History of Florida Atlantic University

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Florida Atlantic University is a public university in Boca Raton, Florida in the United States of America.

[edit] Boca Raton Army Airfield

The history of Florida Atlantic University does not begin with its founding on 6 December 1962. Instead, the university's roots lie two decades earlier in the turbulent days of World War II. In 1942, in response to the emerging Axis threat, the United States began to rapidly mobilize and expand its armed forces. In addition to enlarging its Army and Navy, the US also sought to expand its Air Force. The Air Force at this time was called the Army Air Corps, and was a subordinate program within the army. To expand the Air Corps, new bases were established throughout the United States, including bases in southern Florida at Homestead, Morrison Field in West Palm Beach, and at the Boca Raton Airport. This expansion, and the militarization of the Boca Raton Airport in southern Palm Beach County, would lay the groundwork for the creation of Florida Atlantic University.^[1]

The Boca Raton Airport, also known as Boca Raton Army Airfield, was selected to house a military airfield for a number of geographic and practical reasons. Southern Florida's climate and physical geography are generally considered mild compared to most northern locations. Florida experiences a winter climate characteristic of the subtropics. Lacking snow or low temperatures enabled military operations to continue year round. Florida also has consistently flat terrain, an ideal feature when training new and inexperienced pilots. Its location adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico also provided ideal locations for flight training. Boca Raton was also chosen for practical purposes. In the early-1940s, Boca Raton's population numbered only 723. This enabled the United States government to take thousands of acres of land for its use without having to relocate a large number of people. However, this is not to say that the establishment of the military airfield was without controversy. A majority of the land was acquired from Japanese-American farmers from the failing Yamato Colony. The land was seized through the process of eminent domain, leaving many Japanese-Americans little recourse in the early days of World War II.^[2] All of these conditions enabled construction of the military airfield to commence in June of 1942.^[3][1]

The Boca Raton Army Airfield officially opened in October of 1942 as the Air Corps' sole radar training facility. The base was built on the existing Boca Raton Airport, and 5,860 acres of adjacent land.^[2] The airfield comprised four runways, each stretching 5,200 feet long, set in a triangle shape. Over the course of the war, the airfield would grow to encompass more than 800 buildings serving approximately 100,000 airmen, including those who were aboard the Enola Gay when it dropped a nuclear weapon on Hiroshima.^[4][5] In total, the construction and expansion of the airfield cost more than $9 million (1942 US dollars), and employed about 1,200 civilians. In addition to serving as a training facility, the base also housed patrol planes searching for enemy submarines, and served as a weigh station for planes being ferried to the European theatre. By the end of 1945, about 100 planes were stationed at the airbase.^[1][6]

The conclusion of World War II marked a significant turning point in the history of Florida Atlantic University. Boca Raton Army Airfield, which had served as the sole radar training facility for the entire American Air Corps throughout World War II, saw a steady decline in use. By early-1947, the military decided to transfer future radar training operations to Kessler Air Force Base in Mississippi. This decision was finalized when on September 17, 1947, the Fort Lauderdale Hurricane struck south Florida. According to historian Donald Curl, "the 1947 storm caused extensive damage to the hurriedly built frame structures of the base and was responsible for widespread flooding. These conditions convinced the Air Force to abandon the site earlier than originally planned."^[6]

The departure of the Air Force in 1947 would leave Boca Raton Army Airfield essentially abandoned. Roger Miller, who visited the airfield during this period, describes the airbase as having "a small operations office to check into and out of, a deteriorating and empty mess hall, and about twenty-odd other wooden buildings of World War II vintage. Weeds were knee high everywhere but on the runways and were growing through the cracks there."^[7] Following the departure of the Air Force, the Boca Raton Army Airfield was transferred through a Quitclaim Deed by the United States War Assets Administration to the Town of Boca Raton. However, this did not enable the town to actively use the property beyond its capacity as an airport. A provision in the deed required that Boca Raton use the entire 5,860 acre airport property for "public airport purposes". This ensured that a majority of the land would remain vacant for the near future.^[1]

[edit] The birth of Florida Atlantic University

With the end of World War II, Florida experienced a population migration that saw a steady stream of people moving from the northern United States to southern Florida. These migrants were drawn by the state's tropical climate, and the ability Florida provided to escape the crowded north. Additionally, a large percentage of these people were stationed in Florida or had passed through the state while serving in the armed forces during the war. As a result of this increase in population, the Florida Legislature recognized "that this peopling of South Florida had to be provided the basic benefits of an enlightened government. This included access to higher education more readily available than that offered at the University of Florida at Gainesville or at Florida State University..."^[7] "The size of the problem was enormous, so much so that it was very difficult to persuade either the legislature or the general public to face up to it in terms of cost."^[7] However, Governor LeRoy Collins was able to maneuver through the legislature a two tiered university system. The lower tier was a junior or community college system. And the top tier consisted of upper-division universities. By placing only juniors and seniors at these higher division schools, the state was able to double the number of universities while making them more accessible to the population. This system, according to historian Roger Miller, was "mothered by necessity, inasmuch as the state could not or would not support the creation of twenty-odd lower level schools and, at the same time, bring into operation a system of four-year freestanding universities."^[7] While the division of the university system enabled the creation of more educational institutions, in the years to come it would also hinder the growth of Florida Atlantic University.

On June 20, 1955, in response to lack of higher education in south Florida, House Bill No. 1289, was passed authorizing the establishment of a state university in Palm Beach County. This led Thomas Fleming, a local Boca Raton businessman to convince the Boca Raton City Council to offer its control over the land to the state as the site of a new public university. Fleming was also instrumental in negotiating with the Civil Aeronautics Authority to grant its control over the airfield to Florida. The Authority agreed, but insisted upon two conditions. "...First, a thousand acres, for educational use only, transferred with the condition that a state university be established by 1969." And second, "a grant of 201 acres, carried the covenant that a civilian aviation operation be maintained on it indefinitely."^[7] In January of 1957, the Board of Control selected the defunct former military airfield as the site of the fifth public university in Florida.

[edit] Notes and references