For the Orlando Sentinel’s 150th birthday, we’re digging into our archives to show how we have covered Central Florida over the years. Today we take a look at some of the early photos we have from the opening of UCF, which was originally known as Florida Technological University. Classes started at FTU in 1968.
This billboard from November 1966 marks the spot where “Space U.”, Florida Technological University, would be built in eastern Orange County. (Sentinel file)
Chester H. Ferguson, chair of Florida State Board of Regents, speaks during the dedication ceremony for FTU on Oct. 7, 1968. (Sentinel file)
FTU’s Science Building is shown during its construction in October 1967. It would contain 14 teaching laboratories for biological and physical sciences, three departmental offices, a seminar room, faculty offices and 49,923 square feet. Attached would be a one-story science lecture hall containing 7,809 square feet. (Courtesy FTU Photo)
FTU charter class freshmen Chris Schmidt and Brenda Stibbins shared their thoughts on the new school with the Orlando Sentinel in 1968. Schmidt, from Oak Ridge High School, predicted FTU “will be THE school of the future as far as Florida goes.” (Sentinel file)
President Richard Nixon gives the commencement address at Florida Technological University on June. 8, 1973. (Orlando Sentinel Star)
Attendees listen to President Richard Nixon’s commencement address at Florida Technological University on June. 8, 1973. (Andrew J. Hickman/Orlando Sentinel Star)
A longtime tradition for FTU and UCF: Parking lots are jammed for the the first day of classes at Florida Technological University in September 1973. (Sentinel file)
Mike Leven looks to the future as he tries out the President’s Chair in the office of the president during FTU’s Open House on Oct. 6, 1968. Mike was 11 year old and in sixth grade at Lakemont Elementary School in Winter Park. (Sentinel file)
Mr. and Mrs. Bernard C. Scott of Winter Park, with daughter Charlott, look at the FTU Parents Day schedule on April 26, 1969. (Sentinel file)
Construction continues on UCF’s iconic reflection pond across from the library at Florida Technological University in this Sept. 9, 1970 photo. (Sentinel file)
Sharron Warren, first year student in secondary education from Casselberry, tries to sell the FTU Pegasus yearbook to Jim Runnels, a freshman Business Administration student from Orlando in the photo from January 1971. (Sentinel file)
Traffic was backed on the then-2-lane Alafaya Trail from FTU all the way to Colonial Drive when 12,000 are residents showed up to attend an open house at the new university in October 1968. (Sentinel file)
FTU President Charles Millican and student president Lee Constantine look at a grid map to plot a car pool in this Dec. 8, 1973 photo. (Sentinel file)
People stroll across the FTU campus during an Open House for the public to see new buildings and classrooms on Oct. 6, 1968. This shot was taken from the fourth floor of the FTU library. (Sentinel file)
Aerial view of the FTU campus in August 1973, showing the current day intersection of Gemini Boulevard and Libra Drive at UCF. (Sentinel file)
FTU student Eric Lamkin operates his game of life machine. It was programmed to simulate life processes in April 1973. (Sentinel file)
Members of FTU’s Chi Alpha fraternity tossed a party for children from the Orange County Parental Home on campus at FTU in December 1968. Shown are Danny Sasser, Ronnie Lamtman, Eddie Skidmore, Covie King, Bob Hazelwood and Dan Tressler. (Sentinel staff)
Members of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity ask FTU students to sign a petition to keep the school’s name as Florida Technological University and not change it to University of Central Florida in this 1978 photo. (Sentinel file)
Members of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity at UCF show who they think has the No. 1 float in the Knights’ homecoming parade in October 1982. (Sentinel file)
Ruth Graves, 20, an FTU junior from Jacksonville, reads the school’s catalog at the pool as Richard Clark, 20, a sophomore dives off the board in this September 1972 photo. (Sentinel file)
Aerial view, looking east, of the FTU campus taken on Nov. 11, 1977. The administration building is in middle top with the library behind it. (Sentinel file)
Aerial view of the University of Central Florida in March 1982, looking north from when the athletics fields were then located on the south side of the campus. (Sentinel file)
Looking to the future, Florida Technological University unveiled this Master Plan for development of the east Orange campus in March 1970. (FTU Photo)
The name change from Florida Technological University to University of Central Florida meant sales on FTU-branded merchandise on campus. “They’re selling like hotcakes since the announced name change,” the Sentinel reported in December 1978. (Sentinel file)
A FTU mobile exhibit is admired by President Charles Millican and officials of the Colonial Plaza Merchant Association. The exhibit was built for FTU by Graphics of Orlando and was touring Central Florida and other institutions in the fall of 1967 to “help tell the Florida Tech story” about the new “space-age university.” (FTU Photo)
President Richard Nixon stands with FTU President Charles Millican as Nixon gives the commencement speech to FTU’s graduating class on June 8, 1973. “If President Nixon needed any tonic for a Watergate-beleaguered spirit, he received it Friday at Florida Technological University in Orlando where he told graduates it would be the American spirit and genius that would bring lasting peace and prosperity to the world,” the Sentinel Star reported. (Sentinel file)
This is how class registration worked at UCF in the 1980s. Classes were displayed by overhead projector and students wrote down their choices to be entered into a computer. As classes filled, they were crossed off on the displays. From Aug. 18, 1988. (Sentinel file)
UCF students Jeremey Smith and Pat Ryan joke around in their dorm room in September 1990. (Sentinel file)
A copy of the FTU campus map from the 1972-73 school year. There are just 18 buildings on campus at the time. (Sentinel file)
“Happy Birthday” is the tune of the day as Florida Technological University celebrates 10 years of classes on Oct. 10, 1978, In the background future students from the child care center at FTU sing for the occasion as Mark O’Mara, student body president, cuts and presents the first piece of cake to student Laura Wade. (Sentinel file)
Students and others break ground for what would become UCF’s Greek Park in this March 6, 1983 photo. (Sentinel file)
Members of the FTU Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity work toward a goal of washing cars for 50 consecutive hours at a Winter Park Texaco station in November 1972 to help raise funds for a student needing a kidney transplant. Adding to the difficulty was temperatures in the high-40s. (Sentinel file)
FTU junior Patricia Howland looks over various courses being offered for students and the rooms where they are located in this September 1970 photo. (Sentinel file)
A Florida Technological University student parking sticker from the 1977-78 school year. Note the original FTU Knights logo on the sticker. (Sentinel file)