A previously unnamed building at UF's Levin College of Law will be named for alumnus Stephen Zack at a ceremony Monday. Zack recently donated $800,000 to the law school.
The new lettering on the building previously known as "The Tower" will be revealed immediately after retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor speaks at a Florida Law Review event Monday morning, said Debbie Amirin, director of communications for UF Law.
O'Connor, former Gov. Bob Graham and UF Law Dean Robert Jerry will attend the dedication ceremony of Stephen N. Zack Hall. The ceremony is expected to start around noon.
Amirin said Florida's Trust Fund for Major Gifts will match 70 percent of Zack's donation, bringing the total to about $1.3 million.
Zack said the money will be used to help diversify the law school.
"You have a problem because unless our profession looks like our society, ultimately the society will lose respect for profession," he said. "And that will damage the rule of law in America."
Zack, who graduated from UF after earning his undergraduate degree and attending law school, was born in Detroit but lived in Cuba until he moved back to the U.S. at age 13.
Zack was given the UF Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2010 and is a past president of The Florida Bar and the American Bar Association.
He said that although UF is not behind nationally in terms of a diverse law student body, he sees it as a good place to get ahead.
"There's no place more well-situated than UF because of [the] composition of the state," he said.
Zack said he is grateful to UF and honored to have a building named after him.
"I'm very moved," he said.
