Veritas, Vol. 40, No. 09, July 1998

              Veritas
July 1998
Volume 40 • Number 9
For the Faculty and Staff of the University of Miami
University honors community leader Luis J. Botifoll
The University recently
bestowed the Presidential Order of Merit award on prominent Cuban-American community leader and businessman Luis J. Botifoll during a special ceremony at the University’s John J. Koubek Memorial Center, located in the Litde Havana section of Miami. During the event, the University also formally dedicated the Koubek Centers 180-seat auditorium in Botifoll s honor.
The auditorium recently underwent a major renovation and will serve as a venue for numerous educational, cultural, and social events held annually at the popular Koubek Center, part of the School of Continuing Studies.
“The University of Miami is honoring Dr. Botifoll because he has been a tireless leader in helping to improve relations among South Florida’s diverse communities,” says President Edward T Foote II. “We are extremely proud to name the Koubek auditorium in his honor because he has demonstrated a long-term commitment to helping the center grow and thrive.”
Before fleeing Castro’s regime in 1960, Botifoll worked as a corporate attorney, legal advisor to the Cuban Commerce Department, chief of maritime economic affairs at the Cuban Maritime Commission, editor of one of Cuba’s leading newspapers, El Mundo, and president of Union Radio.
In the 1960s, Botifoll became a prominent community leader in his new home, South Florida. In 1970, he was named director of Republic National Bank, which helped many Cuban exiles start over in the United States. In 1978, he was elected chairman of the bank’s board of directors. After retiring from the bank in 1993, he was named chairman emeritus. Botifoll, who will turn 90 in June, also holds the title of honorary chairman of the Friends of Koubek and has been instrumental in raising funds for the center, primarily from Miami’s Cuban community. He is trustee emeritus of the University’s Board of Trustees.
The heart of the University’s Koubek Center, located at 2703 Southwest Third Street, is a Mediterranean-style mansion built in 1929 by John J. Koubek, a real estate investor who had come to the United States as an eight-year-old immigrant from Austria. Koubek built the home for his wife, Rose. The mansion features exquisite architectural details such as stained-glass windows bearing tropical flora and fauna, a wrought-iron spiral staircase dotted with seahorses, and colorful hand-painted tiles depicting the fabled exploits of Don Quixote. Following his wife’s death, Koubek donated the 3,000-square-foot mansion and $ 1 million to the University of Miami in 1942. In the 1930s, the University added a small
President Foote bestows the Presidential Order of Merit on Trustee Emeritus Luis J. Botifoll, an eminent Cuban-American community leader and businessman.
auditorium (now used as a classroom) and a two-story classroom building.
In the 1960s, the Koubek Center began serving thousands of newly arrived Cubans fleeing their homeland. The center offered these new immigrants English classes as well as a wide variety of non-credit courses in Spanish. Most of these classes were designed to ease the transition between the Cuban and American cultures as well as provide job training in new professions. In the seventies, the center began offering recertification and refresher courses for Cuban-American professionals to assist them in continuing their careers in this country.
In the late 1970s, the University began construction of a new auditori-
um on the property to be used for lectures, conferences, and cultural events. This auditorium, which was completed in 1980, has recently undergone extensive renovations and has been renamed the Luis J. Botifoll Auditorium.
“The Koubek Center is a valuable educational and cultural resource that responds directly to the needs of the growing Hispanic community in which it is located,” says Carol Holden, dean of the School of Continuing Studies. “It’s a home for learning where career-minded people new to this country can feel at home.”
Since joining the University in 1989, Dean Holden has led the effort to restore the center’s aging mansion and other buildings. She was instru-
mental in obtaining a $223,000 grant from the State of Florida’s Division of Historical Resources for the restoration of the mansion in 1995. Several years ago, she forged an alliance with Botifoll to solicit donations from the Cuban community for the restoration of the auditorium. Since that time, the two have developed a close friendship.
“Each of us shares a deep love for the Koubek Center and the important role it has played in helping the Hispanic community thrive in South Florida,” says Holden. “Dr. Botifoll is an amazing man who knows firsthand the lasting benefits of helping immigrants restart their lives in a new country.”
Working with the center’s director, Pablo Chao, Holden has greatly enhanced the non-credit programs by offering certificate programs in a variety of areas including business, communications, and computers.
Last year, more than 30,000 people participated in various activities at the center and about 3,000 enrolled in classes. Roughly 70 percent of the people the Koubek Center serves each year are of Cuban origin; the remainder are from other Latin American countries.
“The Koubek Center is a great opportunity for the University to reach out to the community in ways it never has,” Holden says. Among her dreams for the center’s future are showcasing books by Cuban exile authors, presenting art exhibitions, and hosting lecture series and other events appealing to the entire South Florida community.
President Bush calls graduates to action
For the 17th year in a row
sunny skies shone down on the University during its outdoor graduation ceremony on May 8.
Former president of the United States George Bush delivered the University’s 72nd annual commencement address. In his speech, Bush challenged graduates to start their new lives right away.
“Dream big dreams. You can’t be afraid of failure. You have the whole world out there waiting for you,” he said. “No matter what path you choose in life, don’t waste time.”
Bush looked back on his term as the 41 st president of the United States, which was marked by worldwide efforts toward peace and democracy. “We saw the threat of nuclear annihilation that scared your parents to death all but disappear,” he said.
He also reflected on the winds of change. “Today as I stand here,
removed 50 years from my own graduation, it’s amazing to see the way the world has changed so dramatically,”
Graduates take in words of wisdom-laughs—from George Bush.
said Bush. “And there’s no telling exactly what kind of world you’ll see unfold in the next 50 years.”
Shannon Neville, recipient of the 1998 award for excellence in student involvement, also told her fellow graduates to set big goals. “Raise your dreams as high as you can reach, and then set them higher.”
Bush was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Public Service. Honorary doctorates were conferred upon six other dignitaries:
•	Doctor of Humanities, Barbara Bush, former First Lady;
•	Doctor of Science, Edwin Krebs, Nobel Laureate;
•	Doctor of Humane Letters,
Agustín A. Román, one of the first Cubans in over two centuries to be appointed bishop in the United States, auxiliary bishop with the Archdiocese of Miami since 1979;
•	Doctor of Laws, Chesterfield Smith, founding partner of Holland & Knight and noted leader in the legal profession;
•	Doctor of Music, Billy Taylor, world-renowned jazz pianist.
President Edward T. Foote II ended the ceremony with a fond farewell to the graduates. “For just a moment we at UM pause to say we are proud of you and we will miss you,” says Foote. “Good luck in your pursuits. Stay in touch and congratulations.”