6 ALLIGATOR FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2020
Former Santa Fe President Jackson Sasser retires By Sarah Mandile Alligator Staff Writer
Santa Fe College’s new president, Paul Broadie II, delivered his inaugural address Tuesday afternoon. As he steps into his new role, Santa Fe students and faculty reflect on former President Jackson Sasser’s legacy at the college. After 18 years of serving as Santa Fe’s president, Sasser said he decided to step down so he could spend more time with his wife and five grandchildren. Sasser considers his time at Santa Fe to be the “zenith” of his career. “I can’t think of any way it could’ve been any better,” Sasser said. Sasser made an undeniable impact on Santa Fe during his time as president, said Bea Awoniyi, the vice president of student affairs at Santa Fe. She said Sasser implemented numerous programs to increase connectivity and inclusion on campus. “He has a great respect for students and creates programs to get them involved and support student engagement,” Awoniyi said. During his time as president, Sasser spearheaded several programs at Santa Fe to create an environment where every student has an opportunity to succeed, such as My Brother’s Keeper, The Spectrum of Success Program and Take Stock in Children, Awoniyi said. Awoniyi said Sasser started My Broth-
er’s Keeper, a program designed to increase the success of black males through mentorship, scholarships and leadership opportunities,before the national program even began. “He did not start it be- Sasser cause it was ‘in,’” Awoniyi said. “He started it because he realized the need for that program.” The Spectrum of Success Program, which aims to provide students on the autism spectrum with employment and life skills, was founded by Sasser, Awoniyi said. Sasser would implement programs such as these to “fix holes when he saw them.” When Sasser noticed that students who participated in Take Stock in Children during high school were struggling without the support of mentors in college, he asked Awoniyi to coordinate a similar program to support students, she said. Take Stock in Children provides students from low-income families with scholarship opportunities and mentorship. Through Santa Fe’s program, Awoniyi checks in with students struggling academically and connects them with resources on campus. Awoniyi said Santa Fe was the first institution to provide this program at a college level. “He looks at how the college can actually
fill those gaps so that no one is left behind,” Awoniyi said. Overall, Sasser credits the progress Santa Fe achieved during his time there to the culture of openness and respect the administration encourages between students and faculty. He said this respect is reflected in the college’s commitment to serving all students equally regardless of age, income level, academic preparation or grades. Alejandro Puga, who served as Santa Fe’s student body president from 2018 to 2019, said Sasser impacted the college in three distinct ways: by internationalizing the school, having a vision for the future and always caring for students. Puga, 21, is now a senior studying political science online at Liberty University in Virginia. He said that Sasser’s efforts as president allowed Santa Fe to be one of the few state colleges in the U.S. to receive a grant to meet with college presidents from other countries. During his time as student body president, Puga had the opportunity to meet visitors from Ukraine, Pakistan and Egypt. “We learned what was going on in their country, and they were learning how the college process works in our country,” Puga said. Puga looks forward to seeing President Broadie continue in Sasser’s footsteps. “I want him to have the opportunity to
give his own vision to the college, and to make sure that he continues the traditions that Dr. Sasser started,” Puga said. @sarahmandile smandile@alligator.org
During Sasser’s time as president, he… • Began first Take Stock in Children program at a college level • Started My Brother’s Keeper • Started Spectrum of Success Program • Led Santa Fe to be the No. 1 Community College in the nation from 2015 to 2016 • Added a Fine Arts Hall to the Northwest Campus • Added three new college locations • Led Santa Fe to begin offering bachelor’s degrees • Allowed student government members to sit in on official college meetings, Board of Trustees meetings and cabinet meetings • Attended classes disguised as a student in order to improve student life • Attended student government events
UF sophomore competes in Jeopardy! College Championship HER FIRST EPISODE AIRS APRIL 7 By Valentina Botero Alligator Staff Writer
Who is Kayla Kalhor? With her trivia competition experience in high school and work as a science bowl coordinator at UF, Kalhor, a 19-year-old UF chemistry sophomore, packed her bags to California to show off her trivia skills in the Jeopardy! College Championship. Kalhor will be the second student after Brian Johnson, who competed back in 1994, to represent UF in the competition, said Alison Cooke, Jeopardy! Director of Communications. Her first episode airs April 7 on CBS, but the show will start on April 6. Kalhor competed against students from different colleges, including Princeton University, Yale University, Northwestern University and Florida State University. She said she is not allowed to release informa-
Other schools competing against UF: • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Florida State University Hendrix College Indiana University University of Texas Carnegie Mellon University University of California, San Diego Princeton University Liberty University Northwestern University University of Mississippi Yale University University of Minnesota Penn State University of Southern California
tion about the results to the public. Thousands of students from all across the U.S. apply to be a part of the competition, but only 15 are chosen, Cooke said. Kalhor said she took an online quiz in March 2019 for the application. Then, she was sent to St. Louis, Missouri, in November for an in-person audition, which included another test, buzzer practice and a mock interview. Kalhor said she applied for the show because she is a long-time fan. She previously applied to Jeopardy! in late 2018 and got called back to an audition in June that she couldn’t attend, she said. Kalhor promised herself she would give it another shot — so she did. She said she was excited to experience the difference between watching it at home and actually being at the studio under the blinding lights. “I’m really happy I did it,” Kalhor said. “It was a once in a lifetime opportunity.” Kalhor said she found out she was accepted into the competition in January while she was at Marston Science Library. Cooke declined to comment when asked about the decision process for Jeopardy! and said nobody in the show could provide that information. “I had to leave the library and go sit down somewhere because I was so shocked,” she said. After receiving the call, Kalhor told her friends and family of the big surprise. Her mother, Mary Kalhor, said she was very proud of her daughter. “My hope for her was that she just made herself proud and her school proud and that it went smoothly for her,” her mother said. “It was quite an accomplishment for her.” The competition provided each contestant with free flights and hotel stays at the
Culver Hotel for the four nights they were in California, Cooke said. The hotel was a mile away from Sony Pictures Studios, where the contest was filmed on its own set. Kalhor would get to the set around 7 a.m. and finish at about 5:30 p.m. Although she missed two days of class, her professors were all excited for her, she said. The competition’s winner will receive the grand prize of $100,000, while second place will win $50,000 and third place will win $35,000. Those who make it onto the semifinals will receive $10,000 each, and those who do not make it past quarterfinals get $5,000 each, Cooke said. “There’s definitely a little more weight to it when you’re actually out there playing for real money,” Kalhor said. “So maybe
you’re a little more wary about your answer.” Kalhor said she believes she was chosen out of luck, but she also said her personality in the interview could have played a role in the decision process. She said that meeting Alex Trebek, the show’s host, was one of the highlights of the experience. Trebek announced last March through a YouTube video that he had been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. “He’s just an icon for fighting through this diagnosis and continuing to host the show with the same grace that he’s always had,” Kalhor said. @lvbotero_ vbotero@alligator.org
Courtesy to The Alligator
Kayla Kalhor is on the bottom right with the rest of the contestants for Jeopardy! College Championship.