Obama visit to campus canceled
President Barack Obama's visit to USF campus has been canceled due to the state of emergency declared by Gov. Rick Scott.
SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE
President Barack Obama’s planned Wednesday visit to USF was canceled after Gov. Rick Scott issued a state of emergency in Florida in response to the approach of Category 4 Hurricane Matthew.
Obama was scheduled to talk about the Affordable Care Act. The talk was scheduled for 1:30 p.m. at the Campus Recreation Center East Gym. The visit would have closed down Campus Rec, the Champions Choice dining hall and parking lots 22A, 22D, Lot 6 and Lot 15, according to University Communications.
“Normal campus operations are expected on Wednesday,” Adam Freeman, university spokesman, said.
As for any campus closures due to Hurricane Matthew, Freeman said he was not aware of any at this point.
Susan MacManus, national political analyst and USF political science professor, said she wasn’t surprised by the cancellation and thinks most people would understand that the declaration of the state of emergency was the right decision.
“You don’t ever want to interfere with a disaster,” she said.
She said she doesn’t think the cancellation will have much of an effect on the purpose of the event, which she said was about rallying millennial voters for Hillary Clinton and sharing the success of the Tampa area in getting people to sign up for health care through Obama’s plan. MacManus said she thinks the president will reschedule and come to campus in the future.
“Obviously people understand that natural disasters … are more important than a presidential contest, at least in the short term,” she said.
More Stories
Sarasota-Manatee campus housing rates to be most expensive across all campuses
Student housing rates for the new Sarasota-Manatee residence hall will be the most expensive of all on-campus housing costs across USF’s three campuses. Rates for the dorm will be as follows, according to Regional Vice Chancellor for Business and Financial Affairs Edwin Beauchamp: Suite (Double): $1,297 monthly Two bedroom, one bathroom apartment (single): $1,648 monthly […]
Old Student Health Services building to remain unoccupied
The Student Health Services (SHS) building located next to the bookstore will remain unoccupied, as no decisions have been made to determine what the space will be used for, according to Susanna Perez, communications and marketing officer at the SHWC. All operations that the building used to house were moved to the new Student Health […]
New virtual reality tour of Kellogg Mansion stationed at USF library
Multimedia correspondent Diego Adesso tested the virtual reality simulation at the exhibit. ORACLE VIDEO/DIEGO ADESSO A section of the first floor of the building was closed off by USF library officials to place an immersive 45-60 minute exhibit of the Kellogg Museum that will be open to students from Sept. 21 through March 1. The […]
Students for Socialism hold rally against cost of on-campus living
SFS founder Will Mleczko, a sophomore economics major, said he struggled to afford the cost of living on campus and was forced to take out loans. His struggles were similar to those of his peers in SFS. Six of the organization’s members spoke while around 20 other members held signs reading “The cost of living […]
Temporary esports lab opens at Tampa campus, permanent lab to open fall 2024
The temporary Esports Living Lab (ELL) opened on Sept. 11 at the FIT. The 900-square-foot lab will serve as a precursor to the upcoming permanent lab of the same name set to open in 2024. Open from 5-11 p.m. Monday through Friday, the temporary ELL is stocked with 16 monitors, headsets and microphones as well […]
USF falls three spots in public university national ranking
USF now sits at No. 45 among all public universities in the U.S. News & World Report’s annual ranking – a decrease of three spots from its place at No. 42 last year. Last year’s ranking was the university’s highest ever. This was the fifth consecutive year that USF was listed within the top 50 […]