On the recordMay 25, 2010
It is with great joy that I stand here before you and my fellow colleagues today to offer House Resolution 1169, honoring Rollins College on its 125th anniversary. 125 years ago, the great State of Florida was largely a frontier. A daring group of New England Congregationalists, however, envisioned something more. They envisioned what Florida could be. So, in 1885 they established a small college, coeducational from the start, on the shores of Lake Virginia in Winter Park, Florida. Over time, this humble school, nestled among the native pines and palmettos, would grow along with our great State. It has influenced the development of not only the central Florida region, through such alumni as Al Weiss, the former president of Walt Disney World Parks and Resorts, but also our whole Nation, through graduates such as Fred Rogers, better known to the country as Mr. Rogers. Rollins College has also contributed to a deeper understanding of our world through such graduates as Donald Cram, who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1987.
