{"id":13918,"date":"2018-05-30T18:08:26","date_gmt":"2018-05-30T18:08:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/?p=13918&post_type=story"},"modified":"2021-06-22T18:19:39","modified_gmt":"2021-06-22T18:19:39","slug":"hitts-world","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/hitts-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Hitt’s World"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summer 2018 | By Bree Adamson \u201904<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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[photo id=”14005″ title=”Peace-of-mind” alt=””][\/photo]<\/div>\n
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Peace of Mind<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

In December 1999, UCF hosted two Nobel Peace Prize winners on stage at the same time: Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa and Oscar Arias Sanchez, former president of Costa Rica. \u201cWe\u2019ve had some wonderful speakers here, and this was one of the top moments. In a special event, they both spoke on the theme of peace and reconciliation. It was the turn of the century, and we wanted to do something very special on campus. It was a great occasion early on in my time here.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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[photo id=”14015″ title=”Rock-Band” alt=””][\/photo]<\/div>\n
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Rock Band<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

\u201cI like Jackson Browne, and I like Eagles a lot, especially their live album Hell Freezes Over<\/em>. The intro to \u2018Hotel California\u2019 is really, really good. But I enjoy all kinds of music, and I\u2019m so glad people have created things like Pandora, where you can just enter the name of a performer and it will give you music by them, along with songs that are similar.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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[photo id=”14016″ title=”Souped-Up” alt=””][\/photo]<\/div>\n
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Souped Up<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

As a frequent visitor to Knightro\u2019s, one of the on-campus dining halls, Hitt says, \u201cI like the soups. [The cooks] do well with clam chowder. They do well with corn chowder. And they do well with lentil.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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[photo id=”14011″ title=”Cherished” alt=””][\/photo]<\/div>\n
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Most Cherished Moments<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

When asked what moment at UCF he cherishes the most, Hitt\u2019s response comes easily: the creation of the medical school<\/a> and the Peach and Fiesta<\/a> bowl wins. \u201cBeing there to witness the Peach Bowl win this year was unreal. Nobody gave us a chance, and yet our guys went out and just played a great game. That was an amazing experience. With those kinds of wins and getting the medical school approved, those are times we turned the impossible into the inevitable.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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[photo id=”14013″ title=”Happy-Tails” alt=””][\/photo]<\/div>\n
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Happy Tails<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re crazy dog people. We had so many years here when we didn\u2019t feel we could have a dog. So many of the furnishings in the Burnett House are university property, we didn\u2019t see how we could bring a puppy, or any dog, into that situation. Judy Albertson, a board member for Canine Companions, told us about their release dog program. She\u2019s the reason we got Kessa, who\u2019s just been a wonderful pet for us. We adopted London a little over a year ago, and he\u2019s become a part of the family, too.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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[photo id=”14010″ title=”Bookworm” alt=””][\/photo]<\/div>\n
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Bookworm<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

\u201cI like John Sandford novels and the serial murders he writes about. I also enjoy a lot of escape reading \u2014 it\u2019s the kind of thing a university president ought to be reading. I call them space operas. Fiction about some date in the not-too-distant future when we manage to get out into the solar system and to asteroid belts and so forth. It\u2019s fun to read.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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[photo id=”14017″ title=”Then-and-Now” alt=””][\/photo]<\/div>\n
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UCF Then & Now<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

What did he love most about UCF when he arrived in 1992? \u201cThe sense of possibility.\u201d And today? \u201cThe sense of possibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur folks have done an enormous amount of good. We\u2019ve had a lot of great accomplishments, but I think the greatest days are ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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[photo id=”14014″ title=”Martha” alt=””][\/photo]<\/div>\n
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There\u2019s Something About Martha<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

What is guaranteed to make him smile? \u201cSeeing Martha. Thinking of Martha.\u201d And is there anything he can\u2019t live without? Also Martha, his wife of 56 years. \u201cWell, I\u2019m aware that I might have to sometime, but Martha is the one thing I can\u2019t live without.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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[photo id=”14012″ title=”Good-Humor” alt=””][\/photo]<\/div>\n
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Good Humor<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

\u201cOne of my favorite jokes is from Jack Benny. He was receiving an award and he said, \u2018I don\u2019t deserve this award, but I\u2019ve got arthritis and I don\u2019t deserve that either.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":14000,"template":"","categories":[976],"tags":[654,775],"class_list":["post-13918","story","type-story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-briefs","tag-college-of-medicine","tag-john-c-hitt","issues-1242","issues-summer-2018"],"yoast_head":"\nA Few of UCF President John C. 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