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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2023
VOLUME 118 - ISSUE 13 Not officially associated with the University of Florida
Published by Campus Communications, Inc. of Gainesville, Florida
UF faculty share mixed reviews about Sasse’s strategic vision for tuition changes, post-tenure review Faculty submitted anonymous feedback directly to the president By Garrett Shanley Alligator Staff Writer
UF faculty have expressed a mixture of support, skepticism and disdain for UF President Ben Sasse’s vision for the university’s future. A total of 157 anonymous submissions to a feedback portal on the president’s website from August to September revealed the unfiltered opinions of UF faculty regarding Sasse’s strategic plan. The feedback has helped “shape [administration’s] thinking” and “refined [its] options,” a UF spokesperson wrote in an email. “Just one example: it’s obvious that too much bureaucratic red tape exists, and it frustrates faculty. Nobody becomes a professor because they're passionate about paperwork. That’s a problem that became apparent as a result of some of these conversations, and it's a priority to fix.” Sasse revealed his preliminary visions for UF in August in facultyonly “roadshows” across UF’s 16 colleges, where he discussed adjusting student tuition costs and improving the productivity of "quiet-retired" faculty through posttenure review. Sasse has predicted that low tuition costs, which are heavily subsidized by the Legislature and Bright Futures scholarships, can’t continue. In his roadshows, he said tuition is radically underpriced and
SPORTS/SPECIAL/CUTOUT
Gators geaux down Story description finish with comma,
Florida falters in Baton Rouge, lose pg# third straight. Read more on pg. 11.
"an economic model that doesn't make sense." "We are the only state that loses money on every student," Sasse said in one presentation. "We should definitely be charging ability-to-pay for children of the wealthiest." The anonymous feedback largely opposed any changes to the university’s tuition rates. “President Sasse’s attack on Bright Futures makes it seem as if he is unaware of the financial reality that many students are facing due to the rapid increase in cost of living in Florida,” one faculty member wrote. “UF leadership needs to support, not attack, Bright Futures.” One message, submitted to the portal 37 times, read: “President Sasse, PLEASE DON’T raise out-ofstate tuition for current students! With room and board expenses, we’re barely able to afford a UF education for our freshman son. We allowed him to pursue his Gator dream — instead of paying significantly less at Binghamton University — under the fair assumption that $28k would remain stable for the final three years of his undergrad education. He loves studying in Gainesville and would be DEVASTATED if forced to transfer to a school in our home state (New York). Thanks for your understanding!”
SEE FEEDBACK, PAGE 5
Jackson Reyes // Alligator Staff
Junior running back Montrell Johnson Jr. runs toward the endzone in the Gators’ 52-35 loss to the LSU Tigers on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023 in Baton Rouge, La. Florida fell to 5-5 on the season after the loss. The last time UF had three consecutive losing seasons was from 1945 to 1947. Read more on page 11.
Petition to limit protests on Gainesville abortion clinic’s sidewalk reaches 700 signatures THE ONLINE PETITION, DIRECTED TO THE CITY COMMISSION, RE-IGNITES DISCUSSION OF BUFFER ZONES
By Zoey Thomas Alligator Staff Writer
Andrew Scholberg has been arrested 13 times. But that doesn’t deter the 71-year-old freelance writer and pro-life activist from continuing the work he’s been doing for almost 50 years — standing outside abortion clinics to pray and offer alternatives to women entering the building.
Special Session
A MoveOn petition created Nov. 2 asks the Gainesville City Commission to deter abortion critics like Scholberg from gathering outside Bread & Roses, one of Gainesville’s two abortion clinics. The petition, which gathered over 700 signatures in the week and a half since its creation, encourages signers to ask the commission for “No Loitering or Solicitation” signs along Northwest 10th Avenue. Protestors on the sidewalk outside the clinic “gather to intimidate, harass, assault and disturb” both employees and patients, the petition said. “I have watched them scream
State lawmakers pass resolutions condemning Hamas attacks, pg. 4
at people walking into the clinic for health care, often even chasing them onto the Bread & Roses property,” the petition’s creator said, who asked to remain anonymous for personal safety, in an email to The Alligator. Pro-life groups say they will take clients’ babies or repeat incorrect information about when the baby has a heartbeat, all as a method of intimidation and harassment, the petition’s creator said. Buffer zones in Gainesville: A 10-year conversation
SEE B&R, PAGE 6
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Music
Elvie Shane debuts new single at Vivid Music Hall, pg. 7
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