The history of The Alligator is its stories and its stands on issues. But it is also in the caliber of the people who were once students here, free to put into practice at the newspaper what they were learning in class at the University of Florida. In journalism alone, our alumni include at least four subsequent Pulitzer Prize winners.
Alligator alumni are at almost every daily newspaper in Florida, and many of the weeklies. They include David Lawrence Jr., professor at Florida International University, former chairman of the Herald Publishing Company and former publisher of The Miami Herald; Edward Sears, editor of The Palm Beach Post; Louis Perez, editor of The (Lakeland) Ledger; William Dunn, associate managing editor of The Orlando Sentinel, and many, many others.
In addition, Alligator alumni are at newspapers throughout the nation. They include Walker Lundy, editor of the St. Paul Pioneer Press; Keith Moyer, editor of the Fresno Bee; Karen DeYoung, assistant managing editor at The Washington Post; plus those at the Los Angeles Times, Detroit Free Press, Atlanta Constitution and Journal, and numerous others.
Then there are Mindi Kiernan, vice president of Knight-Ridder; Tom Kennedy, the former director of photography at National Geographic and now the director of photography and design at WashingtonPost.Newsweek Interactive; Nick Tatro, AP bureau chief in Israel, Ian Johnson, chief of Asian bureau, Wall Street Journal; Chris Fontaine, associate editor of The Cambodia Daily; Dennis Kneale, co-executive editor at Forbes Magazine.
There are John Paul Jones, dean emeritus of UF?s College of Journalism and Communications; H. G. Davis, Distinguished Services Professor Emeritus and Pulitzer Prize winner; Jean Chance, renowned professor of journalism, Clifford Marks, vice president of ESPN, John Detweiler, Chairman Emeritus of the UF Department of Public Relations, Richard Shelton, Executive Director of the Florida Press Association and David Klein, associate publisher and editor of Advertising Age.
In addition to those and many other journalists and professors, there are prominent attorneys, authors, educators, business leaders, judges and public servants throughout Florida and the nation who once served on The Alligator staff. Almost to a person, they praise the newspaper for the tremendous experience they received during their training.
In 1978, several Alligator alumni gathered to form the Alligator Alumni Association.
Since then, thousands of alumni have been located and have joined the association. The association?s purpose is to stand behind and strengthen the purposes of the student newspaper.
"I look back on my Alligator days with the fondest of memories. Sure, I remember the hard work…sure I remember the tough times…but, most of all, I remember that The Alligator was a wonderful start on the best career there is - newspapering." - David Lawrence Jr. professor, Florida International University, former chairman of Herald Publishing Company
