TAMPA, Fla. (April 3, 2026) – Next week, University of South Florida students will have a unique opportunity to sign a beam that will be placed inside the new on-campus stadium. The beam will be part of the construction of the stadium’s student section, and the signing allows students to leave their own personal mark on a piece of USF history.
The opportunity to sign starts with a kickoff ceremony at 6 p.m. on Monday, April 6, outside the Marshall Student Center (north side of the building). The event is expected to include brief comments from USF President Moez Limayem, CEO of Athletics Rob Higgins, head football Coach Brian Hartline and Student Government President Sumit Jadhav before students begin signing.
Members of USF Student Government, the Beef Studs, SoFlo Rodeo and Campus Activities Board are expected to attend and be among the first students to sign the beam. The ceremony is being held in conjunction with the start of USF Week, an annual spring celebration of the university and its history.
The beam will be available for students to sign from 6-8 p.m. on Monday and from 9 a.m.–4 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday outside the Marshall Student Center.
The beam is 43 feet long and weighs approximately 10,000 pounds. It is one of more than 7,100 steel structural pieces used to construct the stadium, with the weight of those pieces totaling 5,000 tons.
A beam will also be available for fans to sign at USF football’s Spring Game on April 19 at Corbett Stadium. Fans must purchase a ticket to the game to sign that beam.
The new stadium is scheduled to open in fall 2027. More information on the project is available here.
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About the University of South Florida
The University of South Florida is a top-ranked research university serving approximately 50,000 students from across the globe at campuses in Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota-Manatee and USF Health. In 2025, U.S. News & World Report recognized USF with its highest overall ranking in university history, as a top 50 public university for the seventh consecutive year and as one of the top 15 best values among all public universities in the nation. U.S. News also ranks the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine as the No. 1 medical school in Florida and in the highest tier nationwide. USF is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), a group that includes only the top 3% of universities in the U.S. With an all-time high of $750 million in research funding in 2025 and as a top 20 public university for producing U.S. patents, USF uses innovation to transform lives and shape a better future. The university generates an annual economic impact of nearly $10 billion for the state of Florida. USF’s Division I athletics teams compete in the American Conference. Learn more at www.usf.edu.
