University of North Florida President Moez Limayem announced that the college of education would be renamed the Silverfield College of Education and Human Services at a ceremony Monday afternoon, outside the student union.
The rename comes after a gift from longtime university supporters Gary and Laine Silverfield, and their family. Laine Silverfield is a UNF alumna who received her bachelor’s in special education and Gary Silverfield served on the college’s advisory board for many years.
President Limayem presented the new name at the ceremony and thanked the Silverfields for their support.
“Since 1972, UNF’s College of Education and Human Services has graduated more than 22,000 students with bachelor’s degrees or higher, who have gone on to educate, mentor and counsel future generations of students in our region,” said Limayem during the ceremony. “We are incredibly grateful to the Silverfields for their generosity and for their passion for education.”
Silverfield COEHS Dean Stephen Dittmore also spoke at the ceremony and expressed his gratitude to the Silverfields.
“This gift from Gary and Laine Silverfield validates the dedication and passion of our faculty in delivering quality education to undergraduate and graduate students,” Dittmore said. “We are in the bold city, and we strive to produce bold graduates prepared to contribute to the community in Northeast Florida and the state.”
During her speech, Laine Silverfield said Dittmore played a large part in proposing the initiatives that will come from her family’s gift.
Molly Springer is a sports management student and the president of the sports management club at UNF. She attended the ceremony and was onstage for the presentation with some other clubmates. The Silverfields’ gift will support two sports management education initiatives.
Springer said the initiatives will help grow the program she’s already a part of. She said her favorite part of the club is learning from professors and guest speakers in the field.
“We bring in a lot of guest speakers from all different walks of life,” Springer said. “They all want us to improve and want to work with us.”
According to the university release, the Silverfields’ gift will support the following initiatives:
- Silverfield Family Endowed Professorship in Sport Management and Coaching Education: UNF’s first endowed professorship in this field.
- The Laine S. Silverfield Endowed Professorship in Special Education: Another first endowed professorship dedicated to recruiting, retaining and supporting an outstanding faculty member in the field of special education or a closely related field.
- Silverfield Family Coaching Education, Professional Development and Research Fund: This covers costs related to coaches’ annual certification and will fund the Silverfield Family Athletic Symposium.
- Establishes and funds a director position for The CIRCLE: An on-campus community that will support programs, initiatives and events for students with intellectual and developmental differences. This position will integrate established support programs including THRIVE, USOAR, Duval County Public Schools Project Search and The Arc Jacksonville On Campus Transition Program.
- Establishes the Silverfield Special Education Fund: This fund supports programmatic initiatives, events and student opportunities.
- Silverfield Endowed Excellence Fund: Provides critical resources for the dean of the college to grow innovative degree programs and student success resources, including scholarship funding for students.
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