News - The Independent Florida Alligator

A person wearing a UF sweatshirt rides past a construction site on Museum Road across from the Reitz Union on Friday, March 19, 2021. (Photo by Chasity Maynard)

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UF set to build new honors residential complex

By Alexander Lugo | 7:00am

The Gator Residential Complex, an undergraduate dormitory for honors students, will replace the Broward Outdoor Recreational Complex in 2022. UF officials don’t know when demolition will start. The complex behind Broward Hall contains tennis courts, basketball courts, sand volleyball courts, a skate park, a roller hockey rink and a pool.

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‘Like a treasure trove’: reviving indigenous voices through oral history

By Sofia Echeverry | Apr. 16

UF is among seven universities — and the only one east of the Mississippi — that will receive a total of $1.36 million from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation to launch a Native American oral history revitalization project to make indigenous oral histories more accessible.

The multi-colored glass of the UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital shines as the sun reflects off the panes on September 25, 2020. The pediatric staff provide care in more than 20 specialties including pediatric hematology-oncology.

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Dancing “For The Kids” during a pandemic: UF’s Dance Marathon raises over $2.2 million

By Sofia Echeverry | Apr. 12

The 26-hour-and-12-minute event — meant to simulate the 26.2 miles of a marathon — was the culmination of a yearlong effort to collect funds for the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals.

A UF pharmacy student prepares the COVID-19 vaccine before it is administered Friday, Feb.5, 2021.

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UF begins COVID-19 vaccinations for students, faculty and staff

By Manny Rea | Apr. 5

On Monday, about 5,000 vaccines will be distributed at the Champions Club section in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. UF does not plan to mandate the vaccine for future semesters.

Two attendees stand in front of Tigert Hall at UF during a vigil on Thursday, April 1 honoring the life of international graduate student Huixiang Chen, who died by suicide in 2019. UF's Graduate Assistants United organized the event to express frustrations over abusive graduate student-mentor relationships.

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UF community honors Huixiang Chen at a vigil

By Alexander Lugo | Apr. 3

Nearly a year and a half after international UF doctoral candidate Huixiang Chen died by suicide in his on-campus lab, UF’s Graduate Assistants United held a vigil in front of Tigert Hall to honor his life. Chen’s body was discovered in Benton Hall June 14, 2019.

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UF to take part in nationwide college Moderna COVID-19 vaccine study

By Manny Rea | Apr. 2

The PreventCOVIDU study is a Moderna-funded project by the COVID-19 Prevention Network to evaluate the vaccine’s effectiveness at 22 U.S. universities, including UF.

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April Fools' Day: President Fuchs announces artificial intelligence will replace faculty across campus

By Alexander Lugo | Apr. 1

This year's April Fools' joke plays on UF’s growing AI program, which has $70 million in funding and includes plans to integrate the technology within every college at the university.

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Gov. DeSantis expands COVID-19 vaccine eligibility

By Manny Rea and Alexander Lugo | Mar. 29

Vaccine recipients will be able to opt out of the biweekly on-campus testing two weeks after receiving their final doses, said Dr. Michael Lauzardo, the director of UF Health’s Screen, Test and Protect program.

Charlie Kirk, leader of Turning Point USA, and Graham Allen, political speaker, answer questions from an audience in University Auditorium. Kirk was one of several conservative figures to criticize UF for suspending three student groups for violating university COVID-19 policies.

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UF temporarily suspends three conservative student groups

By Abigail Hasebroock | Mar. 24

The university’s statement came after it received backlash from conservative politicians about the decision to temporarily suspend the chapters.

Alondra Arce, 20, a sustainability sophomore, looks at the “Save Our Bright Futures” mural she helped paint on the side of 34th Street in Gainesville on Sunday, March 7, 2021.

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Florida Senate Education Committee passes student financial aid bill onto next step

By Juliana Ferrie | Mar. 18

Originally filed by Sen. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, Senate Bill 86 proposes changes to the Bright Futures Scholarship program that would limit the amount of money awarded to students based on their chosen major. The bill passed the Senate Education Committee with 5-4 votes.

Participants in the "March to Save McCarty" place signs on the steps of the UF Administration building on Saturday, March 13, 2021. The march was held to raise awareness about McCarty Woods' potential designation as a future construction site, which UF has since rescinded.

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UF won’t use McCarty Woods as a building spot in 2020-2030 plans

By Abigail Hasebroock | Mar. 17

The change to the Campus Master Plan, a 10 year plan for new facilities and buildings on campus, comes after opposition to the plan’s approval in December bred the Save McCarty Woods movement.

Terrell “Red” Baker speaks during a ceremony that announced the renaming of the UF School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences on Monday, March 15, 2021. It was formerly called the School of Forest Resources and Conservation. Baker, the school director, said the change will make it easier for people to contact individuals within the program.

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UF School of Forest Resources and Conservation gets name change

By J.P. Oprison | Mar. 17

The School of Forest Resources and Conservation changed its name to the School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences to better represent the school’s programs and work, Terrell “Red” Baker, the school’s director, said.

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UF Health professor Mavis Agbandje-McKenna dies at 57

By Carolina Ilvento | Mar. 15

Agbandje-McKenna, a UF Health biochemistry professor and structural biologist, died March 3 of a neurodegenerative disease. She is survived by her husband Robert McKenna, their two adult children and the many friends and colleagues who knew and learned from her.

Alondra Arce, 20, a UF sustainability sophomore, paints a mural that says "Save Our Bright Futures" on Sunday, March 7, 2021. Arce recruited student volunteers to help her create the mural along 34th Street in Gainesville to raise awareness about Senate Bill 86, which would limit some students' access to state funding for college if passed.

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Proposed Senate Bill could affect Florida Bright Futures

By Juliana Ferrie | Mar. 10

Students and parents around the state felt angered by the proposed bill. At UF, Alondra Arce, a 20-year-old sustainability studies and sociology sophomore, organized a group of students to paint a mural on the 34th Street Wall Sunday to bring awareness to the bill.

A man observes the collection of movies and books on the display honoring the late Patricia Hilliard-Nunn at the Headquarters Library. Hilliard-Nunn was an activist and adjunct associate professor at UF in the African American Studies Program who died on Aug. 5 at 57.

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UF libraries display a collection of works in honor of Patricia Hilliard-Nunn’s legacy

By Camila Pereira | Mar. 3

The Alachua County Library District and George A. Smathers Libraries at UF partnered to organize a display to honor Hilliard-Nunn, an activist and adjunct associate professor in UF’s African American Studies Program who was known for her research in media and culture, enslaved Africans and African American history in Alachua County. Hilliard-Nunn died on Aug. 5 at 57.

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UF welcomes more than 15,000 to the class of 2025

By Alexander Lugo | Mar. 1

The average GPA for admits was 4.51 along with an average SAT score of 1392 and an average ACT score of 31.

Akiya Parks, a first-generation student and Machen Florida Opportunity Scholar, addresses the crowd on the Plaza of the Americas Feb. 26, 2019, for the “Stand Up and Holler: Gator Nation Giving Day.”

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UF raises $1.7 million more than last year’s Gator Giving Day

By Alexander Lugo | Feb. 19

The university raised $25.3 million during its third annual Gator Giving Day fundraiser Thursday, making it the highest yielding year.

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UF assistant professor on NASA's Perseverance rover team talks Mars landing

By Abigail Hasebroock | Feb. 18

UF geological sciences assistant professor Amy Williams is participating in her second mission to analyze for signs of ancient life on Mars through NASA's Perseverance rover team, which is landing on the red planet Thursday.

Two people light each other’s candles during an event on Sunday, Feb. 14, 2021 to honor those killed during a school shooting in Parkland, Florida three years ago.

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Gainesville remembers Parkland shooting victims

By Alexander Lugo and Valeriya Antonshchuk | Feb. 15

About 80 students gathered in Plaza of the Americas on the evening of Feb. 14 to observe the third anniversary of the shooting. March for Our Lives Gainesville, a local branch of the national organization formed immediately following the tragedy to advocate for gun reform, honors the anniversary each year with a vigil on the plaza.

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Preventing tragedy: New safety measures on University Avenue

By Sofia Echeverry | Feb. 15

UF will collaborate with FDOT, the city and UPD to enact traffic safety measures. These changes include lowering the speed limit, fixing and adding new crosswalks and installing signs for increased visibility.