January 21, 2021 – New signage has been installed at the Fine Arts Hall on Santa Fe College’s Northwest Campus in honor of its former president, Dr. Jackson N. Sasser. Last year, the SF District Board of Trustees announced the renaming of the Fine Arts Hall as the Jackson N. Sasser Fine Arts Hall and Center Road as Sasser Ln. Although delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, both the street sign and building signage are now in place.
Dr. Sasser served as president of the college from 2001 until his retirement on Jan. 31, 2020. Under his leadership, SF increased in both size and stature and was consistently listed as one of the top performing colleges in the Florida College System. The college also received national recognition, including being named the number one community college in the nation by the Aspen Institute in 2015. Dr. Sasser also expanded the college’s international outreach and added three new educational centers in Alachua, Archer and Keystone Heights.
With the addition of the Jackson N. Sasser Fine Arts Hall, all four of SF’s former presidents have buildings named after them on the Northwest Campus. The library is named after Lawrence W. Tyree, SF’s third president; the administration building is named after the SF’s second president, Alan J. Robertson; and the building that houses student services, including admissions and financial aid, is named for the college’s first president, Joseph W. Fordyce.
In order to mitigate the risk of the spread of COVID-19, a ceremony to honor Jackson and Layne Sasser has been postponed. The college hopes to have a ceremony later this year.