Following two months of delays, the second opening ceremony of the new Judy Genshaft Honors College (JGHC) building gave students a chance to tour the building and its facilities on Friday.

The brand new 85,000 square foot building’s opening was delayed twice since it was unveiled on May 12 by numerous supply chain issues, even forcing Summer B classes to relocate to the John and Grace Allen building, which was the former house for the college, according to a June 16 Oracle article. 

The building was closed over the summer to allow for the testing of building controls, security, electrical and HVAC – heating, ventilation and air conditioning – systems, according to the article. Supply chain issues also affected the installation of components for these systems. 

After the delays were resolved, former USF President Judy Genshaft and her husband, Steve Greenbaum, were insistent that students had their own opening ceremony, according to the Director of Communications and Marketing for the JGHC Dana Taylor.

“I feel like our first opening was put on for all the people who had kind of built the building and the faculty and staff and donors. But this building and the honors mission is so student-focused,” Taylor said.

During the three hour celebration, which ran from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., registered students were able to receive vouchers for food trucks from the local area and enjoy the steel drum band from the USF School of Music while having lunch.

Though the rain affected attendance for the first half hour of the ceremony, around 70% of the projected 1000 students who RSVPed to the event were present by noon, according to Taylor. 

Genshaft said the opening of the new building will elevate the brand of the JGHC as a whole.

“It’s unique, and it provides opportunities for the students in the Judy Genshaft Honors College. We wanted it to be the best in the country. It’s just very unique. And we looked all over the country for the right model,” she said.

With the introduction of a new building dedicated to honors students, Taylor said it is now possible to better visualize the impact of the honors community.

“There’s 2500 students that are part of honors. That’s a sizable chunk of USF,” Taylor said. 

“You never got the sense of that at the Allen building… so just seeing something like this, you realize how big of a community it really is. That’s probably what leads to the feeling [that] things are changing or things are different, but it’s kind of always been this way. It’s just now you can really see it.”

The JGHC building offers amenities to USF students from all three campuses, including learning lofts, a computer lab and a music studio, according to a January 18 Oracle article. But it also spotlights the resources available to both current and future students, according to Dean of the Judy Genshaft Honor College Charles Adams.

“I think it makes a statement about the value of Honors education to USF,” he said.  “It tells an incoming student that USF cares about academic excellence. And that we want excellent students to join us and be part of this community and benefit from it and benefit our community. It’s going to give them a very strong message about how important it is to be a great student here.”

The building was designed by world-renowned architects from the firm Morphosis located in New York, according to Adams. 

“There’s nothing like it,” Adams said. “It’s the finest honors facility in the country.”

The delays in opening did not tarnish Genshaft’s spirit as she said she is dedicated to her philosophy of giving back.

“I love the University of South Florida,” she said. “First you learn, then you earn and then you return. You must return. Whatever you can do, you have to help others that have helped you,” Genshaft said.