Angela Brav, a hospitality industry veteran, and Bradley Brown, corporate treasurer for Ally Financial, Inc. are the newest trustees of the Flagler College Board of Trustees. Their tenures will begin on May 23.

On Wednesday, March 13, Flagler College will launch its annual Giving Day fundraiser for student scholarships. New this year in honor of the college’s 50th anniversary is a 50 Hour Giving Challenge in which the college has been tasked by an anonymous donor to gain a total of at least 500 donors in 50 hours. If the college can complete the challenge, it will receive an additional $25,000 grant. The challenge will run from March 13 at 8 a.m. through March 15 at 10 a.m.

Tracy Upchurch, director of the Frank D. Upchurch Sr. endowed Law Program at Flagler College, has been appointed mayor of St. Augustine following a unanimous vote by the City Commission on March 4. Upchurch was selected for the position after Mayor Nancy Shaver resigned to concentrate on her recovery from a stroke.

On Saturday, Dec. 15, Flagler College handed out diplomas to 153 seniors, including 43 locals from St. Johns County, in the college’s gymnasium. Flagler College’s Public Administration (PAD) Program graduated 16 in the college’s Lewis Auditorium, including eight locals.

Flagler College held its fall commencement ceremony at the Flagler College Gymnasium on Saturday, Dec. 15, for approximately 153 graduating seniors. Sixteen students also graduated from Flagler College’s Public Administration (PAD) Program at 4 p.m. in the college’s Lewis Auditorium.

by Jayda Barnes, '20 Flagler College’s Model UN team attended the 29th annual Southern Regional Model United Nations (SRMUN) conference Nov. 15-17. The team won Best Delegation in United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and overall Honorable Delegation.

Flagler College will hold its fall commencement ceremony Saturday, Dec. 15, for graduating seniors. Approximately 153 students will receive diplomas at the Flagler College Gymnasium.

Just in time for the holidays, historical tours of Flagler College’s Hotel Ponce de Leon will begin to run on the hour, every hour, between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. beginning Monday, Dec. 17. The expanded tour schedule will last until Dec. 31.

by Jayda Barnes, '20 Autumn Stanish, ’19, has taken on several projects to understand the circumstances of homelessness in St. Augustine. Stanish, an English major, began by writing a book for her honors program senior capstone project, which detailed anecdotal accounts of living in St. Augustine by members of the city’s homeless community. Under the working title, “Street People: Monologues from the Homeless of St. Augustine,” the book seeks to uncover Stanish’s questions on why homelessness is an issue in St. Augustine and why many people of the homeless community are drawn to St. Augustine as their city of residence.

On Saturday, Dec. 1, all are invited to hear readings from the book series "The Adventures of Charlie Pierce” by Harvey E. Oyer III. The event is free and open to the public starting at 11 a.m. in the Lewis Auditorium with a lecture, meet and greet and book signing.

The Flagler College Women of Vision Advisory Board, whose mission is to provide scholarships and opportunities for women attending the college, has recently welcomed five new members. They are Liz Dolan, Paula Hutson, Barbara Mahoney, Sandy Meeks and Shannon Murray. The newly elected members represent various constituencies, including friends of Flagler College, alumni, donors and community leaders.

Architectural Digest Magazine has ranked Flagler College seventh on its new list of ‘50 Most Beautiful Colleges in America.’ Tops on the list was Yale University, and the list also included notable campuses like Princeton, Stanford, Georgetown, Notre Dame and many others.

On Nov. 1, 1993 at 6:59 a.m., the Flagler College radio station, WFCF 88.5, broadcasted over the radio waves for the first time. This year on Nov. 1, WFCF celebrated its 25th anniversary with a block party with Flagler College students, faculty and staff. Alongside the radio, the station’s manager, Dan McCook, also celebrated his 25 years with the college.

On Friday, Oct. 26 the Colloquium on Culture and Religion in La Florida began with a Tibesar Lecture from Dr. John Worth of the University of West Florida. His presentation was titled, “Exploring the Franciscan Legacy in Spanish Florida: Historical and Archaeological Evidence.”

More than 300 Flagler College students, faculty, staff and alumni participated on Saturday, Oct. 27 for a day of community service. The Reach Out Raise Up event is student-organized each semester by Flagler College Volunteers (FCV).

Elaine Povich, senior staff writer for Pew Trusts’ Stateline news service, will be speaking at Flagler College in the Lewis Auditorium on Tuesday, Nov. 13 on state powers. Her talk, titled "“The Return of the Federalist: The Power of States in the Obama and Trump Eras,” is part of Flagler College’s Forum on Government and Public Policy series.

The Crisp-Ellert Art Museum announced a forthcoming exhibition of work by artist Sky Hopinka entitled “Around the Edge of Encircling Lake” set for Nov. 2 – Dec. 8. Events will begin on Friday, Nov. 2 at 5 p.m., with a brief walkthrough of the exhibition and a reading by the artist. An opening reception will follow, continuing until 8 p.m. This event is free and open to the public.

Eric W. Hoffman, Ph.D., associate professor of communication and director of the Flagler College Breathe Free campaign, received the American Cancer Society's "In It to Quit It Award" during the Tobacco Free Generation Campus Initiative annual conference in Atlanta.

On Oct. 25, Sherry Johnson, Ph.D, professor of history at Florida International University in Miami and research associate at the Historic St. Augustine Research Institute, will share with the audience the ways in which Florida and Cuba connect. Her presentation, titled “Florida and Cuba: Five Centuries of Shared History and Culture” is part of Flagler College’s Ideas & Images series.

On Oct. 24, registered participants in Flagler College’s Adult and Continuing Education (ACE) program will have their annual celebration of accomplishments to include presentations and demonstrations from various program instructors and participants. Since 2015, Flagler College has offered ACE in areas of Lifelong Learning, Corporate Training and Professional Development, and Test Preparation.