The USF-themed license plate on Barbara Holley Johnson’s home office wall reads “BHJ 1.”
That’s not a subjective claim declaring her the University of South Florida’s top fan.
Rather, it represents a verifiable fact.
Johnson was USF’s first-ever student — the first to apply, the first accepted, and assigned ID number 0001 when classes began in 1960.
“I’m still kicking,” laughed the 87-year-old Tampa area resident. “Not as high as I used to, but still kicking.”
The Florida Cabinet approved the university on December 18, 1956, marking the start of what would become one of the nation’s top public institutions and a cornerstone of the Tampa Bay community.
Johnson, a College of Education alumna, has had a front-row seat to watch it grow.
“I don’t think any of us could have predicted that the university would be the size and have the impact that it does now,” she said. “We didn’t even have a football team when I was here.”
A return to Campus
Back then, first university president John Allen responded to questions about adding a grid iron squad: “That will have to wait until we grow up.”
USF has certainly grown up — from 1,997 students, 134 faculty, three buildings, and 61 courses in its inaugural year to more than 50,000 students and 2,300 faculty across three campuses offering over 200 undergraduate majors.
Beginning in 2027, the football team, established in 1997, will have its own on-campus stadium seating 35,000.
“I remember when this was all mostly sand,” Johnson said. “It was more like a dessert than a campus. Now it’s like its own city. I’m so proud of what USF has become.”
A University and a Vision Take Shape
USF’s origins trace back to December 1954, when, over coffee in a downtown Tampa restaurant, legislators Sam Gibbons and James Moody first discussed bringing a public university to Hillsborough County was a major initiative that could educate and employ constituents and help community growth.
A few months later, from his kitchen table, Gibbons drafted an 80-word bill authorizing the State Board of Education to establish a university in Hillsborough County and directing feasibility studies and necessary contracts.
In part, it read, “The State Board of Education is hereby authorized to establish a State University or a branch of existing State University in Hillsborough County. Said Board is hereby directed to have a study made as to the feasibility of such action. The Board of Control and the State Board of Education are hereby authorized to enter into all contacts necessary to carry out the provisions of this act.”
Temple Terrace’s shuttered Henderson Airfield was chosen as the site and, next, 70 years ago next December, the Florida Cabinet officially approved the creation of a college.
The University of South Florida name then beat out 102 others, including Temple Terrace State University, Collins Temple University and University of Florida at Temple Terrace.
On September 5, 1958, Governor LeRoy Collins broke ground, declaring, “This event will not be measured solely within state limits. It is a prominent landmark in America’s educational history.”
Construction of the first campus structure, the Administration Building, began early the following year. It’s still there, now named the John and Grace Allen Administration Building.
Then, on October 1959, USF began accepting applications for the 1960 inaugural school year.
Becoming the First Student
Despite being a married 20-year-old mother of two toddlers and expecting a third, Johnson – then known as Barbara Campbell - applied at her mother’s encouragement.
“My goal was always to be a mother and housewife,” she said. “I loved to cook. I loved to sew and care for my kids. But my mother thought I would enjoy a career too. I would never have considered college if she hadn’t convinced me.”
With the campus still under construction, admissions operated from a downtown Tampa office at 349 Plant Ave. It was there that Johnson submitted her application to Frank Spano, an early USF administrator.
“I had no idea I was the first,” she recalled. “Then I received an acceptance letter saying my student number was 0001. I didn’t think much of it at the time.”
Johnson gave birth in July and attended orientation and registration a month later.
She chose the elementary education major to align with her love of children and to spend school breaks with her own kids, who, while Johnson was on campus, spent days with family and neighbors.
“I’m lucky that I had great support,” she said.
A Bare Campus, a Bold Beginning
USF officially opened on September 26, 1960, with more than 6,000 watching John Allen formally invested as president and George R. Cooley awarded the first honorary degree for his help in founding USF’s herbarium.
Afterward, all attendees were invited to tour the campus.
That excursion was likely quick.
At that time, the campus had just three structures: the Admissions Building, University Center (with a cafeteria, classrooms, small dorm for 45 female students), and Chemistry Building. Roads existed, but sidewalks were sparse, the land was sandy, and greenery minimal.
“If the wind was blowing, the sand got in your face and in your teeth,” Johnson said. “You’d go back to your car and, even though the windows were rolled up, there was sand along there. I thought this is what people on a desert must feel like. Campus was bare of trees and shrubberies. There was really nothing that was attractive or pretty. But I don’t recall anyone complaining. We were just all so happy to be in college.”
Professors would at times notice her student ID number.
“They would ask me if I was really the first student,” Johnson said. “Even back then, it was real talking point.”
During her time at USF, the campus added a library, residence hall, Physical Education building and Life Science building, along with sidewalks and grass.
“It started to look more like a university,” she said.
In December 1963, USF celebrated its first graduating class. Johnson was among 326 graduates, 33 from the charter class.
Governor Farris Bryant told them they were the “first wave of a new force landing on the beachhead of tomorrow. Progress begets progress. Growth in education does not satisfy—it increases the demand for education.”
Johnson’s mother then hosted a graduation party.
It featured a cake topped by a Barbie doll wearing USF green.
She then went on to a 30-year career as an educator. Being a mother and a teacher, she said, were her greatest honors, followed by being forever known as USF’s first student.
“It’s one of those surreal things,” she said. “It was just luck really. But it’s an honor I take seriously. I always want to be a good representative of USF. It will always be part of my history and my life story.”
Facts in this story come from “USF Chronology,” a 25,000-word document chronologizing the university’s full history and compiled by the USF Library.