University of Tampa Press

The University of Tampa

Motto	Esse quam videri
Motto in English	To be, rather than to seem to be
Type	Private
Established	1931
Academic affiliations	AACSB,AAM, ABET,ACEN, ACS, ASBMB, IC&UF, NAICU,SACS
Endowment	$33.8 Million (2014)
President	Ronald L. Vaughn
Students	8,310
Location	Tampa, Florida, U.S.
Campus	Urban, 110 acres (0.45 km2)
Colors	Black, Red, Gold
Nickname	Spartans
Sporting affiliations	NCAA Division II – Sunshine State
Mascot	Spartacus
Website	www.ut.edu

The University of Tampa (UT), is a private co-educational university in Downtown Tampa, Florida, United States. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. UT offers more than 200 programs of study, including 13 master's degrees and a broad variety of majors, minors, pre-professional programs, and certificates.

The University of Tampa was established by Frederic Spaulding in 1931 as Tampa Junior College, and was founded to serve as an institution of higher education for Florida's west coast. In 1933, UT moved to its current location, the then-defunct Tampa Bay Hotel originally built between 1884 and 1891 by Florida railroad magnate, Henry B. Plant.

With the move, and the additional room it provided, Mr. Spaulding decided to expand the scope of the junior college to a full university and The University of Tampa was born. In 1941, the city of Tampa signed a 99-year lease on the former hotel with the school for a dollar a year. The lease excluded the south east wing of the former hotel to allow for the housing of the Henry B. Plant Museum. The University prospered for the next few decades, becoming a well-respected institution of learning in the Tampa Bay area. In 1951, the University received full accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).

However, in the early 1990s financial troubles hit the school. The University incurred consecutive years of budget deficits as a result of declining student enrollment. The University's president resigned, faculty left for better opportunities and UT faced an uncertain future.

In 1995, the Board of Trustees elected a new president to lead the school out of its troubles and prevent bankruptcy. Ronald L. Vaughn, who was then dean of the College of Business, was selected to bring the school out of the red. His initial efforts were aimed at bringing the campus up-to-date with new dorms and a major renovation to the business school. Dr. Vaughn also launched the "Take UT to the Top" campaign with the goal of raising $70 million in 10 years and restoring the University's endowment. By the time the campaign ended, UT had raised $83 million. A major reason for this success was the generous contributions of the John H. Sykes family of Tampa. A gift of $10 million by the family in 1997 was followed by one for $28 million in 2000, thought to be the largest such gift to a Florida university at the time. These generous gifts were all the more impressive since no one in the Sykes family had ever attended The University of Tampa.