with no student housing. Lower-division classes were added nine years later.
The first commencement, in June 1973, took place in the reading room of the ground floor of Primera Casa—the only place on campus big enough for the ceremony. More than 1,500 family members and friends watched FIU's first class of 191 graduates receive their diplomas. By 1975, after seven years at the helm, Perry felt he had accomplished his goal and left the university to become president and publisher of the Sunday newspaper magazine Family Weekly (later USA Weekend), one of the country's largest magazines. When he left, more than 10,000 students were attending classes and the campus had five major buildings with a sixth planned.
=== Crosby and Wolfe: 1976–1986 ===
Harold Crosby, the university's second president and the founding president of the University of West Florida in Pensacola, agreed in 1976 to serve a three-year "interim" term. Under his leadership, FIU's North Miami Campus (which was officially renamed the Bay Vista …
