Maidique gets surprise fete

 BY HOLLY STEPP

 For a rare moment in his 15-year tenure, Florida International University President Modesto ``Mitch'' Maidique wasn't quite sure what was going on at his campus.

 For a couple of days, his staff had given him dozens of reasons why he needed to be in the university's student center at noon on Thursday. ``But they were all so
 outrageous that I couldn't believe them,'' said Maidique. ``So I knew something was up.''

 What was up was a lunchtime celebration marking Maidique's 15th anniversary as president of Miami-Dade's only public university.

 With a trumpet fanfare, salsa music and a guava-filled cake with 15 candles, student, faculty and staff staged an anniversary tribute to the man whom many credit with transforming South Florida's largest university.

 Since Maidique took the helm as the school's fourth president on Oct. 13, 1986, Florida International's enrollment has grown from 16,400 to more than 32,000. Research funding from external sources has more than quadrupled over the past decade, from $13.4 million in 1990-91 to $61.2 million in 2000-01. Nearly half of the buildings on the University Park Campus on Southwest Eighth Street were built during his tenure.

 And the school, which also has campuses in North Miami and Pembroke Pines, has seen its academic offerings grow as well with new schools of law and architecture as well as 20 new doctoral programs.

 "You have given us a world-class university that is a source of pride to the entire community,'' said student body president Victor Romano. He also read a declaration from the Student Senate, declaring Thursday ``Maidique Day.''

 An oversized card featuring FIU's Golden Panther logo was signed by the couple of hundred people who turned out for at the event in the Graham Center. Members of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity honored ``Brother Scratch, for 15 great years.''

 A former competitive ballroom dancer, Maidique was also coaxed out onto a makeshift dance floor by several students.

 "I am flattered and overwhelmed by this,'' said Maidique. ``It has been an honor to be a part of this university.''

                                    © 2001