Florida Gulf Coast University to help students navigate voting challenges ahead of the general election. FGCU students shared concerns about voter ID requirements and transportation to polling locations, while the League provided guidance and resources like Vote411.org to encourage civic engagement.

Experiments on FGCUs Kimberly’s Reef range from looking for red tide, gauging the temperature and chemical composition of the water, measuring aspects of the currents in the Gulf of Mexico, and even counting the many fish attracted to the artificial structures. Some of this research is often done by boat. For many scientists, though, the best way to study the reef is below the surface.

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 play Silent Sky describes how Henrietta Swan Leavitt's passion for discovery enabled astronomy to map the sky and, in the process, determine our exact place in the universe. Silent Sky is on stage at the FGCU TheatreLab through February 25, 2024.

In the Gulf of Mexico, seven and a half miles due west of Bonita Beach and 30 feet below the surface grows an artificial reef and living classroom laboratory created by The Water School at Florida Gulf Coast University. This Dispatch from Kimberly’s Reef focuses on the fish who live in this new ecosystem and the scientists who are counting them.