UF students react to DeSantis’ U.S. presidential bid
By Garrett Shanley and Vivienne Serret | May 30Gov. Ron DeSantis announced his 2024 U.S. presidential campaign May 24, which elicited both support and antagonism from UF students.u00a0
Garrett Shanley is a UF third-year journalism and history major and The Alligator's Summer 2023 university administration reporter. In his free time, Garrett can be found watching Wong Kar-Wai films and brooding.
Gov. Ron DeSantis announced his 2024 U.S. presidential campaign May 24, which elicited both support and antagonism from UF students.u00a0
UF President Ben Sasse announced the formation of a Strategic Enrollment Management Taskforce in a press release Tuesday. The taskforce will assess a broad set of issues related to undergraduate enrollment, including academic programs, physical learning spaces, digital delivery and residential housing, according to the release.
A UF veterinary clinical trial resulted in the death of two dog subjects. UF vice president for research David Norton filed a report that revealed the details of the study. The study tested the effects of adeno-associated virus vectors on two groups of dogs with duchenne muscular dystrophy. The two groups received AAV vector injections on June 24 and Aug. 19, respectively.
“If I was a brand new student at UF [walking] down the halls of the Reitz Union or some other high traffic area, and I saw images of Asian American students on the walls from the 1900s, from the ‘30s, from the ‘40s … how would that then impact my own ability to connect to the institution?” Phillip Cheng said.
In one of his first interactions with a campus group, UF President Ben Sasse discussed the LGBTQ community concerns at the university. Sasse's May 11 meeting with the UF LGBTQ+ Presidential Advisory Committee fulfilled his seven-month-old promise made during his first visit to UF campus, where he acknowledged the committee value and said he would meet with them.
Sasse's transition team includes members of the presidential cabinet and staff, the UF Board of Trustees, members of Sasse's office in the U.S. Senate and ex-Midland University officials.
UF selected Nigel Richardson as the inaugural senior director of academic advising for its recently created UF Student Success department.