LAKELAND, Fla. (May 8, 2007) — Florida Southern College is pleased to announce the creation of the Jane Elizabeth Jenkins Rose Garden, given by the late Dr. Charles H. Jenkins, Sr., former FSC trustee, in honor of his beloved daughter, Jane, a 1980 graduate of the College. A dedication ceremony will take place May 18 at noon at the garden, which is located next to the Eleanor Searle Drawing Room on campus.

“The Jane Elizabeth Jenkins Rose Garden will provide unprecedented hands-on research opportunities for our horticultural science students, as well as serve as a beautiful and inspirational setting for our students, faculty, staff, friends and visitors,” said College president Anne B. Kerr. “Dr. Jenkins’ generous gift will enhance the Florida Southern experience for generations of students, and we are grateful for his outstanding support to make this garden a reality.”

Jenkins, former president and chairman of the board of Publix Super Markets, Inc., was a distinguished and honored friend and supporter of Florida Southern College and served as a trustee for 28 years. He received an honorary Doctor of Law degree from FSC in 1988 and was named the college’s Honorary Chancellor in 1990. 

Throughout his lifetime, Jenkins was actively involved in the local community. He served as president of the Lake Wales Chamber of Commerce, was a member of the Lake Wales Kiwanis Club, a member of the board of directors of the Lakeland Chamber of Commerce, and a director of the former Peoples Bank of Lakeland. He was a member of First United Methodist Church and was a Mason and a Shriner.

The garden, with its brick walkways, planters and gazebo, features a variety of rosebushes propagated in the College’s greenhouse by FSC horticultural science students and their faculty mentor Dr. Malcolm Manners, chair of the horticultural sciences department. The garden will be fragrant, Manners says, and also free of the rose mosaic virus, a common disease in roses. The rose plants come from cuttings that trace back from the late 1500s to the pre-Civil War era, as well as from contemporary varieties.  The garden and gazebo have been designed to accommodate weddings and other ceremonies.

About Florida Southern College
Founded in 1885, Florida Southern College is a private, comprehensive, United Methodist college with a liberal arts core. The College maintains its commitment to academic excellence through 39 undergraduate majors and distinctive graduate programs in business administration, education, and nursing. Florida Southern has a 13:1 student/faculty ratio, provides strong student/faculty mentorship programs, boasts 25 NCAA Division II national championships, and is ranked by U. S. News and World Report as one of the top ten Southern Comprehensive Colleges-Bachelor’s institutions and by the Princeton Review as a “Best Southeastern College.” Located on scenic Lake Hollingsworth, Florida Southern is the home of the world’s largest single-site collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture.