News - The Independent Florida Alligator

José Nieves and Miguel Cardona sit in front of their food truck in Gainesville.

NEWS | FEATURES

DJ's Cast Iron Burgers: Two Gainesville entrepreneurs set out to establish chain restaurant

By Aubrey Bocalan | Mar. 10, 2023

Today, passersby can find the pair sweating it out inside the foodtruck of DJ’s Cast Iron Burgers. Parked on University Avenue, the latest ’80s tunes play from the speakers and mingle with the sizzling of burger patties. When they open the window to greet their customers, the smell of caramelized onions and hot peanut oil escape. The heat from their cast iron planks bleed out, offering respite from the rare Florida cold.

Tigert Hall is seen on Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021.

NEWS | CAMPUS UF ADMINISTRATION

UF announces search committee for new provost

By Christian Casale | Mar. 10, 2023

UF President Ben Sasse has appointed a search committee to find a replacement for outgoing Provost Joe Glover, the university announced Friday morning.

Laura Ann Rosenbury, dean of UF’s Levin College of Law, speaks before she begins her term in 2015.

NEWS | CAMPUS BREAKING NEWS

UF law school dean Laura Rosenbury selected as Barnard College president

By Veronica Nocera | Mar. 9, 2023

Laura Rosenbury, the first female dean of the UF Levin College of Law, will leave the university in July to become the president of Barnard College, UF announced Thursday morning.

NEWS | CAMPUS STUDENT GOVERNMENT

UF Student Senate validates election results

By Amanda Friedman | Mar. 8, 2023

Besides validating the Spring SG election results and hearing the speeches of outgoing senators, the chamber passed six pieces of legislation during the four-and-a-half-hour March 7 meeting.

NEWS | CAMPUS STUDENT GOVERNMENT

UF election commission confirms Gator Party executive victory, Change Party Senate majority

By Amanda Friedman and Alissa Gary | Mar. 6, 2023

More than 12,400 students voted in Student Government elections Feb. 28 and March 1, resulting in a Gator Party executive ticket win and Change Party Senate majority.

UF Surf Club's A Team placed third overall at the NSSA college competition at New Smyrna Beach on Sunday, March 5, 2023. To prepare for the waves, they skateboarded on their backyard half pipe in Gainesville.

NEWS | CAMPUS

Surfing the state since ’78: UF Surf Club competes in Florida collegiate competition

By Ella Thompson | Mar. 6, 2023

Surfing in a landlocked city comes with challenges, but UF Surf has taken on this obstacle for nearly 45 years. With about 200 members, the club lies somewhere between a competitive UF Rec Sports club team and a social club known for throwing legendary parties.

NEWS | CAMPUS

Blazed, unfazed: UF students share marijuana habits

By Ella Thompson | Mar. 6, 2023

College students are using marijuana at historically high levels, according to a 2021 study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. A significant portion — 44% — of college students reported using marijuana in 2020, compared to 38% in 2015, the study said.

Nine members of the UF wildlife ecology and conservation department’s Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access Committee wrote a letter criticizing the guidelines and called upon the UF community to advocate for transgender healthcare access for children.

NEWS | CAMPUS

UF Health complies with state audit, reports increase in gender-affirming care patients

By Amanda Friedman | Mar. 6, 2023

UF reported a steady increase of patients diagnosed with gender dysphoria or who received gender-affirming care at UF Health since 2018, according to an audit requested by the governor’s office and obtained by The Alligator.

Tubas and drums of the Gator Marching Band move into position while practicing at Gator Band Field Sunday, March 5, 2023.

NEWS | CAMPUS

Gator Marching Band gears up for performance in Ireland

By Sophia Bailly | Mar. 6, 2023

The Gator Marching Band is traveling Ireland during Spring break to perform in St. Patrick's Day festivities.

NEWS | CAMPUS

Baby Gator to undergo renovation, expansion to address waitlist

By Peyton Harris | Mar. 6, 2023

Baby Gator’s Lake Alice location will undergo an expansion, with construction projected to be completed in August. This comes alongside a large recruitment effort of educators, as the team hopes to open up 50 to 70 additional spots to UF-affiliated families by adding five classrooms.

UF Turkish Student Association members turn off candles as the vigil dedicated to those who died during the Turkey-Syria earthquakes draws to a close Thursday, March 2, 2023.

NEWS | CAMPUS

UF students honor Turkish, Syrian earthquake victims

By Ella Thompson | Mar. 3, 2023

The Turkish Student Association organized a 7 p.m. vigil Thursday to honor victims of the earthquakes that devastated Turkey and Syria in early February. Students of various ethnicities showed up to support the organization, according to TSA President Ece Zivrali.

NEWS | CAMPUS STUDENT GOVERNMENT

Gator wins executive seats, Change achieves first-ever UF Student Senate majority

By Alligator Staff report | Mar. 2, 2023

Gator won the executive ticket with Olivia Green as president, Clara Calavia as vice president and Nyla Pierre as treasurer. In the Senate, Change won 30 seats, Gator won 19 and a non-party affiliated write-in candidate won a seat as well.

Newly appointed UF President Ben Sasse discusses a plan to open a new graduate campus in Jacksonville during a press conference held at Jacksonville City Hall Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2023.

NEWS | CAMPUS UF ADMINISTRATION

UF to pause development of West Palm Beach graduate campus

By Peyton Harris | Mar. 1, 2023

UF announced a halt in deliberations on the planned construction of a West Palm Beach graduate campus in a Tuesday morning email to the campus community.

UF students line up at the Reitz Union Printing Lab to cast their ballot for the Spring 2023 student body president, vice president and treasurer Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023.

NEWS | CAMPUS STUDENT GOVERNMENT

More than 7,600 UF students cast votes on first day of Spring Student Government elections

By Alligator Staff report | Feb. 28, 2023

Thousands of UF students lined up across on-campus polling locations Tuesday for the first day of the Spring Student Government elections.

The Change Party and the Gator Party’s candidates for student body president, vice president and treasurer engage in a debate moderated by Marna Weston in the Reitz Union Grand Ballroom Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023.

NEWS | CAMPUS STUDENT GOVERNMENT

Spring Student Government elections: A voting guide

By Amanda Friedman | Feb. 27, 2023

UF Student Government Spring elections begin Feb. 28, where the executive branch seats — student body president, vice president and treasurer — along with 50 Senate seats are on the line after a contentious campaign cycle between Gator Party and Change Party.

NEWS | CAMPUS

State bill could eliminate gender studies, grant hiring power to trustees

By Alissa Gary | Feb. 27, 2023

If passed, House Bill 999 would ban the instruction of gender studies and critical race theory, give hiring powers to each state university board of trustees and allow them to call post-tenure review at any time for any purpose. It would also prohibit any campus programs or activities that say people are discriminated against because of their race, sex or national origin.

Dr. Dan Berger, a UF alum and author, signs his books and talks with attendees at a UF Samuel Proctor Oral History Program event on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023.

NEWS | CAMPUS

UF hosts talk, signing for new civil rights book ‘Stayed on Freedom’

By Ben Crosbie | Feb. 26, 2023

As Black History Month comes to a close, Dan Berger and Zoharah Simmons brought a personal piece of history to life in UF’s Smathers Library on Thursday, Feb. 23.

Ohio State professor Julia Andrews gives a presentation on female Chinese artists in the 1900s at the Harn Museum of Art Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2023.

NEWS | CAMPUS

UF Harn Museum educates visitors on 20th century Chinese female artists

By Zoey Thomas | Feb. 24, 2023

Audience members — including local families and UF students — had a hard time looking away from the colorful paintings flashing across the projector behind her as she spoke.

UF campus cat Eve eats Churu cat treats.

NEWS | CAMPUS

UF students befriend Riker Hall cat colony

By Alissa Gary | Feb. 24, 2023

The six tabbies and two black cats may have different names depending on who’s visiting that day. As somewhat-strays, each person interested enough to come close calls them differently.

Sophia De La Cruz (left) and Krystin Anderson (right) speak to attendees at the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program’s teach-in session about black history and intellectual freedom in Marston Science Library Thursday, February 23, 2023.

NEWS | CAMPUS

UF students protest DeSantis’ ‘attacks on higher education’

By Peyton Harris , Halima Attah and Ella Thompson | Feb. 24, 2023

In a moment of solidarity, UF students, many clad in black and holding signs, gathered outside Marston Science Library at noon Thursday in support of gender-affirming health care and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives as they come under fire from the state government.