In the 1963 legislative session, state Senator John E. "Jack" Mathews Jr. introduced a bill to authorize a four-year institution of higher education for Duval County. The bill did not pass through the committee process.
The Florida Junior College at Jacksonville opens.
In August 1967, the voters of Jacksonville and Duval County elected to consolidate the existing city and county governments, and in October of the following year, the two governments were united into one. Jacksonville became--overnight--one of the largest cities in area in the world.
Responding to the legislative action of 1965, the Florida Board of Regents conducted a feasibility study which was published in February of 1967.
To begin construction of the new institution, the 1967 Legislature authorized the expenditure of $1.4 million, subject to the sale of bonds. Planning money was not provided by the 1967 Legislature.
Jacksonville Mayor Hans Tanzler appointed Gert H.W. Schmidt chairman of a committee to select a site for the public university recently authorized by the Florida Legislature for Duval County.
A special session of the 1968 Florida Legislature appropriated $225,850 to plan for the new institution and employ the early administrators.
A 1,000 acre site for the new state university in Jacksonville is selected by the Board of Regents and has been approved by the State Board of Education.
Florida Board of Regents appointed Dr. Thomas G. Carpenter as UNF's first president.
Board of Regents accepted title to the campus site. Murphy states, ". . the City of Jacksonville and area landowners donated the 1,000 acre campus site midway between the beaches and the city."
