News | Campus - The Independent Florida Alligator

UF journalism department chair Ted Spiker interviews Howie Mandel, a comedian who is known for hosting "Deal or No Deal" and judging "X Factor" at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center on Monday, Feb. 28.

NEWS | CAMPUS STUDENT GOVERNMENT

Student Government hosts Howie Mandel as an Accent speaker

By Maia Botek | Mar. 4, 2022

Howie Mandel filled the O’Connell Center with laughs in an event for UF students Monday evening. The comedian, America’s Got Talent Judge, Deal or No Deal game show host and personality spoke to a crowd of a few hundred students. Accent Speakers Bureau, an agency of Student Government that invites guest speakers to campus, spent $110,000 on the event, according to a contract; it included Mandel’s airfare, meals and hotel.

UF students climb up and down the stands of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on the morning of Saturday, Feb. 26.

NEWS | CAMPUS STUDENT LIFE

Students climb for a cause in first annual Ben Hill Griffin relay race

By Elena Barrera | Mar. 2, 2022

On Saturday, Ron Farb, co-founder of The Climb For Cancer Foundation, partnered with members of UF’s Alpha Epsilon Delta pre-health honor society to raise more than $12,000 for their first-annual Gator Mountain Challenge, a relay race up and down the 90 rows of the stadium.

NEWS | CAMPUS UF ADMINISTRATION

African American studies professors push for increased knowledge of Black History

By Elena Barrera | Feb. 28, 2022

UF students lack a proper education in African American history. “I just think that the under-education of our student population is doing us much more harm than it does good,” Stevenson said. Stevenson uses a teaching methodology called critical pedagogy, or teaching through inquiry. He frequently asks students questions about historical people and analyses only to find they have never heard of them.

NEWS | SFC

Santa Fe President continues strides for equity, despite COVID-19 slowdowns

By Lily Kino | Feb. 28, 2022

Two years later, the diversity at SFC remains almost identical to what it was when he arrived 一 with a Black population hovering at about 12%. With SFC in-person again, the issues Broadie once aimed to tackle have resurfaced.

Members of Gator and Change Parties await Student Government election results on Wednesday, Feb. 23 at the Reitz Union.

NEWS | CAMPUS STUDENT GOVERNMENT

Gator Party wins Executive Ticket, 44 Senate seats in Spring SG elections

By The Alligator Staff | Feb. 24, 2022

By 10 p.m., Gator Party seized the Executive Branch and grasped the majority of Senate seats for the third consecutive year. More than 9,000 students cast their ballots by Wednesday, a 37% increase from last Spring’s 6,650 total ballots.

NEWS | CAMPUS STUDENT GOVERNMENT

Voter turnout for the first day of SG elections increased 4.75 times since last year

By Maia Botek | Feb. 23, 2022

Students cast 5448 ballots on the first day of SG elections, voting in eight polling locations across campus from 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday. Last Spring, 1146 ballots were cast on the first day. During the Fall, 4697 students voted on the first day. Ballot counts do not include absentee ballots.

Nearing Cora P. Roberson Park, protestors march down Southwest 6th Street. The protest started at the corner of University Avenue and 13th Street.

NEWS | CAMPUS STUDENT LIFE

UF community protests Don’t Say Gay bill

By Fernando Figueroa | Feb. 21, 2022

The UF Young Democratic Socialists of America and Take Action Florida collaborated with Arcenas and Katz to gather 130 students and community members to march from the corner of West University Avenue and 13th Street to Cora Roberson Park. The 1-mile-march protested the “Don’t Say Gay” companion bills HB1557/SB1834 which passed its first reading in the House on Thursday. The bills would prohibit “discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity in certain grade levels.” These policies could destroy students’ bonds with teachers, like Arcenas’ bond with Leach at Sebring High School.

NEWS | CAMPUS STUDENT GOVERNMENT

SG elections this week will determine 50 new senators and executive ticket

By Maia Botek | Feb. 21, 2022

More than 100 candidates, including two independents, will run to represent the Gator, Change and Communist parties in 50 Senate seats, which are organized by college and year Change and Gator parties also have candidates running for the executive ticket, which includes the Student Body President, Vice President and Treasurer. Polling locations will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. The locations are the J. Wayne Reitz Union Computer Printing Lab, Health Science Center Library, Norman Hall Educational Library, Southwest Recreation Center, Springs Library and Recreation Room, Broward Recreation Room, Levin School of Law and Heavener Room 202.

NEWS | CAMPUS

“Little signs of hope” grow in McCarty Woods year after conservation protests

By Lucille Lannigan | Feb. 21, 2022

On Feb. 12, about 40 volunteers gathered in the woods to plant native shrubs and trees for the first time in the woods’ history. Save McCarty Woods, the organization leading conservation efforts for the area, raised more than $7,000 on Gator Giving Day, Soltis wrote in an email.

Student government executive ticket candidates for Change Party and Gator Party prepare for their opening speeches at the Reitz Union Rion Ballroom on Tuesday, Feb. 15.

NEWS | CAMPUS STUDENT GOVERNMENT

Gator Party, Change Party talk platforms in Student Government debate

By Maia Botek | Feb. 18, 2022

The executive tickets for the Gator and Change parties had an hour-long debate Tuesday. Candidates defended platform points and examined opponents’ initiatives concerning legislation and governing codes.

NEWS | CAMPUS STUDENT GOVERNMENT

Gator Party announces platform for Student Government’s Spring elections

By Maia Botek | Feb. 16, 2022

Students can vote for 50 Senators and the Student Body President, Vice President and Treasurer on eight campus locations Feb. 22 and 23. The Change, Communist and Gator Parties have candidates running for Senate seats.

UF students and community members gathered at Plaza of the Americas for a commemorative candlelight vigil to honor the victims of the Parkland shooting on Monday, Feb. 14.

NEWS | CAMPUS STUDENT LIFE

March for Our Lives Gainesville holds vigil to remember mass shooting victims

By Gregorio Ruiz-Perez | Feb. 16, 2022

The vigil, held at the Plaza of the Americas, commemorated the 14 students and three faculty who were killed during the 2018 Parkland shooting and the two students who passed after.

NEWS | CAMPUS UF ADMINISTRATION

Search for UF’s new president comes amid discussion of decreased transparency laws

By Elena Barrera | Feb. 14, 2022

UF expects to start looking for a new president in March, UF spokesperson Hessy Fernandez wrote in an email. The search has been kept under wraps so far, and SB 520/HB 703 would keep it that way. Meanwhile, Florida’s senators and representatives have filed Senate Bill 520 and House Bill 703, which would delay the release of any information identifying a university’s presidential applicant, including meeting recordings that would disclose such information if obtained through a public records request.

NEWS | CAMPUS STUDENT GOVERNMENT

Meet your candidates for Student Government’s Spring elections

By Maia Botek | Feb. 14, 2022

Students can vote for 50 Senators, the Student Body president, vice president and treasurer in eight polling locations across campus on Feb. 22 and Feb. 23. Here are the candidates representing the executive tickets for the Gator and Change Parties.

Santa Fe College students work together in their public speaking honors class at the northwest campus on Thursday, Jan. 27.

NEWS | SFC

Santa Fe College creates new charter school

By Lily Kino | Feb. 14, 2022

With a $2 million grant from the State of Florida, the school will offer high school students training in information technology and health sciences, according to a press release. The college received the grant Feb. 2 as part of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ $89 million plan to enhance workforce initiatives across the state.

NEWS | CAMPUS

UF partners with foundation to fund Blockchain Lab

By Fernando Figueroa | Feb. 14, 2022

UF received $270,000 to provide resources to students who want to learn and develop blockchain technology including cryptocurrencies and NFTs. Blockchain is a complex technology, and its applications have not yet been fully defined. Some popular applications of the blockchain include cryptocurrencies like Dogecoin and non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, which are typically digital artworks, like Bored Ape.

Evangelist Cindy Lasseter Smock, better known as "Sister Cindy" to her TikTok fans, speaks to a crowd of over 500 students at Plaza of the Americas on Monday, Feb. 7.

NEWS | CAMPUS STUDENT LIFE

Infamous TikTok street preacher “Sister Cindy” returns to UF, draws a crowd of heckling students

By Fernando Figueroa | Feb. 11, 2022

In a long skirt and a blue T-shirt with the slogan “Ho No Mo,” ‘Sister Cindy’ pranced inside a circle of more than 500 students, blocking the walkways of Plaza of Americas Monday afternoon. “Welcome to the ho no mo’ revolution!” she shouted.

Roddy Ricch performs at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center on Tuesday, Feb. 8. Student Government Productions coordinated the performance to kick off Black History Month.

NEWS | CAMPUS STUDENT GOVERNMENT

Thousands attend Black History Month concert featuring Roddy Ricch and Joy Oladokun

By Maia Botek | Feb. 9, 2022

Tickets were originally offered exclusively to UF students and went on sale Jan. 25. Roughly 3,000 people were expected to attend, and all 700 pit tickets sold out on the first day of sales, said Student Government Productions Chairman Jake Siegel. The show’s capacity was 6,500, according to the performers’ contract.

Spring 2022 Student Government polling locations.

NEWS | CAMPUS STUDENT GOVERNMENT

SG announces polling locations for Spring elections

By Maia Botek | Feb. 9, 2022

The SG Elections Commission announced polling locations Tuesday. Eight locations on UF campus will be open for student voting from 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Feb. 22 and 23.

Gabrielle Adekunle (left), Change Party's presidential nominee, and Alexandra Quintana lead protestors down Fraternity Row on Friday, Feb. 4. The rally was held by Change Party to advocate for more emergency blue lights along Fraternity Row.

NEWS | CAMPUS STUDENT GOVERNMENT

Communist Party and Change Party announce Party Platforms

By Maia Botek and Gregorio Ruiz-Perez | Feb. 7, 2022

Students can vote for 50 senators and the Executive Cabinet in SG’s Spring election on Feb. 22 and 23. Five parties are registered: The Gator Party, Change Party, Communist Party, Keg Party and Waffle House Party. Polls will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. on election days, per SG election codes. Students who are unable to vote in-person can request absentee ballots through an online form before 5 p.m. on Wednesday, said Supervisor of Elections Alexandra Stedman.