Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
We inform. You decide.
Thursday, March 28, 2024
NEWS  |  CAMPUS

A tree is nice, but Mickle deserves a building

At 4 p.m. today, a tree dedication ceremony will be held on the UF Law West Courtyard. The ceremony will be held in honor of Judge Stephan P. Mickle, the first African-American to graduate from UF and the second to graduate from UF’s Levin College of Law.

After graduation, Mickle went on to have an impressive career. He’s served as a judge for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, as the judge for Alachua County, as a circuit court judge of the Eighth Judicial Circuit and in Florida’s First District Court of Appeal — in addition to his private practice here in Gainesville.

Anyone who graduated from UF and went on to a career like that deserves to be recognized. The tree dedication ceremony is well-deserved, and we thank Mickle for his service.

But something’s missing here. You see, Stephan Mickle didn’t just hold these positions of honor; he was the first black man ever to serve in any of those positions. He personally broke seven barriers erected by Jim Crow segregation by the count of his achievements above. This man isn’t just a good judge. He’s a hero.

Yet, we express our gratitude by giving him ... a tree.

We’re not out to rain on anyone’s tree dedication ceremony. We simply believe Mickle deserves more recognition than he’s getting. And when we consider the buildings on this campus whose facades sport the names of vicious segregationists and other objectionable people, the situation goes from imbalanced to absurd pretty quickly.

The most egregious example is George Smathers, namesake of the flagship library here on campus. He was one of Florida’s U.S. senators from 1950 until the late ‘60s. He was also a committed segregationist. According to his biography on the Smathers library website, he “voted consistently against meaningful civil rights legislation, and spoke in favor of segregation and states rights,” supporting segregation, in his words, “now and forever.” As you read this, there are students working in a library whose namesake fought to deny them access to UF. It’d be safe to assume he would not have wanted Mickle here.

Then, we have the Reitz Union, named after former UF President J. Wayne Reitz. He was president during the same period. During that time, Reitz cooperated with a group of Florida legislators later known as the Johns Committee. The committee was originally formed by a group of segregationist legislators to investigate civil rights activists; it became an organization dedicated to purging gay and lesbian students and professors from UF and other Florida schools. He also fired professors who were active in the civil rights movement. Ben Hill Griffin, Jr., — after whom the Swamp is named — served on this committee.

These people had buildings named after them because they were distinguished alumni, powerful UF administrators and major donors to the school. Today, though, their contributions feel like more of a blight than a blessing. While these buildings stand named the way they are, now they mock the accomplishments of men and women like Mickle. 

Mickle is a dedicated public servant and outstanding human being — he should be honored accordingly. His name should be on a building.

[A version of this story ran on page 6 on 4/16/2015]

Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox
Support your local paper
Donate Today
The Independent Florida Alligator has been independent of the university since 1971, your donation today could help #SaveStudentNewsrooms. Please consider giving today.

Powered by SNworks Solutions by The State News
All Content © 2024 The Independent Florida Alligator and Campus Communications, Inc.