Celebrating a family’s enduring impact

By Pamela Edward[email protected]10-22-2024

There were times during the week of final exams when frazzled first-year University of Miami students would find a smiling, silver-haired lady serving midnight breakfast in the Hecht-Stanford Dining Hall. She was no ordinary volunteer.

Florence Hecht, who died in 2012 at the age of 95, reveled in the annual tradition at the residential college that bore her name.

As Patricia A. Whitely, senior vice president for student affairs and alumni engagement whom Hecht would accompany for the midnight breakfasts, recalled, "The students adored seeing her. She would often wear a name tag, and students would ask her if she was really Florence Hecht, for whom the college was named. They would be delighted when she said, 'Yes, I am!'"

As a member of the University Board of Trustees and chair of the board's student affairs committee, Florence Hecht gave willingly of her time and treasure to the University. Her daughter, double alumna Barbara Hecht Havenick, also a University trustee, has continued the family legacy with a $2 million gift for new student housing. Last week, the University celebrated Havenick's generosity with the dedication of the Florence Hecht Great Room-an airy, circular, double-height space with floor-to-ceiling windows-at Centennial Village.

The second phase of a multi-year plan to modernize campus housing, Centennial Village brings 21st-century amenities, technology, and programming to the student residential experience on the Coral Gables Campus. The first two residential colleges, Ibis and Coral, opened to rave reviews in August, welcoming 881 students.

Connecting Ibis and Coral Residential Colleges is a two-level, 40,000-square-foot dining hall. On the second floor, a commemorative seal enshrines where Hecht stood before its demolition in 2022. Three more residential colleges are under construction on land once occupied by Stanford Residential College and are scheduled to open in 2026.

At the dedication, Whitely spoke about the legacy and impact of this remarkable family. "When you look back on our history, the University would not be where it is today without the support over the years of the Hecht family," she noted. "Tonight, we are celebrating Florence's impact, but Barbara and the [younger] generations have all supported us beyond anything we could have asked for. The Florence Hecht Great Room will be home to programs for our students and faculty, where they can continue their educational journey under Florence's gaze."

"Our family is proud and honored to be part of the greater University of Miami family," Havenick said. "My mother loved being on campus and meeting students, and she would be delighted at being remembered in such a meaningful way at Centennial Village."

Centennial Village is the latest of many campus facilities and programs to benefit from the Hecht-Havenick family's generosity. The Isadore Hecht Athletic Center, originally built in 1951, was expanded, renovated, and named in honor of Florence's late husband in 1979, thanks to a gift from Florence and her son, David Hecht.

The Hecht Center is the headquarters of Miami Athletics, housing offices of department leadership and staff, meeting rooms, the Hurricane Club, and more. In 2015, Havenick and her family made an additional gift to give the Hecht Athletic Center a modern makeover.

The Florence R. Hecht Endowed Scholarship in the Arts, established through a 1983 gift, continues to support students pursuing degrees in art, music, and drama. At Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of the University of Miami Health System, the Fred Havenick Memorial Fund, named after Havenick's late husband and with generous support from the family, supports the vital work of Sylvester's intensive care unit.

Other areas that have benefited from the family's generosity include the School of Education and Human Development, the School of Law, the Schwartz Center for Athletic Excellence, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, and the Miller Center for Contemporary Judaic Studies. Diehard Hurricane fans, Florence Hecht and the family have been loyal supporters of the Hurricane Club and its predecessors.

But no program or building was as much a campus icon as the Hecht Residential College.

Built in 1968 near the southwestern end of Lake Osceola, two 12-story dormitories, East and West Towers-later dubbed Pentland and McDonald-and the attached dining hall became the first residential college in the southeastern United States in 1984 and initially housed the University's Honors College. On Oct. 2, 1986, in recognition and gratitude for Florence's giving to various areas of the University, including the Residence Hall Fund, the Florence Hecht Residential College was dedicated.

In the 36 years following its dedication, and the prior 18 years since its doors first opened, Hecht was home to thousands of University students and the source of many vivid memories. Students found lifelong friends and developed as adults and leaders within its walls.

And Florence was there for midnight breakfasts throughout the 1980s and 1990s, wearing orange and green and serving her signature English muffin toast and warm words of encouragement to students.