TAMPA, Fla. — The University of South Florida welcomed its new president on Wednesday.
Dr. Moez Limayem laid out some of his priorities, from protecting academic freedom to growing USF’s national reputation.
What You Need To Know
Dr. Moez Limayem says USF is stronger than ever, and he plans to build upon that
He walked around camps on Wednesday, meeting students
Limayem also spoke on some of the challenges facing higher education today, like protecting academic freedom
Limayem seemed very excited to be back home at USF, where he once served as the dean of the College of Business. He says USF is stronger than ever, and he plans to build upon that.
Limayem spent the day giving opening remarks at the ninth annual State of the Region, an event he founded.
“You have no idea what I’m feeling now. It is an exceptional day for me,” he said in his opening remarks, and with the same energy and enthusiasm, Limayem walked around campus, meeting students, like Trey Hall, a junior.
“Having a cool president goes a long way. It changes the energy in the school, it makes people proud to be a USF Bull, and I know after today I’m definitely proud to be a USF Bull,” said Hall.
That is one of Limayem’s goals. USF recently became one of the nation’s top research universities by earning Association of American Universities status, and Limayem says he plans to build on that.
“We have reached something unbelievable, AAU status. Now how do we move from the rookie AAU to the star AAU, how do we become the model AAU university where every other university in the country and the world comes here, right here, to ask and see how are we successful, how are we doing it,” he said.
Limayem also spoke on some of the challenges facing higher education today, like protecting academic freedom, saying universities are meant to be, and should be, a marketplace for ideas from different backgrounds.
“We also have to realize that we are a state university, and as a state university we have no other option but to comply with the law,” he said. “So everything we will do, we will always do it within the frame work of the law.”
Limayem also talked about civil discourse, and says he wants his legacy to be training students on how to disagree respectfully, and listen to truly understand other points of view.