USF was founded in 1956, though it wasn't even named until the next year and classes
didn't commence until 1960. Former US Representative Sam Gibbons was instrumental in the school's creation when he was a state representative and is considered by
many to essentially be the school's founder. It was built on the site of Henderson Air Field, a World War II airstrip.The university first grew under the leadership of John Allen, who was the
president from 1960 until 1970. During this time, the
university expanded rapidly, due in part to the first graduate degree programs commencing in 1964. However, growing student unrest pressured Allen to resign from his post; he had traditionally been very firm in
punishing protesters in a time of general unrest throughout the nation.USF emerged as a major research institution during the 1990s, under the presidency of
Betty Castor, and is currently considered one of the top universities in
Florida. In addition to a heightened emphasis on research and academia, the university played its first football game in 1997, with its marching band forming in 1999. In the 2004 football season, USF's main rival was Army; Army won one of its two victories at USF's homecoming, which surprised much of the
student body, who had assumed Army would be an "easy win."Its reputation came under fire during the tenure of Castor's successor, Judy Genshaft, by the controversy surrounding
Professor Sami Al-Arian. Al-Arian's alleged connections to Palestinian
terrorist groups brought national media attention to USF following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.The school's newspaper is named
The Oracle, which was first published on September 6, 1966. The newspaper has been redesigned many times since
then; in 1966 the paper was published once a week, today
The Oracle is published five times a week.