Mary Rubin ’12 ’19MA

 Tell us a little about yourself! 

I attended UCF twice! For my BS and then my MA. I got a part-time job within the archives while getting my bachelor’s degree and absolutely fell in love with the university’s history. I was very lucky to then serve as the archivist for the university archives for almost a decade! UCF has my heart. 

Who are some of your favorite authors or books? 

It’s too hard to name just one! Most recently, I loved The Will of the Many by James Islington. I also love anthropomorphized characters. I’m currently working my way through the Dungeon Crawler Carl series, which has an amazing cat character named Princess Donut. The foul-mouthed crow in Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton is an absolute favorite as well. 

If UCF had a time machine, what moment on campus would you go back to? 

I think I’d go back to December 1, 1976, when the bicentennial time capsule was buried in front of the Administration Building (now Millican Hall). It is set to be opened on December 1, 2026! I would have put a rubber duck in the time capsule. Rubber ducks didn’t have significance then but they certainly do now! 

Anything else you want to share? 

My favorite fact about UCF: The first attempt to change the university’s name happened less than a year after opening. The proposal was to change the name from Florida Technological University (FTU) to University of Florida at Orlando (UFO). We could have been UFO! The proposal wanted Florida universities to adapt the naming schema that California universities used. Unfortunately, it didn’t fly with the Board of Regents.