A rededication of the UNF Student Wellness Complex was held outside its doors Oct. 17 where UNF alumni and current students gathered to see the ribbon cut.

The event marked the complex as an official addition to UNF’s expanding campus.

Dottie Dorion, who donated $100,000 to renovate the center in 1995 and after whom the second floor of the current complex is named, said much has changed at UNF since she was a student in 1969 when the university first opened.

Dorion said it was good to see so much state-of-the-art equipment at the center, a far cry from a time when she and other students had to pass around a hat to gather funds for sending the UNF tennis team to the national championship.

Dorion said the complex not only gives students a place to stay healthy but also serves as a social venue. Another important amenity to Dorion is the availability of specially adapted equipment for the physically disabled, so that the center is all-inclusive.

The center is change for Carlo Fassi, student body president, as well, he said. The Student Union had newly opened when he first came to UNF in 2009.

Since then, UNF has added several buildings, such as the biological sciences building and the dining facility.

Fassi said the center is an important way to complement education with a healthy lifestyle.

Email Lydia Moneir at reporter20@unfspinnaker.com.