Katherine Harris welcomes new USF system president to Sarasota

Florida's former Secretary of State Katherine Harris and her husband Richard Ware introduced University of South Florida system President Steven Currall and his wife Cheyenne to the Sarasota community on Thursday.

Currall became the University of South Florida system president in July when Judy Genshaft retired after 19 years as president. Harris and Ware, who married in 2017, met the couple in Dallas when Currall was the provost of Southern Methodist University and Ware served on the board of trustees. 

Ware said as soon as it was announced that Currall would be the next USF system president, he and Katherine decided to throw them a welcome party. 

"We really wanted to introduce the Curralls to Sarasota to let them know how special this place is, how much we want to take care of them and how much we value USF," Harris said. 

The night began with a cocktail hour, followed by speeches surrounding USF's recent move toward consolidation of its three campuses and ended with guests watching the sunset from the home's terrace.