|
Brooks College Recognized as a Top School for Online Healthcare Administration Program |
UNF’s online healthcare administration program earned honors among the Top 50 schools for overall quality, affordability and commitment to student success. EduMed.org researched and analyzed more than 7,700 accredited schools and ranked qualifying schools for each healthcare discipline. Learn more.
|
|
|
UNF Professor Rosenblatt wins Resilience Champion Award |
Dr. Adam Rosenblatt, UNF biology assistant professor, recently received the 2022 Resilience Champion Award at the Jacksonville Environmental Protection Board’s (JEPB) Environmental Achievement Awards for his leadership of the Jacksonville Heat Mapping Project, the largest urban heat mapping study ever conducted in the United States. Learn more.
|
|
|
|
|
Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers Returns Victorious from Annual Convention |
The SHPE UNF chapter celebrated its first win for the Student Chapter of the Region, defeating other prestigious schools in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. UNF students won first place in both the Nissan Design Challenge (Blayne Curtis) and the Extreme Engineering Challenge (Rebecca and Arielle O'Neal). Learn more.
|
|
|
Holiday Party with
President Limayem
|
Date:
Saturday, Dec. 10 | 6 p.m.
Location:
The River Club
1 Independent Drive #3500
Jacksonville, FL 32202
Cost:
$50
|
Join the Alumni Association and President Limayem for an evening of dinner and music from the John Lumpkin Trio. All proceeds will be donated to the Lend-A-Wing Food Pantry. Due to the Lend-A-Wing experiencing record-high numbers this semester, we are also inviting guests to bring additional donations in the form of canned/dry goods or hygiene products.
|
| UNF Night at Deck the Chairs
|
Date:
Thursday, Dec. 15 | 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.
Location:
Seawalk Pavilion
75 1st St. N.
Jacksonville Beach, FL 32250
Cost:
Free
|
Deck the Chairs is a community-wide project that will be on display from Nov. 25 – Jan. 1. It is an annual fundraising event that supports local nonprofits and arts groups, who utilize lifeguard chairs to create light-up designs the community can enjoy throughout the holiday season. During UNF Night, all alumni, students and friends of the University are invited to stop by UNF's chair and engage with various campus groups including the Alumni Association, bookstore and UNF athletes/coaches.
This event is sponsored by Stellar and Community First Credit Union.
|
|
|
Alumni Recognition Awards |
Date:
Wednesday, Feb. 1
6 - 9 p.m.
Location:
Adam W. Herbert University Center
Cost:
Individual: $35
Table (8): $250
|
Join us for a night to honor the best of the best at UNF's Alumni Recognition Awards Dinner. Recognized for their personal and professional achievements, the selected recipients possess the highest standards of integrity and character, and positively reflect and enhance the great reputation of the University.
| | Date:
Friday, Feb. 3
7 - 10 p.m.
Location:
The Brumos Collection,
5159 San Pablo Road S.
Jacksonville, FL 32224
Cost:
Early Bird Individual: $125
Individual: $150
VIP Sponsor Pack: $3,000
VIP Corporate Pack: $3,500
|
The Blue and Gray Bash is an annual fundraiser for athletics scholarships that features both a live and silent auction, wine wall, live music, food, drinks and more! This year, the Blue and Gray Bash will be held at the Brumos Collection, ranked 13th among the world's top 100 collections by The Classic Car Trust.
VIP pre-reception with President Limayem
from 6 - 7 p.m.
|
|
|
Date:
Saturday, Feb. 4
1 - 4 p.m.
Location:
UNF Arena Plaza
Cost:
Free (RSVP Required)
|
Join the Osprey Family for fun before the Homecoming basketball games! This annual family-friendly pep rally will consist of fair games, bounce houses, tents hosted by various campus groups, and lunch in the plaza. This event is free and open to the public, but RSVP is required.
|
| Date:
Saturday, Feb. 4
5 p.m.
Location:
UNF Arena
Cost:
Free for UNF Students
General Admission: $15
Reserved: $20
|
The big finale to Homecoming Week. Join us at the UNF Arena as your men's basketball team hosts the JU Dolphins in the annual River City Rumble!
|
|
|
February 18 — Swoop The Loop 5k
March 22 — UNF Giving Day
March 23 — UNF Night at the Jacksonville Icemen
|
|
|
Andrew "Coco" Coconato, '15 |
|
|
|
Andrew Coconato graduated from UNF in 2015 with a degree in communications. His self-titled position is known as director of culture, although he’s been described as a professional “room reader, ice-melter and community builder.” His role consists of many different facets as he’s served as a director, producer, stylist, dancer and choreographer, all in the pursuit of cultivating an experience. He followed his dreams and worked his way up from a studio production assistant to launching his own brand and performing with 13-time Grammy award-winners headlining at Austin City Limits.
Coconato is from Lake Wales, Florida, and wanted to go to college in state but not too close to home. When he visited UNF's campus, he loved that it's a medium-sized university surrounded by a big city. He said his ultimate decision came down to UNF being the school that identified the most value in him as a person. He wanted to give the University more than even they expected.
|
|
|
Coconato dove headfirst into college life. He served as president of Kappa Sigma and director of Homecoming, was a leader on the Swoop Squad, Student Government and Dance Marathon, and was the assistant director of Osprey Productions, creating the first Oz Music Festival and orchestrating the largest on-campus flash mob alongside John Chwalisz.
His favorite memory at UNF occurred during his freshman year, where the new initiates were finally able to put Kappa Sigma Fraternity on the Homecoming podium. Katelyn (Tierney) Grande from Zeta Tau Alpha was — in his words — “The New York Yankees of the Lip Sync” having won it for her first three years, and he wanted to dethrone the champ.
For six weeks leading up to performance night, Coconato organized rehearsals three times each week for his fraternity brothers. After standing backstage watching Tierney lead another fantastic showcase from the Zetas, Coco inspired his group to put together a truly epic performance. When the judge came on stage and announced the Zetas had won second place, he knew they exceeded their initial goal by winning the whole competition.
His favorite memory wasn’t being awarded the trophy, but the look on his fraternity brothers’ faces, because after not having won anything like this in the past, they didn’t even think it was possible to win the Lip Sync competition. They continued that momentum by sweeping all the Homecoming events. UNF gave him the chance to discover his passions and his strengths and ended up being the catalyst for his career post-graduation.
|
|
|
|
|
Coconato grew up closeted, having not come out until after he graduated. He said the main origin of his extracurricular involvement was trying to find and validate his identity. After graduation, he moved out to Los Angeles to get a fresh start, which was a humbling experience for him. His first job was production assistant at Scott Free Productions, where he was now the low man on the totem pole, having to clean the office and grab coffee. In his spare time, he decided to take a dance class — Island Groove — to get out of his comfort zone, and after a few classes he realized he loved being able to let go and have a gateway for his energy. His style started to brighten up and he felt ready to embrace his “Coco.” He came out to his LA friends, then his Florida friends and finally his parents, who all lovingly embraced and accepted him.
Once he was more comfortable with who he is, the exuberance followed him around and his strong relationships in the workplace led to him getting promoted to a client services role at Rock Paper Scissors LLC. This led to him starting Twisted Oak Creative where he got to create his own characters. Similarly to Sacha Baron Cohen’s Borat, Coco created 12 different identities and personalities for Twisted Oak Creative that were all an extension of himself, including superstar Bob.
He kept advancing at RPS until he outgrew his role and was able to land a job with the Electric Theatre Collective as director of culture, where he had the freedom to create and curate culture for their brand. After about a year, he realized he wanted to pivot towards something different: creating for himself. But after a month in LA with no income, he quickly watched his bank account evaporate.
|
|
|
In November 2019, he sold his car, sublet his house and hitchhiked up the Pacific Coast Highway from LA to Seattle playing one of his characters named Polaroid Pete. While you might be imagining a horror story, Coco said he had 43 different drivers throughout the trip who all treated him well and shared different stories, which helped restore his faith in humanity. However, he still needed a source of income. He went back to his character Bob and created Bob’s Dance Shop (BDS), where he sold tickets for a pop-up dance class in the park.
Around the same time, he and a few friends attended a concert featuring the Grammy-nominated pop-EDM duo SOFI TUKKER (Sophie Hawley-Weld and Tucker Halpern) and showed up wearing Bob’s iconic yellow jumpsuit. He made friends with others in the crowd and taught them what he refers to as the “People’s Dance.” Coco improvised some easy moves and they followed along, and the rest of the audience picked it up too, creating an impromptu “Flash Bob.” This caught the attention of Sophie who brought Coco up on stage to lead the crowd in the People’s Dance.
His dance class was making good money until the pandemic hit in March and he had to transition online. He added three other featured dancers to BDS: Lucas, Kameron and Lito, and to promote the virtual BDS classes, Coco and his roommates would film content throughout the week — such as the Mean Girls dance skit. Coconato said “with the pandemi-lovato [sic], the audience didn’t want to see something so produced … people wanted to see something pure, raw, unedited and unfiltered.”
At this time, TikTok and Instagram were also fighting for content, so Bob's short video model ended up getting a boost from the platforms. These videos went viral for audiences who were looking for optimistic content during a pessimistic time — including one bought by Google for use in their commercials — and gained a whole new audience for Bob. Once COVID-19 restrictions loosened in California, Coco was able to organize a "Flash Bob" outside, which was not only well attended but garnered millions of views and tons of uplifting messages on social platforms.
|
|
|
|
|
This virality had gotten BDS invites around the world to showcase the Flash Bob, with appearances on "Good Morning America" and "America’s Got Talent." BDS was even booked to host their own show at Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits.
Since 2021, Coconato has built a team to keep up with the demand for content and expanded his character across the country from LA to New York City and Austin, and even internationally in the United Kingdom and Australia.
When SOFI TUKKER played at the CRSSD ‡ Festival in San Diego, they teamed up with BDS for a choreographed performance during the show, and after an exhilarating response from the audience, BDS was asked to join their worldwide tour.
Since then, BDS has joined other artists for their performances including Purple Disco Machine, Marc Rebillet live at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre and headliners The Chicks set at Austin City Limits. Coconato was finally able to see the value and purpose from the activities he started as a student at UNF and turn his passion into a full-time opportunity.
|
|
|
His future goals include working on more live performances and less sponsored content, creating a pilot for a Bob’s Dance Shop television series chronicling their journey through pop-up Flash Bobs, developing BDS merchandise, and designing a BDS fashion drop. A long-term goal is to expand into the music production business to create new tracks that can be featured in their videos. Coco would also love to return to his roots and bring a Flash Bob back to the UNF Arena, hopefully with his friend Coach Driscoll's participation.
When he’s not working on one of his projects, Coconato likes to take a break from social media and meditate, journal, camp, work out, play softball and beach volleyball, go on walks and smell the flowers. He still stays connected to UNF through his fraternity brothers and the other meaningful connections he made on campus. He also understands the increasing value of his and other alumni’s UNF degrees as campus engagement increases, so he continues using his creativity to brainstorm ideas on how to create more UNF traditions and pride.
|
|
|
|
Sophia Ward ('19)
& Drew Monteau ('17) |
Born to alumni Tim Ward ('93) and Corey Ward (née O'Connor) ('96), Sophia had grown up around the University, even having learned to swim in the UNF Aquatic Center.
Drew is also a second-generation Osprey from former UNF track athletes Dan Monteau ('87) and Lisa Monteau (née Catman) ('87).
Sophia and Drew met while doing their undergraduate studies at UNF. After close to four years of dating, Drew popped the question in July. Can you think of anywhere more fitting to take their engagement photos than on campus?
|
| Travis Williams recently celebrated his one-year anniversary with LIFT JAX, Inc., an initiative of business and philanthropic leaders working to eradicate generational poverty through neighborhood revitalization in the urban core. Williams was brought on as VP of Operations and Impact in 2021.
LIFT JAX has partnered with the Historic Eastside Community, where Williams was born and raised as a fourth-generation resident.
|
|
|
| We want to celebrate YOU! Send us your promotions, proposals and proud moments by filling out our survey below. Be sure to follow us on social media for our Good News shoutouts.
|
|
|
Manage your preferences | Opt Out using TrueRemove™
Got this as a forward? Sign up to receive our future emails.
View this email online.
|
1 UNF Drive | Jacksonville, FL 32224 US
|
|
|
This email was sent to .
To continue receiving our emails, add us to your address book.
|
| |
|
|
