By Camila Fernandez/Staff Writer
After 35 years at the University, the women who is credited with making the Graham Center what it is today is retiring.
GC Director Ruth Hamilton not only led the center in a different direction than it was going in 1989, but she also led many students and colleagues along the way.
“She has led me in a direction that I didn’t know I wanted to go,” said Adriana Trespalacios, assistant director of GC building operations.
Trespalacios started as a freshman architecture major at the University in 2006 and graduated with a master’s in interior design two years ago. She said Ruth has influenced her to change her direction in life.
Instead of being “stuck in a cubi” doing architectural plans, she has had the opportunity to interact with students and administrators, constantly learning something new.
“I realized that, yes, I can do pretty rooms and pretty architecture,” Trespalacios said. “But really what’s important is in this context — students.”
According to Hamilton, generating opportunities is how the University can continue making a difference.
“I would like to see — how can I work with people in the community to sell the point that we have talented students at FIU. How can we generate those funds so that those students that want to go somewhere [abroad], we create the opportunity,” Hamilton said.
Anthony Rionda, College of Law’s chief of staff, said Hamilton is like a ball of energy — “she’s always everywhere.”
“You have advisors, you have people that help you, but Ruth really did take it to the next level,” said Rionda, who served as Student Government Council president in 2009-2010.
“She helped students transition from just joining student government to understanding how important it is to be responsible for students,” Rionda said. “She lets students know they have someone they can trust.”
Hamilton began as the assistant director of student activities in 1980, only eight years after FIU opened its doors. She was appointed executive director of GC in 1989.
“The Graham Center’s motto is ‘You’re home away from home,’ and I think Ruth really does act like a mother to a lot of people,” Rionda said. “She’s always thinking what can be done next. She’s the glue that stuck everything together for a lot of people.”
Larry Lunsford, vice president of Student Affairs, agrees that Hamilton has created a “home away from home” for students at GC.
According to Lunsford, Hamilton’s first major renovation was the commencement of GC’s transformation to what it is today.
“When I came here in 1989, it was opened, it wasn’t enclosed,” Lunsford said, “And the pit — you could look up and see the sky. There were ducks everywhere and it wasn’t air-conditioned.”
“Now you can walk anywhere and there are students in the hallways studying, sleeping or on their cell phones. To me, students love Graham Center, and she created Graham Center.”
As the center began to grow extensively, Lunsford was recruited as full director of student activities. He said that he could not have succeeded without her knowledge of how events like homecoming and lecture series are done, as well as how to work with SGA and their budget process.
“She laid the foundation, laid the groundwork,” Lunsford said. “I picked up in the activity part, but she continued to build Graham Center after that. She bleeds blue and gold.”
According to Ruth, there were many naysayers during FIU’s first years who didn’t believe in all the opportunities that a new public university presented.
“A lot of people would say, ‘Oh that’s never gonna work; that will never happen.’ Now it’s so rewarding to say, ‘Listen, we did it.’ We’re moving forward and upward to be a ‘best university,’” she said.
In the past, Ruth has been involved with taking buses of students to Tallahassee to approve programs the University has today. According to her, the College of Law was the most difficult to get approval for.
“My last ten years has been so exciting because the University has accomplished so many things that 20 to 30 years ago I thought we would never accomplish,” Ruth said.
“I’ll never forget when [Modesto] Maidique was elected president [of FIU]. He met with us and he said, ‘We’re going to be a major urban research university.’ And I would say, ‘How’s he going to do that?’” Hamilton said. “Now, I can’t believe we did it.”
Lunsford and President Mark B. Rosenberg are hosting a tribute event for Hamilton: “A Million Thanks” for her years of service on May 9 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the GC ballrooms.