The idea for a study abroad program in Florence emerged during the FSU Flying High Circus’ 1964 European tour, when Dean of Students Roscoe “Ross” Oglesby envisioned teaching the humanities in the birthplace of the Renaissance. Two years later, English professor Gene Tanzy led the inaugural eight-month program, bringing 120 students and seven other faculty members to Florence. Initially conceived for FSU students, the program was expanded to include students from the University of Florida and the University of South Florida, creating a model for study abroad programs across the state.
During the first few months in Florence, students completed art history assignments at the Uffizi, read Dante’s “Inferno” in Italian and picnicked in Fiesole.
Then, on Nov. 4, 1966, disaster struck. Relentless rains filled the Arno River until it overflowed its banks, inundating Florence with as much as 22 feet of water. The flood killed 35 people and damaged or destroyed millions of works of art and rare books.
Rather than return home, the students and faculty joined Florentines and volunteers from around the world in the recovery effort, forming human chains to pass waterlogged books and manuscripts from muddy hand to muddy hand.
(Left to right) FSU Mud Angels Ann Marie Cianci (Thigpen), Ken Thigpen, Esta Tishgart and Ernie Brock take a break amid flood debris in Florence following the 1966 flood. (FSU Florence/International Programs)
The Mud Angels marked the anniversary with a daylong reunion on FSU’s campus, starting with a tour of Doak S. Campbell Stadium and followed by a viewing of the “Vires, Artes, Mores” statues in the Student Union. Representing FSU’s values of strength, skill and character, the three bronze statues were cast from the same molds as those originally created for FSU Florence in 2021 by artist and FSU art history professor Alan Pascuzzi.
McCullough addressed the Mud Angels during the viewing and recognized Mud Angel and FSU alumna Margie Thompson for her longtime role in keeping the group connected and helping organize the reunion.
“The bonds you formed through that experience have lasted a lifetime, and on top of that, you created an amazing legacy,” McCullough said. “You are pioneers who have helped shape FSU’s international education tradition that thousands of Seminoles have enjoyed.”
Nancy De Grummond, the M. Lynette Thompson Professor of Classics and former director of the Archaeology in Tuscany program, also shared the history and symbolism of Vires, Artes, Mores and the Latin inscriptions she wrote for the statues.
