News - The Independent Florida Alligator

Lauren Hampton Farmer, 31, holds her wedding dress that was found after tornadoes in Cookeville, Tennessee destroyed her house and spread out her belongings in early March. Her husband, Kory Farmer, is wearing his wedding blazer that was also found in the aftermath, alongside her UF diploma. She graduated from UF in 2010.

NEWS | CAMPUS

UF alumna’s diploma survives Tennessee tornado

By AJ Bafer | Mar. 19, 2020

Her wedding dress was also found after the disaster

NEWS | CAMPUS

Hey, UF. Listen to your students.

Mar. 19, 2020

Coronavirus has stripped life down to its bare bones, and priorities have come into clearer focus.

NEWS | CAMPUS

A student emailed. The president replied.

Mar. 19, 2020

Editor’s Note: President Kent Fuchs told The Alligator he received hundreds of emails from students since UF announced classes would move fully online through the end of the Spring semester. At his request, and with the permission of the email’s author, we are printing one of the emails on this page along with his reply.

NEWS | CAMPUS UF ADMINISTRATION

Wednesday COVID-19 updates: New county case; classes offered as pass or fail; UF helping The Villages

By Hannah Phillips , Grethel Aguila and Kaelyn Cassidy | Mar. 18, 2020

Confirmed cases continue to increase in Alachua County. Meanwhile, UF announces a grading alternative and Gov. Ron DeSantis releases information on expanding testing in North Central Florida.

NEWS | CAMPUS

Four UF students have COVID-19; UF spring graduation canceled and other important coronavirus updates

By Hannah Phillips and Alyssa Feliciano | Mar. 17, 2020

Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that four UF students have COVID-19 and told universities to move online the rest of the semester.

FILE - In this Feb. 8, 2020, file photo, Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, speaks during the McIntyre-Shaheen 100 Club Dinner in Manchester, N.H. Gabbard of Hawaii, who was born in American Samoa, received one delegate. Bloomberg’s decisive win over the local-born Gabbard was startling, but the Hawaii congresswoman had a late start campaigning in the territory compared with the billionaire. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

NEWS | CAMPUS

Tulsi Gabbard is the only person of color left in the election. But polls don’t show her as the top choice.

By Allessandra Inzinna | Mar. 17, 2020

Tulsi Gabbard is the last woman in the race, too.

NEWS | CAMPUS

Coronavirus updates: Fuchs addresses UF community, no graduation decision, city holds emergency meeting

By Grethel Aguila and Alyssa Feliciano | Mar. 16, 2020

Today’s updates on the coronavirus stem from the recommendation from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control that no gatherings with 50 or more people should take place.

NEWS | CAMPUS

What you need to know about coronavirus: A timeline

Mar. 14, 2020

The World Health Organization characterized it as a pandemic Wednesday

People visit an international terminal at John F. Kennedy airport, Friday, March 13, 2020, in New York. A ban on travelers from most European countries begins at midnight Friday, and travelers returning from there will be screened. The ban is the latest calamity for a global travel industry already reeling from falling bookings and canceled reservations as people try to avoid contracting and spreading the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

NEWS | NATIONAL

Spain to follow Italy into lockdown, US expands travel ban

By Joseph Wilson | Mar. 14, 2020

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — France ordered the closing of just about everything the rest of the world loves about it — the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the cafes, restaurants and cinema — and Spain drew up plans Saturday to lock down its 46 million citizens as governments took increasingly desperate measures to put more space between people and contain the coronavirus.

President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference about the coronavirus in the Rose Garden of the White House, Friday, March 13, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

NEWS | NATIONAL

Trump declares virus emergency; Pelosi announces aid deal

By Andrew Taylor | Mar. 13, 2020

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday declared the coronavirus pandemic a national emergency in order to free up more money and resources. But he denied any responsibility for delays in making testing available for the new virus, whose spread has roiled markets and disrupted the lives of everyday Americans.

Pictured is the Santa Fe College clock tower.

NEWS | SFC

Santa Fe College goes fully online, Florida public schools close and other coronavirus updates

By Hannah Phillips , Chasity Maynard , Alyssa Feliciano and Valentina Botero | Mar. 13, 2020

Santa Fe College announced today that its classes will be online starting Monday. Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered schools to be canceled for two weeks.

Nomfumo Manaba, a 23-year-old UF journalism and political science junior, video calls into her class at Library West.

NEWS | CAMPUS UF ADMINISTRATION

UF cancels on-campus classes, events

By Hannah Phillips , Kaelyn Cassidy , Chasity Maynard , Alyssa Feliciano and Meghan McGlone | Mar. 13, 2020

Classes will be online until at least March 30

Customers are turned away from a ticket booth in Times Square, Thursday, March 12, 2020, in New York. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday he will announce new restrictions on gatherings to halt the spread of the new coronavirus in the coming days. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms. For some it can cause more severe illness. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

NEWS | NATIONAL

Coronavirus brings entertainment world to a standstill

By Jake Coyle | Mar. 12, 2020

NEW YORK (AP) — The entertainment industry prepared Thursday for an unprecedented shutdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus, canceling upcoming movies, suspending all Broadway performances and scuttling concert tours until it's safe to welcome crowds back.

NEWS | CAMPUS

UF offers emergency funding for students

By Hannah Phillips | Mar. 12, 2020

Students must provide evidence of “extenuating circumstances” to qualify for the aid

Andrew Jensen, the Overall Director of Dance Marathon 2019, rocks out during the Savants of Soul’s performance Saturday night in the O’Connell Center. Dance Marathon lasted for 26.2 hours and raised $3,230,025.23 for children at UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital and Children’s Miracle Network.

NEWS | CAMPUS UF ADMINISTRATION

Andrew Yang’s visit is postponed for now; Dance Marathon is canceled

By Hannah Phillips and Kaelyn Cassidy | Mar. 12, 2020

Yang was going to be paid $50,000 to come to UF

An employee disinfects the glass cover of a butcher counter to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus in a food store in Budapest, Hungary, Wednesday, March 11, 2020. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (Tamas Kovacs/MTI via AP)

NEWS | NATIONAL

Tests show new virus lives on some surfaces for up to 3 days

By Marilynn Marchione | Mar. 11, 2020

The new coronavirus can live in the air for several hours and on some surfaces for as long as two to three days, tests by U.S. government and other scientists have found.

NEWS | CAMPUS

UF coronavirus: classes required to move online; Shands hospital has first coronavirus case

By Hannah Phillips , Kaelyn Cassidy , Alyssa Feliciano and Meghan McGlone | Mar. 11, 2020

UF Shands confirmed that it is treating a patient from Georgia. Meanwhile, UF is cancelling on-campus classes and moving to an online format by Monday, emails sent to faculty show.

Peter Sturgeon, 26, stands outside his food truck, Soup to Nuts, as he prepares for an event at First Magnitude Brewery.

NEWS | CAMPUS

Food trucks to serve acai bowls, chicken near Lake Alice

By Charlene Medders | Mar. 11, 2020

There will be a different food truck once a week

NEWS | NATIONAL

WHO declares that virus crisis is now a pandemic

By Nicole Winfield | Mar. 11, 2020

ROME (AP) — Expressing alarm both about mounting infections and slow government responses, the World Health Organization declared Wednesday that the global coronavirus crisis is now a pandemic but also said it's not too late for countries to act.

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., speaks before introducing Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., at a campaign rally in Springfield, Va., Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

NEWS | CAMPUS

UF Muslims have concerns for safety, policy in primary election

By Samia Lagmis | Mar. 10, 2020

78 percent of Muslim Americans approved of President Obama