This the third part of a series exploring NSU’s history.
Part four in this series will explore the establishment of NSU’s student life, the merger with Southeastern University and what the future holds for the university. Look for it in the April 22 issue.
Surmounting money problems
NSU has grown tremendously but that growth was not without struggle. One of these was breaking away from New York Institute of Technology, its academic and buisness partner.
In his book, “The Making of Nova Southeastern University: A Tradition of Innovation, 1964-2014,” Julian Pleasants notes that the 1970s and 1980s brought tough financial times for Nova University. Bills went unpaid, and Abraham Fischler, NSU’s fifth president, had to take money from the law school and Educational Leadership Program to make ends meet. By 1975, the university was $910,000 in debt and the deficit increased to $3 million from 1983 to 1984.
To make ends meet, Nova borrowed money from New York Institute of Technology, paying them off and then collecting more debt in a cycle. By the late 70s, it became clear to the board of directors that it was time to leave NYIT.
Fischler wanted to stay with NYIT, telling the board that the school was “a great asset to Nova University.”
However, he eventually realized that the differences between NYIT and Nova out valued what he had once called “a truly symbiotic relationship.” Finally, after lawsuits and disagreements, NYIT and Nova signed an agreement on Oct. 31, 1985. Nova agreed to pay its debts to NYIT and NYIT and Nova staff left the others’ board of trustees.
Building a law school
When the law school started its second year in 1975, the school had 330 students and provisional accreditation from the American Bar Association. But it needed a building.
“I needed a building to get the law school fully accredited,” he said.
Originally, Leo Goodwin, Sr. Hall was owned by Nova’s operating engineers. Fischler expressed his concern for obtaining a building in the article in the Sunday paper. The next day, he got his wish when a Canadian representative from Olympia and York, a real estate development company, offered to pay for a building.
“I didn’t even know who they were,” Fischler said. “He said, ‘I’d like to help you with a building.’ That was like Santa Claus — better than Santa Claus.”
Olympia and York bought the building and refurbished it for $750,000. It opened in August 1979. Eventually, Nova was able to purchase the building after making payments for 23 years.
“It served a very important spot because I can put in programs in [the East Campus] and then go elsewhere on the main campus,” Fischler said. “And that’s the last building I built.”
Ray Ferrero, then a member of the board and now NSU’s chancellor, knew Shepard Broad for a long time and asked him to donate to the building. Broad donated $3 million and with a $5 million gift from Leo Goodwin’s Goodwin Unitrust, the law school was set for full accreditation a future on the main campus.
Being a student
Nova University’s undergraduate population was small but also rich.
Suzanne Ferriss, professor in the Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences, first came to NSU as an undergraduate in 1981. She majored in general studies, with a focus on literature.
“We had team-taught classes that were six-credits long when I first came here, and most of the academic curriculum was focused on the general education classes and only later on did you get into your major.”
At that time, there were only 60 undergraduate students and three buildings: the Parker Building, the Mailman-Hollywood Building, and the Rosenthal Student Center. On the Parker Building’s first floor was the library and the University School. Then called the Farquhar Center for Undergraduate Studies, the undergraduate college occupied the second floor and the classrooms and faculty offices were there. The third floor included registrar and administrative offices. There were no restaurants at Nova so students would go to places in downtown Davie.
“The [Parker] Building was very different because you went in to come into your college classes through the high school and up to the college, so that was very unusual,” Ferriss said.
Even though there were few students, student life still existed. Ferriss was involved in student government and a poetry club. Her orientation was a beach party, and in one humanities class, she and her classmates went to the theater and movies together.
“Because we were a smaller cohort of students, we had opportunities to do things together … It was too early for traditions yet,” Ferriss said. “We were new. We were trying new things. The school was really focused on the future and innovation and less on looking back and establishing a tradition.”
Ferriss’ professors helped her change her mind about what she wanted to do with her life and she found her career; according to Ferriss, students still get this treatment today.
“The thing that hasn’t changed between when I was here and now is those small classes and that interaction with full-time faculty. That’s something that we have always had,” she said. “I would say that that’s an academic tradition that we’ve had and that I hope the university never loses.”
