Three years after its initial creation, the Hamilton School for Classical and Civic Education will soon have its own home on UF’s campus.
Coinciding with the anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg address, the school held a groundbreaking ceremony at the former UF Infirmary Wednesday morning. Administrators, faculty and Florida politicians spoke at the ceremony, including Gov. Ron DeSantis, Interim UF President Donald Landry and chairman of UF’s Board of Trustees Morteza “Mori” Hosseini.
Newly appointed Hamilton School Director Charles Canady was present but did not speak, as was former UF President Ben Sasse, who remains a professor at the school. Over 100 people attended the groundbreaking event.
DeSantis praised the Hamilton School for its mission and progress, calling it a “really important landmark.”
“It definitely exceeded my expectations,” DeSantis said.
The Hamilton School is the premiere place to study western civilization and U.S. foundations, DeSantis said, and no university has been as “effective as what’s been done at Hamilton.”
He thanked Landry for “taking the reins” since he became interim president and congratulated Canady as a “home-run choice” for the position of the school’s director. The Hamilton School will have his support moving forward, he said.
“This is a great model,” DeSantis said. “I’m really proud of the progress”
Canady attended the ceremony with his wife, Rep. Jennifer Canady, the soon-to-be speaker of the Florida House.
The Hamilton Center can expect great support from the Florida legislature, considering the new director’s familial connection to the state legislature, DeSantis added. He thanked Rep. Canady for being supportive of the center. But, he added with a chuckle, that was “probably not even a factor” in Canady’s selection to the director position.
Canady resigned Nov. 18 after a 17-year tenure as a Florida Supreme Court Justice after he was announced as the Hamilton Center’s director Nov. 17. The former justice is known for his conservative judicial philosophy and influence on constitutional interpretation.
Created in 2022 by the Florida Legislature and Board of Trustees, the Hamilton School currently holds classes in the computer science and engineering building. The school remains committed to teaching “how to think, not what to think,” according to its website.
Backed by DeSantis, the Hamilton School has been a point of controversy since its founding. It received $3 million from the state after the Council on Public University Reform, a conservative think tank, lobbied for a civic education center at UF.
Today’s ceremony marked the start of renovations to the school’s new home, the old Infirmary, which opened in 1931 to serve UF’s then-population of 3,000 students. The university’s on-campus health services moved to a new building on Stadium Road in 2023, leaving the old Infirmary vacant to host the Hamilton School.
Construction will be done on a $55 million budget, Hosseini said, and will be tackled “from the inside out.”
Renovations are scheduled to finish by Fall 2027, with classes starting in Spring 2028. The school currently offers two majors and two minors, with 45 total course offerings, including for-credit internships and seminars, for the Spring 2026 semester, according to the UF course enrollment search.
Hosseini said the new building’s design is focused on the integration of light into the building — a metaphor for transparency and the civic education the Hamilton School stands for.
UF Interim President Donald Landry greets attendees of the Hamilton School’s ceremonial groundbreaking, Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025 in Gainesville, Fla.
Citadel CEO and billionaire Ken Griffin gifted the Hamilton School $5.5 million, which Hosseini said would go toward student scholarships and graduate student fellowships.
“We celebrate more than the renovation of a campus building,” Hosseini said. “We celebrate a bold investment in the future of higher education.”
Hosseini thanked DeSantis for his support and funding.
Interim President Donald Landry followed Hosseini, praising the Hamilton School for its traditional program of western civilization and celebrating “an extraordinary moment” for UF.
“Tradition is not the worship of ashes, it’s the preservation of fire,” Landry said. “And the fire burns bright at the Hamilton School for Classical and Civic Education.”
Contact Swasthi Maharaj at smaharaj@alligator.org. Follow her on X @s_maharaj1611.
Swasthi is the Fall 2025 university administration reporter. She's previously worked as general assignment reporter with The Alligator, and you can also find her work in Rowdy Magazine or The Florida Finibus. When she's not staring at her laptop screen or a textbook, she's probably taking a long walk or at a yoga class.
