Local mass communications school receives $500,000 gift

This article first appeared in The Crow's Nest.

Diamond View Studios and Vū Technologies gifted the University of South Florida's (USF) College of Arts and Sciences all-new virtual production technology and camera equipment valued at approximately $500,000 in addition to a $39,000 cash contribution on Sept. 15, USF announced in a press release.

The new technology and equipment will “outfit” the current production studio in the Communication and Information Sciences Building at the Tampa campus with a 40-foot LED wall for virtual production, named Vū Studio in honor of the donor.

The donor’s $39,000 cash contribution will directly support Ryan Watson, a Diamond View Teaching Fellow at the Zimmerman School of Advertising & Mass Communications.

USF Interim President Rhea Law thanked Diamond View for their donation.

“This generous gift from Diamond View Studios has given new life to our video production programs, allowing our students to gain hands-on experience with cutting-edge technology and graduate with the skills needed to contribute immediately to this field,” Law said. “We are grateful for Diamond View’s vision and support.”

Diamond View’s contributions to the College of Arts and Sciences come only two months after Jordan Zimmerman, one of the university’s most prominent leaders, left the Board of Trustees after 11 years.

In 2015, Zimmerman donated $10 million to the College of Arts and Sciences, which named its school of advertising and mass communications in his honor.

Zimmerman School Director Kathy Fitzpatrick said Diamond View’s gift and its affiliation with USF will help develop a pipeline of talented graduates.

“This gift and our affiliation with Diamond View will help develop a talent pipeline of graduates with the expertise and skills needed to support the growing multimedia production community in Tampa,” Fitzpatrick said.