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UF faculty banned from recruiting Chinese, Iranian students under new Florida law Law blocks state universities from making offers to students from seven ‘countries of concern’

By Zoey Thomas Alligator Staff Writer

After six years, 32-year-old Sara Hejazi had finally convinced her best friend to move from Iran to Florida to join Hejazi in studying medicine at UF. But no sooner had her friend begun preparing her application than Hejazi, a UF medical intern, heard about Florida’s newest law cracking down on international graduate student recruitment.

“I did my best for years and years to convince a best friend, confidante, sister-like friendship to come live close to me,” she said.

“You cannot imagine how difficult it was for me to inform her that maybe this is not the best time to apply.”

The Florida law bans “partnerships,” including recruitment programs, between state universities and any non-U.S. citizen living in a foreign country of concern — including China, Iran, Venezuela, Russia, Cuba, Syria and North Korea. It was passed in May and went into effect Dec. 1.

The UF dean’s office and upper administration has interpreted the law to mean faculty cannot offer any assistantship or fellowship to students in these countries for the 2024-2025 academic year, according to an email sent to physics faculty by department chair Steve Hagen.

Many students and faculty members have unanswered questions about the law, with upper

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Men’s Basketball Story description finish with comma, Gators look to bounce back ahead pg# of SEC slate. Read more on pg. 11.

administration still trying to decide how to implement its provisions.

It’s unclear whether UF will admit self-funded students, students who originate from the “countries of concern” but are already living in the U.S., and students who already received offers before the law went into effect but have not yet begun their studies.

The law does not apply to students who are already in the graduate program — they will continue to receive support as usual.

Most U.S. graduate school applications are due in late December or early January, meaning UF faculty are navigating the changed application process in the height of recruitment season. More than 300 faculty members have signed a petition to UF President Ben Sasse to protest the law.

International graduate students from the seven “countries of concern” made up 33.3% of total UF graduate students and 28.7% of new UF graduate students in 2022.

Of the seven countries, China had the largest number of UF graduate students at 1,165, followed by Iran at 82, while the remaining five combined had 32.

“I am considering leaving the university as we speak”: Faculty speak out Abdelsalam “Sumi” Helal, a UF engineering professor, knows the U.S. must stay competitive against foreign competition, he said. But the politicians who made this bill forgot the reason the U.S. became

SEE CHINA, PAGE 5

Valentina Sarmiento // Alligator Staff

John Bitter, 41, a farmer at Frog Song Organics, examines a tangerine rootstock from his orchard at Hawthorne, Fla., on Friday, Jan. 5, 2024. Read more on pg. 5.

Local activists, politicians and community members discuss prospective bills for Florida’s 2024 legislative session The regular session will begin Jan. 9 and is slated to end March 8

By Rylan DiGiacomo-Rapp Alligator Staff Writer

Just a few days into the new year, Nickolas Sanders assessed the stark political differences between upcoming Florida bills concerning similar topics.

“Just like everything, there’s two sides to the coin,” he said.

“There are negative and positive attributes to either or.”

The 2024 Florida regular legislative session begins Jan. 9 with over 1,000 bills filed. The pro-

Business Closures

Restaurant owners cite financial restraints, pg. 8

posed legislation has sparked discussions on a wide range of issues, including abortion access, firearm regulations, education reform, environmental protection, insurance rates and hurricane relief.

The 60-day process is slated to end March 8. Local representatives, activists, students and Alachua County residents are concerned about the impact new legislation may have on their communities.

Firearm regulation

Archive, there were 657 mass shootings nationally last year.

Thirty took place in Florida.

An increase in these incidents calls for the revision of current Florida gun laws, said Isaiah Sloan, a member of Students Demand Action, an organization dedicated to ending gun violence.

Activists like Sloan, a 19-yearold UF microbiology and political science freshman, have spoken out against recent legislation loosening gun regulations.

According to the Gun Violence

SEE LEGISLATION, PAGE 4

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New laws upend Florida system, pg. 4

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2 ALLIGATOR MONDAY, JANUARY 8, 2024

Weather Locals Today’s are wary of political motivations of new board GAINESVILLE RESIDENTS, ORGANIZATIONS FIGHT GRU BILL

By Bailey Diem Alligator Staff Writer

With Gainesville Regional Utilities now under the rule of a board appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, some Gainesville residents are taking action in the form of lawsuits.

The law went into effect July 1.

It establishes the Gainesville Regional Utilities Authority, a board made up of five governor-appointed members to oversee GRU in place of its general manager. The board took over Oct.1.

Since its implementation, several lawsuits have been filed against the law, including those by Gainesville Residents United, a nonprofit organization aiming to bring awareness to local issues and the takeover detailed in the bill.

Robert Hutchinson, a 71-year-old Gainesville resident, serves as the president of the organization. The law breaches the constitutional rights of local residents, he said.

“The primary problem we have is that it’s undemocratic,” he said.

Local officials have no say in the appointment of authority members, Hutchinson said.

“No local elected officials appoint these people [or] can discipline them,” he said. “Nobody locally can fire them. Only the gov-

ernor can do that.”

According to Hutchinson, there have been five lawsuits filed against the law and two more that are pending. The lawsuits are split among federal and state courts, he said.

“Right now, we’ve got essentially two cases in federal court, two in state court in Tallahassee and one in state court in Gainesville,” Hutchinson said.

The lawsuits have been losing defendants in recent rulings. In the latest ruling Dec. 21, a judge dismissed DeSantis as a defendant in one of the lawsuits, leaving only the City of Gainesville as a defendant, according to a WCJB article.

With the recent rulings, members of Gainesville Residents United are considering their next steps if their lawsuits are ultimately dismissed, Hutchinson said.

“We’ve gotten a couple of bad rulings,” he said. “They’re not final yet, but if and when they are, we may choose to either refile those complaints in another venue, or we might decide to appeal.”

Lawsuits are somewhat of a last resort to the local organization, Hutchinson said. Amending the law remains among their top goals, he said.

“Most of the focus seems to be on the lawsuits, but we also educate, advocate and negotiate,” he said.

“Right now, we’re advocating for a revision to [House Bill] 1645. That’s

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up in the legislature right now.”

If the proposed revisions were to be passed, the lawsuits would be dropped, Hutchinson said.

“We have told the legislature that if they pass our amendments, as we have presented them, that all of our lawsuits will go away, or at least most of them will,” he said.

Some Gainesville residents remain wary of the new GRU authority.

For Jessica Forbes, a 37-year-old Gainesville resident, the increasing rates of GRU bring about enough concern on their own.

“I feel bad for those who are having a hard time being able to afford paying utilities,” she said. “I think it’s also kind of hurting all of the community because it’s forcing more people to live out east just to get out of GRU.” Read the rest online at alligator.org. @BaileyDiem bdiem@alligator.org

Alachua County Court Judge Walter Green retires: What is to come?

AS GREEN RETIRES, A JUDICIAL VACANCY IS LEFT TO BE HANDLED

By Kairi Lowery Alligator Staff Writer

When Alachua County Court Judge Walter Green announced his retirement in a Sept. 13 letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis, he left a vacancy open within the county’s judiciary position.

Defense attorney Eric Atria applied to fill this vacancy. Atria, known across Florida for being “sucker punched,” by his defendant in 2022, hit the ground running with his judicial campaign by seeking endorsements from county commissioners.

Gabriella Aulisio // Alligator Staff

Eric Atria stands in front of the Judge Stephan P. Mickle, Sr. Criminal Courthouse on Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024.

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The regular judicial election cycle occurs every six years, but because Green is retiring outside of an election year, a designated process is set aside to elect a new judge. This typically occurs for situations in which judges retire, resign, pass away or take senior status. As Green transitions into retirement, this several-step process begins.

First, Atria has to meet several requirements relating to his legal experience. This includes being a member of good standing with the Florida Bar as well as at least five years of attorney experience.

To be considered, applicants must apply by Jan. 15. After the application period closes, the 8th Circuit Judicial Nominating Commission — a group composed of nine individuals who interview all applicants — choose six names who move forward with the selection process. Those six names are then sent to DeSantis, who chooses one of those names, deciding who will become the new county judge.

On Nov. 15, 2022, Atria was defending his client, Obadiah Dillard, as a public defense attorney when he was suddenly attacked on his left side, resulting in a fractured skull and broken tooth, rendering him unconscious.

Prior to this attack, legislation stated penalties for attacks against those in a courtroom was only confined to law enforcement officers, correctional officers, state attorneys and assistants, judges and justices. Defense attorneys weren’t included in the list.

After the attack, Candice Brower, Atria’s boss, realized the omission in the law, and they both worked to incite policy change.

Read the rest online at alligator.org. @kairiloweryy klowery@alligator.org

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Prospective bills LEGISLATION, from pg. 1

One change was a measure proposed by House Speaker Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast, passed in April 2023, allowing legal concealed carry of firearms without a permit. It eliminated certain background checks and gun safety training requirements.

The bill was passed just weeks after the fifth anniversary of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting in 2018.

“I just felt like a slap in the face as a student,” Sloan said. “Easy access to guns is killing my generation left and right.”

For this legislative session, Rep. Joel Rudman, R-Navarre, proposed a new bill limiting the mandatory waiting period for a firearm purchase to three days, potentially allowing a gun to be acquired after that period even if the required background check is not fully completed prior.

Additionally, Rep. Bobby Payne, R-Palatka, filed HB 1223 that will lower the minimum age for firearm purchase from 21 to 18 if enacted.

Sanders, a Columbia County resident and former member of the U.S. Marine Corps, said shortening the allotted background check period to three days shouldn’t pose an issue as long as the process remains strict. An additional psychological evaluation before a firearm purchase would be beneficial, he said.

“I feel that as long as you are a wellrounded adult in today’s society who is doing it strictly for self-defense or sporting… it should not be a problem whether or not how strict the laws are,” Sanders said.

Education reform

Multiple bills that transformed K-12 and higher education were signed into law by

DeSantis in recent years.

The “Don’t Say Gay” bill passed in March 2022, limiting the teaching of sexual orientation and gender identity as well as the use of preferred pronouns in K-12 public schools. The Curriculum Transparency Act was passed in the same month, sparking bans on school library books deemed inappropriate.

As a father of five children, Sanders said he supports limiting sexual discussion in K-12 schools, especially concerning elementary students. However, the recognition of sexual orientation should remain as long as it isn’t pushed on children, he said.

“It was a ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy,” he said, “Nowadays, it’s out in the open.

Why are you trying to close that back down again?”

Signed into law last year, House Bill 999 enacted sweeping changes to Florida higher education. It restricts diversity, equity and inclusion program funding and prohibits degree programs, including critical theory, a term referring to the dissection of systems of oppression and social movements.

Paulina Trujillo, the public relations director for UF College Democrats, worried about the future of her major as a 22-yearold UF women’s studies and political science senior.

However, HB 899 proposed by Rep. Yvonne Hayes Hinson, D-Gainesville, would work to re-expand DEI programs if approved.

Such a measure could be a step in the right direction for students with disputed majors or in fear of joining advocacy groups on campus, Trujillo said. She also worries about legislation regulating student stances on foreign political issues.

Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, R-Spring Hill, proposed a bill that would allow for the assessment of out-of-state tuition to any student promoting a “foreign terrorist organization”

Patricia Pascual // Alligator Staff

and render them ineligible for financial aid and/or scholarships if enacted.

In November 2023, DeSantis demanded the deactivation of Students for Justice in Palestine campus chapters out of concern that the group promoted Hamas, a terrorist organization involved in the ongoing IsraelPalestine conflict. In response, a still-pending lawsuit was filed by UF SJP with the support of Palestine Legal and the ACLU. “I think this is just another facet for him to attack those organizations,” Trujillo said.

fect.

In response to these bans, Floridians Protecting Freedom, backed by organizations including the ACLU of Florida and Planned Parenthood, aims to slot abortion access on the 2024 ballot.

The effort began after the 2023 legislative session concluded in May, collecting the required total of 900,000 verified petitions in less than a year, said Progress Florida Senior Communications Specialist Cheyenne Drews.

Abortion access

Florida abortion access is dependent on an ongoing legal challenge against the current 15-week ban. If upheld, a six-week ban approved by DeSantis last year will take ef-

Read the rest online at alligator.org. @rylan_digirapp rdigiacomo-rapp@alligator.org

Newly enacted laws upend Florida’s criminal justice system THREE NEW BILLS TACKLE BAIL REFORM, THE DEATH PENALTY

By Daniel Bednar Alligator Staff Writer

With the arrival of the new year, several laws passed during 2023’s legislative session are now taking effect and have the potential to drastically alter the criminal justice system in Florida.

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed three new criminal justice bills during the legislative session that modify pretrial detention, tighten penalties for those accused of child sexual abuse and lower the threshold to apply the death penalty.

These bills, characterized as “tough-on-crime,” were praised in a May 2023 release by DeSantis for “keeping criminals in jail and throwing the book at pedophiles.”

Notably, one law directly challenges existing Supreme Court precedent by expanding the applicability of the death penalty beyond murder to include those convicted of child rape.

New bail requirements

House Bill 1627, which took effect Jan. 1, directs the Florida Supreme Court to establish uniform bond recommendations that apply

throughout the state.

Previously, each of Florida’s twenty judicial circuits retained discretion to determine bail amounts.

Under the new law, lower court judges cannot reduce bail under the Supreme Court guidelines; they can only increase it.

DeSantis believes this section of the bill should “prevent some very pro-criminal judges from releasing people back onto the street who should not be released,” he said in a May 2023 Titusville conference.

However, many critics take issue with eliminating a judge’s discretion to lower bail according to the specific facts of a case.

“These judges have intimate knowledge of the specific facts and circumstances of individuals’ cases, and in certain situations, it is greatly beneficial to pursue bail reduction,” Sebastian Smith, president of the Florida Undergraduate Law Review, said.

Critics also claim additional barriers to pretrial release will only serve to hurt the local community, by preventing arestees with strong community ties from continuing to get involved.

“To prevent lower courts from lowering bail amounts can, therefore, deprive the community of valuable activity,” Smith said.

The law also takes aim at new bail reform policies enacted in states

like New York and Illinois, which among other provisions, eliminated cash bail.

In a bill-signing ceremony in Titusville, DeSantis said, “What that means is you’ll have somebody commit a criminal offense, they’ll come in to face charges and then they automatically get released back onto the street without having to post any type of a bond.”

Chief Judge Nushin Sayfie of the 11th Judicial Circuit echoed this sentiment in a statement, “The most significant shortcoming of the current system: persons charged with violent crimes can bond out of jail by paying the standard bond — without first seeing a judge.”

To address these concerns, the bill blocks repeat offenders and those arrested for specific felonies from seeking pretrial release prior to seeing a judge for arraignment.

Not all agree with these changes.

The new law “poses disastrous consequences, denying justice to marginalized communities unable to afford bail,” Smith said.

According to a bill analysis by the House Judiciary Committee, the law might also place an especially heavy burden on the state court system.

The new hearing requirements may increase the workload for state employees and quickly fill local jails as defendants await their mandatory appearances. Despite these find-

ings Alachua County Sheriff’s Office Spokesperson Arthur Forgey, said the law “will have no impact on our operation of the Department of the Jail.”

Expanding crimes covered under the death penalty

Another law, which went into effect last October, allows application of the death penalty for those convicted of sexually battering children under age 12. Although in direct contradiction with a 2008 Supreme Court ruling, the bill attracted wide bipartisan support in the legislature.

“We really believe that part of a just society is to have appropriate punishment,” DeSantis said at a 2023 press conference, “If you commit a crime that is really, really heinous, you should have the ultimate punishment.”

In central Florida, State Attorney Bill Gladson announced in mid-December he will be the first prosecutor to seek the death penalty in a child sexual battery case under the new law, which will likely be appealed to the Supreme Court.

In a post on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, DeSantis said the state attorney “has my full support.”

So far, Gainesville State Attorney Brian Kramer hasn’t sought the death penalty for such a case.

The bill text explicitly mentions its inherently illegal nature by stating, “A sentence of death shall be imposed under this section notwithstanding existing case law which holds such a sentence is unconstitutional under the Florida Constitution and the United States Constitution.”

Many believe the current composition of the Supreme Court may provide an avenue for upholding the new law as constitutional despite the 2008 decision.

Lowering the threshold for death sentences

In yet another change to the criminal justice landscape, Senate Bill 450 lowered the threshold required to sentence offenders to death from a unanimous jury verdict to only eight out of twelve.

The new change makes Florida the harshest state in the nation with regards to capital punishment, a move DeSantis said during a billsigning ceremony, “will prevent families from having to endure what the Parkland families have and ensure proper justice will be served in the state of Florida.”

Read the rest online at alligator.org. @Danielbednar5 dbednar@alligator.org

Faculty ban CHINA, from pg. 1

a global competitor in the first place: attracting the best brains from other countries, he said.

Instead of weakening “countries of concern,” this bill will give them an advantage, he said.

“What has been working beautifully for America is denying these countries the best brains and bringing them here,” he said. “The bill is saying, ‘No, no, no, keep them there.’”

Helal immigrated from Egypt as a doctorate student in 1982 because of the U.S.’s reputation as the science mecca of the world. But today, he feels the golden age of academia is coming to an end for Florida researchers, he said.

“I am considering leaving the university as we speak,” he said. “We will not get the best students ever again if this bill continues.”

Rachel Houtz, who was hired as a UF assistant professor this year, is in the process of hiring her first post-doctoral student for her research in theoretical particle physics.

Houtz hasn’t received any official guidance from the university about how the law will impact hiring, so she’s not going to let country of origin influence her decision for the time being, she said. Regardless, she worries about the law’s effect on UF’s reputation, she said.

“I was at a conference recently and other faculty from other universities and post-docs from other universities knew of the law and were concerned,” she said. “So it is something that is being talked about in our community.”

Students unsure about future Chinese students in Florida are growing accustomed to anti-Chinese legislation. In May, a law restricting Chinese people from owning property in Florida was met with widespread controversy.

The crackdown on Chinese graduate student

MONDAY, JANUARY 8, 2024 ALLIGATOR 5 recruitment didn’t come as a surprise to Xinpei “Ryan” Yue. But the fifth-year UF Scripps Institute graduate student doesn’t think Chinese research students will be much affected by the new law blocking them from Florida public universities, he said.

“The United States has 50 states, it’s not just Florida,” he said. “They will go to other states, other countries.”

The real consequence will be for Florida universities, which will lose access to some of their most productive and hardworking students, he said.

While the total number of new UF international graduate students decreased by just 0.15% from 2021 to 2022, the number of new Chinese international students decreased by 33.4%.

Yue chose to study in Florida over offers from several other schools because of the weather, the beach and the reputation for biological research, he said. But palm trees won’t be enough to keep him here amidst the current administration, he said.

“I will definitely not stay in Florida after graduation,” he said. “I will definitely go to a state like California and New York.”

Zimu Tian’s first thought when he heard about the law on social media was that it was “another stupid law” designed to discriminate against people based on their country of birth.

But after researching further, the UF chemistry research assistant says his main concern is the law’s vagueness.

The time administration takes working on interpreting its details slows down application procedures, which isn’t fair to graduate students, Tian said. He’s heard on social media that many Chinese applicants are avoiding applying to Florida universities altogether — public or private — because of confusion about how the law will be evaluated.

Even though the law doesn’t affect Tian directly right now, it also makes him worry for his own future, he said.

Melanie Peña // Alligator Staff

“It is possible that it’s just a start of stopping international collaboration between certain countries,” he said. “It makes me nervous.”

Confusion is spreading throughout all stages of the admission process, said Reza Esmaeeli, UF doctorate student and president of the Iranian Student Association.

Esmaeeli knows students in Iran who have accepted admission offers from UF but now must wait to find out what will happen to them — not knowing whether they should start applying to other places or whether their offer still stands, he said.

Other Iranian students are already at UF but have husbands or wives still in Iran waiting for a visa, who now worry their way will be prevented, he said.

“If families are going to stay separated because of this, it will be disastrous,” he said.

As someone who comes from a hardline Islamic regime, he understands the U.S.’s desire to protect itself from adversaries like Iran. But banning all Iranian students will damage not just academia, but the post-graduate U.S. job market and worldwide scientific discovery, he said.

“It's not like if I sit here in Florida and draw a wall around myself and do some experiment and come to a conclusion, I can go to the wall and say, ‘Hey, I discovered something,”’ he said. “It should be accessible to everyone. It should be reproducible. That's how science works.”

Hejazi’s friend, a leading breast cancer researcher whose papers have received hundreds of citations, has begun applying to schools outside Florida, Hejazi said.

“She was like family to me, and I know how good she is in her experiments and her field,” Hejazi said. “She could do great work for the people who are suffering from this disease.”

UF’s obligation is to comply with the restriction, said UF Spokesperson Steve Orlando in a statement. The administration has communicated the law to deans and center directors, he said. UF has made no other public statement in response to the petition or regarding questions around the law’s interpretation. @zoeythomas39 zthomas@alligator.org

North central Florida farmers, experts find new ways to combat citrus greening

The disease contributed to one of the industry’s worst seasons on record in 2022-2023

By Kylie Williams Alligator Staff Writer

In his camouflage golf cart, John Bitter drives slowly through a graveyard of citrus trees.

The trees’ trunks are knobby, the branches spindly and bare. Some fell to a hard frost, while others were suffocated by citrus greening disease.

Bitter is the co-founder of Frog Song Organics, a small family farm in Hawthorne, Florida. Frog Song has two to three hundred citrus trees, which Bitter says he’s worked hard to maintain through citrus greening. “[Citrus greening] is definitely here,” Bitter said. “It’s all around Florida.”

Huanglongbing, or citrus greening disease, has ravaged the citrus industry in Florida over the past two decades. Since the disease was first detected in 2005, it has reduced citrus production by over 75% and cost the industry billions of dollars in lost revenue.

Researchers have studied the disease for decades but have yet to find a lasting solution to citrus greening.

Bitter has his own methods of controlling the disease: using plant extracts instead of pesticides, pig manure instead of chemical fertilizer and chickens instead of weed killer.

For Frog Song’s groves, the organic approach works. While Bitter still loses a few trees to greening each year, he said most of his citrus crop remains productive.

Many growers across the state haven’t been so lucky. Since HLB, the cost of growing citrus has doubled, making it too expensive for small farmers to profit.

“It’s a losing game business-wise to run a conventional grove,” Bitter said.

The culprit behind citrus greening is brown and unassuming, about the size of a speck of dirt, called the Asian citrus psyllid.

William Kern, a UF entomology professor, said the psyllid is an invasive insect and the primary carrier of HLB. While both HLB and the psyllid originated in Asia, it’s unclear exactly how both made their way to Florida, he said.

Psyllids feed on citrus trees, Kern said, where they introduce HLB through regurgitation. The disease then infects a tree’s vascular system, effectively strangling it to death.

Trees contaminated with citrus greening often produce discolored fruit that tastes bitter and dry, Kern said. Additional symptoms include weak root systems, stunted growth and yellowing leaves. The disease is incurable, and an infected tree usually dies after three to five years.

A new invasive insect establishes itself in Florida every month, Kern said, but most invading pests have a limited impact on the state. The psyllid, however, has proved to be a lasting problem.

“That’s probably one of our number one most destructive insects,” Kern added.

Before the spread of HLB, Florida was the citrus empire.

The state consistently produced over 200 million boxes of citrus every year, cementing its role as the nation’s “orange state.” Once citrus greening began to ravage the industry, production steadily declined.

Yet the citrus industry’s 2022-2023 season has been the worst in recent memory, said Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson. Florida produced a mere 18 million boxes of citrus, the lowest in almost a century. Additionally, the struggles of citrus greening were only compounded by Hurricane Ian in 2022, which Simpson said wiped out groves in South Florida.

However, Simpson believes Florida is turning a corner.

Florida’s 2023-2024 budget included $65 million to bolster the citrus industry, a trend Simpson expects to continue. The money funds research to combat citrus greening as well as planting new trees, he said.

“Over the next three to five years, I think we’re gonna continue to expand,” Simpson said. “Things are gonna get better in the citrus industry.”

At the UF/IFAS Citrus Research and Education Center, experts are working to find new ways to combat citrus greening.

Center director Michael Rogers said one of the center’s main goals is to help citrus growers stay in business.

In the face of citrus greening, many growers either switch

to more lucrative crops or sell their farms entirely, Rogers said.

“You’ve seen people just give up,” he said.

While citrus greening is incurable, the UF/IFAS center has found ways to make diseased trees productive for longer, Rogers said.

By providing smaller doses of water and fertilizer more frequently, citrus growers can improve the trees’ ability to absorb nutrients. In essence, growers have to spoon-feed their trees.

Helping existing farmers is a critical priority for the UF/IFAS center, but its long-term goal is to find a way to end citrus greening altogether. The center is looking at multiple methods involving genetics, Rogers said.

One promising avenue is breeding new varieties of citrus that are more tolerant to HLB, he said. Another potential solution is editing the genes of existing varieties to make trees resistant to the disease.

Either way, Rogers said he’s hopeful the center will be able to find a lasting solution to the disease.

“It’s a long-term process to get those trees in the hands of growers so they can start making money,” he said.

UF/IFAS scientists also plan to create a $2 million Crop Transformation Center, with the main objective of finding citrus varieties that are resistant to citrus greening.

At Frog Song Organics, Bitter circles a blood-orange tree looking for ripe fruit. He talks about his citrus trees with the affection someone might use with a pet, beaming with pride when he cuts open one of his oranges.

Through his 13 years in the industry, Bitter has tested which varieties of citrus work on his farm. He has decided to invest less in certain breeds that are more susceptible to citrus greening, such as the Valencia orange.

Even if he has to change the products he grows or how he grows them, Bitter said he’s determined to stay adaptable on his farm in order to succeed.

“North Florida is such a unique environment,” he said.

“There’s not a whole lot of places like this.” @kyliewilliams99 kyliewilliams@alligator.org

El Caimán

LUNES, 8 DE ENERO DE 2024 www.alligator.org/section/elcaiman

Organizacion de Gainesville visita un centro de detencion de ICE en Macclenny POR MÁS QUE QUINCE AÑOS, AMIGOS DE BAKER INTERRELIGIOSOS [BAKER INTERFAITH FRIENDS] HA VISITADO INMIGRANTES DETENIDOS DOS VECES AL MES Por Laura Quintana Esritora de El Caimán

Traducido por Eluney González Esritora de El Caimán

A poco más que una hour de manejo al norte de Gainesville, en el condado rural de Baker, se encuentra uno de los cinco centros de detención de ICE en Florida.

Para muchos lugareños esta proximidad es una sorpresa,

dijo Joan Anderson, de 77 años, coordinadora del programa de Amigos de Baker Interreligiosos [Baker Interfaith Friends].

“Creo que probablemente la mayoría de la gente en Gainesville se sorprendería de que tengamos un Centro de Detención de Inmigrantes apenas a 60 millas al norte de nosotros”, dijo Anderson.

“Normalmente asociamos los centros de detención [con] estar en otro lugar, pero hay más de 200 en el país. Así que tenemos uno muy cerca de nosotros”.

La misión del BIF es ser una voz compasiva y un oído atento para que la comunidad aislada exprese sus quejas y haga que los oficiales de ICE rindan cuentas, dijo la voluntaria del BIF Alice Gridley.

“No somos médicos, no somos abogados”, dijo. “Lo mejor que podemos hacer es escuchar sus historias.

Cuando comencé, podíamos llevarles libros debolsillo,

Mantente al día con El Caimán en Twitter.

Envíanos un tweet @alligatorElCaiman.

Quail Hollow

y eso significaba mucho porque no tenían nada que hacer en todo el día”.

Desde 2008, BIF realiza visitas de cortesía a inmigrantes para hablar con ellos en conversaciones amistosas. Dos veces al mes, la docena de voluntarios activos de la organización hablan con los detenidos de ICE durante bloques de 15 minutos durante dos horas asignadas.

“Escucho el tipo de cosas en las que siento que se están violando los derechos humanos, desde un punto de vista médico, desde la comida que se les da y desde la forma en que se les trata”, dijo Gridley.

Gridley escuchó de un hombre que se rompió el brazo después de pelear con otro detenido. Lo reasignaron a la litera superior de una cleda diferente y no podía entrar debido a su brazo. Tuvo que dormir en el suelo, dijo.

“Ellos dividen a las familias y,

Local band to perform at first festival. Read more on pg. 8.

a veces, una familia que se queda atrás no tiene forma de mantenerse a sí misma”, dijo Gridley. “Por ejemplo, a veces una madre tiene hijos pequeños, así que si no puede trabajar, ella tiene que cuidar de los niños”.

Por lo que Anderson, coordinadora del BIF, escucha de los detenidos, hay mucho de qué responsabilizar a ICE. Aunque BIF tiene una carta oficial de visitas con ICE, los detenidos son tratados con intensa sospecha por las quejas, dijo.

“Todas las conversaciones son monitoreado”, dijo Anderson. “Así que son un poco cautelosos en lo que te dirán porque hay represalias desenfrenadas por cualquier cosa que el personal no quera que sepas”.

Los detenidos no se les permite hablar sobre la calidad de la comida, los dormitorios y la calidad del tratamiento médico, entre otros

condiciones, dijo Anderson.

Para Anderson, el intenso seguimiento se debe a cómo se trata a los inmigrantes ilegales como criminales.

“Detencion por inmigracion es un delito civil”, dijo Anderson.

“Están detenidos, no representan una amenaza para la sociedad.

Simplemente están esperando sus audiencias. En el condado de Baker comparten cárcel. Por un lado tienen a las personas que son verdaderos delincuentes y criminales, y es el mismo personal el que les atiende. Por eso los tratan a todos por igual”.

Eluney González contribuyó a este informe.

Lea el resto en línea en alligator.org/section/elcaiman.

Síganos para actualizaciones

Para obtener actualizaciones de El Caimán, síganos en línea en www.alligator.org/section/elcaiman.

@LauraCQuintana1 lquintana@alligator.org

MONDAY, JANUARY 8, 2024 www.alligator.org/section/opinions

Column

The view from city hall: Gainesville is on the move

M

ore than 40 years ago, private investment abandoned East Gainesville.

Where bank branches, supermarkets and restaurants once served thriving neighborhoods, liquor stores, Dollar Generals and vacant lots became what passed for commerce.

But in 2023, after years of planning, dreaming and negotiating, we said “enough,” and we’re seeing the fruits of collaboration bloom to serve our “out East” neighbors.

In an unprecedented partnership, the City of Gainesville joined forces with Alachua County and UF Health to begin construction on a UF Health urgent care clinic on Hawthorne Road in summer 2023. By summer 2024 it will begin to serve patients with tradi-

tional medical care and enhanced diagnostic and laboratory services, as well as the surrounding neighborhoods with a community gathering space.

Additionally, this year the city will build an RTS transfer hub on the same property to help neighbors access jobs and services across Gainesville with our award-winning transit system, as well as expand a city street to connect Hawthorne Road to Southeast Eighth Avenue. The City of Gainesville also plans to buildout infrastructure for commercial development and both affordable and market-rate housing on acreage next-door to the clinic.

Speaking of housing, in 2023, the City of Gainesville committed more than seven million dollars in funding to private and public

partners who will begin building affordable housing in our community in 2024. One of the city’s housing partners, the Gainesville Housing Authority, in collaboration with the City of Gainesville’s staff and commission, won a highly competitive half-million-dollar federal “Choice Neighborhoods” planning grant from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Winning this planning grant puts our community in the unprecedented position to win a full Choice Neighborhoods implementation grant in excess of $30 million, which will be transformative for East Gainesville and the larger community in ways we can’t even begin to explain at this point.

We made huge strides forward in planning a

complete renovation of the Citizens Field/ MLK Center complex at Eighth Avenue and Waldo Road, and the plans for that project, which will serve all of Gainesville but will Harvey Ward deliver the greatest opinions@alligator.org impact to neighbors in East Gainesville in 2024.

Of course, East Gainesville isn’t the only part of our community that moved forward in 2023.

Read the rest online at alligator.org/ section/opinions.

Harvey Ward is the Gainesville mayor.

The views expressed here are not necessarily those of The Alligator.

The Alligator encourages comments from readers. Letters to the editor should not exceed 600 words (about one letter-sized page). They must be typed, double-spaced and must include the author’s name, classification and phone number. Names will be withheld if the writer shows just cause. We reserve the right to edit for length, grammar, style and libel. Send letters to opinions@alligator.org, bring them to 2700 SW 13th St., or send them to P.O. Box 14257, Gainesville, FL 32604-2257.

Columns of about 450 words about original topics and editorial cartoons are also welcome. Questions? Call 352-376-4458.

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MONDAY, JANUARY 8, 2024 www.alligator.org/section/the_avenue

FOOD & DRINK

‘It’s just not worth it anymore’: Multiple Gainesville restaurants close, cite financial restraints

underneath the company’s closure A recent influx of closures, openings alter the local business landscape sadness announcement on Instagram. When one user

By Bonny Matejowsky Avenue Staff Writer

During America’s holiday season, known for its boom in spending and time shared with loved ones, it would be easy to assume restaurants flourished along with the retailers. But Gainesville’s business landscape tells a different tale.

As the lingering effects of the Coronavirus pandemic and higher costs of living disrupt the economy, Gainesville’s business landscape is seeing significant changes. Changes that come at the cost of several community staples.

In the weeks following the closing announcement of doughnut shop Halo Potato Donuts Nov. 27, local restaurants like Swamp Boil and Sweet Dreams announced their official closures by the end of 2023 under similar circumstances.

La Fiesta, a Mexican restaurant that voiced its impending closure Dec. 4, stayed open due to funds and support from the Gainesville community, the restaurant said in a news release according to the Gainesville Sun. Son Vo is the former owner of Swamp Boil, Gainesville’s first Vietnamese-Cajun fusion restaurant formerly located on Northwest 13th Street.

Inspired by their visits to another Vietnamese-Cajun restaurant in Orlando, the Vos ended

up opening a restaurant of their own at their family-owned plaza where Vo’s mother also runs the Luxury Nails & Spa salon.

Though entering the restaurant industry with no previous experience was a challenge, Vo said, he was helped by the advice and support from other local business owners.

“I was able to just go to my ‘competitors’ and ask them to help me, and they did,” Vo said. “People even came into the restaurant and helped me organize things.”

Creating an atmosphere where customers could share meals and connect over the restaurant’s food was his favorite aspect of the experience, he added.

However, the journey wasn’t easy. Operating a restaurant involves balancing manufacturing, customer service and HR. When one aspect goes wrong, it can throw off the entire system, Vo said. Swamp Boil also opened amid the social and economic climate of the COVID-19 pandemic, slowing business.

After three years of serving Vietnamese and Cajun dishes, the restaurant reached the end of its run in Gainesville last month.

Vo said as people get less disposable income, they are more likely to regularly eat at cheaper locations or save up for occasional visits to expensive restaurants. As a result, the restaurants in between are overlooked.

“[Gainesville’s restaurant industry] is a smaller view of our overall economy and how the middle class is disappearing,” Vo said. “It’s kind of the same thing, but the middle class of restaurant types are also disappearing.”

Restaurants aren’t the only ones closing their doors. Last month, independent bookstore Third House Books announced on Instagram it would be closing its brick-and-mortar location and switching to a pop-up bookstore business model by mid-2024.

Although not all businesses have disclosed their reasons for shutting down, many have cited the higher costs of living and other economic restraints as the cause of closure.

Sweet Dreams, an ice cream parlor with 19 years of service under its belt, referenced its financial struggles in a post announcing its Final Flavor Night on Facebook.

“My costs have soared since Covid and have not returned to anything approaching reasonable,” the post said. “Along with the higher wages for employees. And the multitude of random fees and aggravations. It is just not worth it anymore.”

To the surprise of the community, local donut shop Halo Potato Donuts announced the closure of all three of its Alachua County locations in November.

Many commenters expressed shock and

asked why it closed, Halo Potato Donuts replied simply.

“This economy has taken a toll on Halo. We no longer saw the sales needed to cover all of our expenses,” the bakery’s Facebook said.

Nicholas Palomba is a 25-year-old software developer in New York with early memories of the local doughnut spot during his time at UF. Before the business had a brick-and-mortar location, it sold doughnuts through a food truck often parked outside Palomba’s internship.

He said he visited the truck two to three times a week to enjoy his usual order of a classic glazed donut with cookies and cream on top.

“It was nice enjoying another local startup’s food while working for another local startup,” Palomba said. “It made the rest of my time at the University of Florida much better as I got to appreciate the city UF was in.”

Ashley Rella is a Gainesville chef and food writer, as well as the operations partner of Sandwich Inn, Gainesville’s oldest restaurant that has been serving burgers and breakfast since 1963.

Read the rest online at alligator.org/section/the_avenue. @bonnymatejowsky bmatejowsky@alligator.org

MUSIC

Swamp Records band Quail Hollow to perform at the Playground Music and Arts Festival THE FESTIVAL WILL FEATURE 12 INDEPENDENT FLORIDA BANDS

By Emilia Cardenas-Perez Avenue Staff Writer

On Jan. 20, the Playground Music and Arts Festival at Heartwood Soundstage will feature 12 independent bands from across Florida.

Among these acts is Quail Hollow, a five-member group based out of Gainesville and Tampa. About one year ago, the band released its first single. It has since signed to Swamp Records and garnered more than 20,000 streams on Spotify.

During their senior year of high school, 20-year-old vocalist and guitarist Dominic Fonseca, 20-yearold drummer Augustus Hoff and 20-year-old guitarist Douglas Jaramillo began getting together to practice playing their instruments. Fonseca said they eventually realized they had the potential to play as a group, and Quail Hollow was born.

“We quickly fell in love with playing music together and began to take it more seriously,” Fonseca

said.

After the friend group graduated in 2021, Hoff went to UF, while Fonseca and Jaramillo went to the University of South Florida.

At USF, Fonseca met 20-year-old Ashley Griffith, and the two bonded over their love of music. He asked her if she was interested in joining the band, and now they are the band’s main vocalists. Griffith later met 22-year-old Matthew Butler, Quail Hollow synthesizer, at an open mic event in Tampa.

The group’s chemistry as friends contributed to their ability to work together as a band. After about one year of practicing their favorite songs and creating originals, the band was invited to play live shows in Tampa and Gainesville.

“We were more of a band having fun and making music at home until we started playing live shows at the beginning of 2023,” Fonseca said.

The band released its first single, “Don’t Stop,” Jan. 1, 2023. The song currently has more than 10,000 streams on Spotify. Soon after, it released three more singles on Spotify: “Runaway,” “Avocet” and “Never Change.” On Mar. 3, the band released its self-titled, 39-minute-long

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album, “Quail Hollow.” Playground is the first festival it has performed at.

Quail Hollow quickly made a name for itself in Fonseca’s hometown of Tampa, performing at venues such as Crowbar. After performing at venues like the High Dive, their following in Gainesville grew.

Fonseca said the band has found its “pocket of songwriting and performance.” He said this developed over time as the band learned to complement each other while playing music rather than playing as individuals.

In September, Quail Hollow signed with Swamp Records, a student-run music agency based in Gainesville. In November, the group traveled to Nashville to start recording its second album with music producer Andrew Boullianne.

Jeffrey Carmichael is a 20-yearold UF psychology and economics junior and avid listener of Quail Hollow. He has followed the band since the spring of 2023. He first heard about the band when it performed at the High Dive, intrigued by its name alone.

“I’ve seen them live several times,” Carmichael said. “I think I’ve been to three of their shows at

this point, and I thoroughly enjoyed every single one.”

Carmichael said he appreciates the band’s diverse musical inspiration.

“The band has an amazing indie rock sound, but it’s so evident just how much they borrow from classic rock influences like Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd,” he said. “I expect their upcoming album to really dive further into that fusion and stand on its own as a unique sound.”

Fonseca said the band’s different musical backgrounds are apparent in their music. His inspirations include Pink Floyd and The Backseat Lovers, while Jaramillo and Hoff prefer classic rock from the ‘60s and ‘70s. Griffith likes indie music and rock, specifically naming Phoebe Bridgers, boygenius and Fleetwood Mac. Fonseca calls Butler “our jazzy man.”

“Although we all have separate music tastes, through the years we have begun to coexist and now we all love all of the above,” Fonseca said.

The Playground Music and Arts Festival will be the band’s largest audience so far, Fonseca said. He said the headliner, Flipturn, was also

formed by high school friends and is an inspiration to the band.

“We have not played such a stacked lineup like Playground, we are so excited to play alongside so many other great bands such as Flipturn, Trash Panda, Easy Honey, The Housing Crisis,” Fonseca said.

Fonseca said the band is excited to return to the Heartwood Soundstage. Among the things he is most looking forward to is watching the other bands perform and being welcomed by their Gainesville audience.

“This festival is going to feel so much more like a community than our other shows and we are thrilled,” Fonseca said. “Community is something that we try and create in our music, so we think it’s gonna be a good fit.”

In the upcoming months, the band will return to Nashville to finish recording their new sophomore album. Hoff said the band’s music is evolving to be more complex and emotional and their new album will reflect this. Fonseca said the band’s music will show how much they have grown as artists and as people. @emiliaandreaa ecardenas-perez@alligator.org

Tennis

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MONDAY, JANUARY 8, 2024 www.alligator.org/section/sports

MEN'S BASKETBALL

Gators look to regroup as tough SEC slate looms near FLORIDA PLANS TO BOUNCE BACK AGAINST NO. 22 OLE MISS AFTER AN 87-85 LOSS TO NO. 6 KENTUCKY SATURDAY

By Max Tucker Sports Writer

After riding a six-game win streak during December in non-conference play, the Florida Gators men’s basketball team suffered its first home loss to No. 6 Kentucky to begin its SEC schedule.

Although the Gators (10-4, 0-1 SEC) kept the score close throughout, the Kentucky Wildcats (11-2, 1-0 SEC) escaped with an 87-85 victory at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center Saturday.

Florida’s inefficiency from both the 3-point and free throw lines in the second half of Saturday’s matchup will be an issue that UF head coach Todd Golden’s squad will seek to improve on. The Gators’ conference schedule will include highly anticipated matchups all season long.

“Every win in this league is so valuable,” Golden said after Saturday’s loss. “I think our guys have the mental toughness to understand that we can’t sulk and feel bad for ourselves about this game because we’ve got a lot of season left.”

The Gators hope to execute at a higher level in close games as conference play continues.

Golden is well aware of the free throw shooting troubles up and down the Gators lineup after shooting 62% from the charity stripe in the loss to the UK. “We lost the battle at the line by one,” Golden said. “The thing that’s bothering me more right now is that I thought we missed some really good looks … Obviously, free throws are a part of that.”

There will be more for the Gators to improve on besides free throws as a daunting SEC schedule looms. After Florida held Kentucky to only 37 points in the first half, the Wildcats finished with 87 points in the game and were rock solid at the free throw line late.

“Down the stretch, it’s got to be like the first 40 minutes,” Golden said. “In the sense that you gotta be able to take care of the ball, you gotta get shots, you gotta get on the glass and your first shot defense has gotta be great.”

Another matchup with a strong SEC opponent is just around the corner as the team gears up to head to Oxford Wednesday for a battle with Ole Miss.

The team started 13-0 to begin the season, but the Rebels suffered a defeat in their SEC opener to Tennessee. They’re led by a duo of senior guards Matthew Murell and Allen Flanigan, who each are averaging over 16 points

per game and will be a focus point for Florida defensively.

“You gotta be able to saddle back up and understand that Ole Miss is a very good team,” Golden said. “Playing in Oxford is going to be a challenge, but again, that’s just why you want to be at this level. That’s why you want to play in this league.”

The Florida offense went ice-cold in the final minutes of play in Saturday’s affair and will have to find a way to be more efficient moving forward. The Gators failed to convert a field goal for over a 3:50 time period and were 1-10 from the 3-point line in the second half.

Junior guard Will Richard went scoreless against Kentucky after recording back-to-back games, scoring five 3-pointers in each contest.

However, the Gators' backcourt has been a strong point for the team all season. Junior guard Walter Clayton Jr. and graduate student guard Zyon Pullin have led the way for Florida offensively. Both Clayton Jr. and Pullin each scored a team-high 23 points in the team’s loss to the Wildcats.

Sophomore guard Riley Kugel failed to score a 3-pointer in his last four games but had a strong performance Saturday.

Golden plans to maintain the production from Kugel, who has both started and come off of the Florida bench this season. The sophomore recorded 15 points in just 23 minutes of

WOMEN'S TENNIS

By Max Bernstein Sports Writer

Coming off another strong season, the Gators women’s tennis team starts the 2024 campaign ranked No. 10 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s Division I Preseason Poll.

The Gators, who ended their 2023 season with an 18-8 record, enter the Spring looking for their first NCAA Team Championship since 2017.

Expectations for the team are high with UF jumping back into the top 10 after finishing last season at No. 15. However, Florida head coach Roland Thornqvist is no stranger to success.

Thornqvist enters his 23rd season with Florida with a 490-98 record, four NCAA Team Championships, 11 SEC regular-season titles and 10 SEC Tournament titles.

Florida has failed to advance

@MaxTuckerUF25 mtucker@alligator.org

SWIM & DIVE

Gators women’s tennis set to begin the 2024 season FLORIDA STARTS THE SEASON RANKED NO. 10 IN THE ITA’S PRESEASON POLL

play.

After the Gators' first road test in the SEC, they will return to Gainesville for a matchup with Arkansas on Saturday. The 9-5 Razorbacks lost their conference opener to Auburn and will face the Gators in the O’Dome.

“Every game in the SEC is the Super Bowl, so you have to be mentally tough,” Golden said.

Then, Florida will be greeted with a hostile environment in Knoxville Jan. 16, facing the No. 5 Tennesse Volunteers.

“It’s super tough,” Pullin said after the loss to Kentucky. “We just gotta dig deep and find ways to make stops [when the game is coming down the stretch].”

UT has played its way into a top-five national ranking in the AP poll. The Vols had one of the toughest non-conference schedules in college basketball and currently are on a sevengame win streak with an 11-3 overall record.

Florida’s tip-off against Ole Miss will be at 9 p.m., Jan. 10 at The Sandy and John Black Pavilion in Oxford, Mississippi. The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.

“We’ll go back and look at it all and see the different areas that we can improve,” Golden said.

past the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament since 2017, which is a far cry from 2005-2015 when the Gators advanced past the Sweet 16 11 seasons in a row.

However, the Gators are full of talent and experience, with seven of their nine players placing in the ITA rankings, five of whom featured for the Gators last season.

The highest-ranked Gator is junior Emily De Oliveira, the 2023 ITA Regional Champion.

De Oliveira, the No. 23-ranked singles player by the ITA, led the Gators last season with 11 singles victories. So far in the 2023-24 season, De Oliveria holds a 12-5 singles record.

Alongside De Oliveira, the Gators boast two more top 125 singles players in the ITA rankings.

Graduate student Carly Briggs ranks at No. 38 with a 5-4 record in the current season. Following Briggs in the rankings is No. 63-ranked sophomore Rachel Gailis, who shined with an 8-2 record in the fall.

The Gators also feature two doubles pairings in the ITA’s top 60 rankings, including the No.

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38-ranked pair of freshmen Malwina Rowinska and Qavia Lopez.

The duo has recorded a 7-5 record together, so far.

Just behind Rowinska and Lopez at the No. 55 spot is the pair of junior Bente Spee and senior Sara Dahlstrom. The two had a 4-3 record this past fall.

Heading up the ITA Preseason Team Rankings are the defending NCAA Team Champions North Carolina. The Tar Heels had a dominant 35-1 record in 2023, which included their victory over the Gators in the Sweet 16 of last year’s NCAA tournament.

Alongside the Gators, five other SEC squads rank in the ITA’s initial Top 25, including No. 2 Texas A&M and No. 3 Georgia. The Gators are also set to play two fellow Top 10 teams in No. 5 Michigan and No. 8 Pepperdine during the 2024 season.

The Gators are set to start the 2024 spring season in Las Vegas at the Freeman Memorial Tournament, which begins Jan. 11.

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Brothers Skip and Peyton Donald make the Florida dive team feel like a family SKIP IS SPENDING HIS LAST SWIM SEASON ALONGSIDE HIS LITTLE BROTHER, PEYTON

By Lacey Rogers Sports Writer

Brothers Skip and Peyton Donald both transferred to UF’s dive team and are now competing side by side for Skip Donald’s final collegiate season.

The brothers didn’t plan on ending up at UF together. Skip Donald transferred from Auburn University in 2022, and Peyton Donald began his diving career at Stanford University before transferring for his sophomore season.

Two-time SEC Men’s Diver of the Week recipient Skip Donald is now in his senior year, and his

brother’s presence on the team encourages him to compete this season.

“My ideal season would be for both of us to dive in the SEC Championship together, win the SEC Championship together with the team and compete in the NCAA together again in multiple events,” Skip Donald said.

The siblings have been diving for over a decade. It’s a full-circle ending to Skip Donald’s collegiate career to have his younger brother alongside him.

The two moved to Texas in 2012 and taught themselves how to flip in the backyard on the grass, Skip Donald said.

The brothers then got a trampoline to practice flipping even further.

“One of our neighbors was

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SEE SWIM, PAGE 12

12 ALLIGATOR MONDAY, JANUARY 8, 2024

Brother duo SWIM, from pg. 11

noticing us doing this, and he was in high school diving,” Skip Donald said. “He was the one that kind of initiated us to go watch him in one of his competitions.”

This inspired the Donalds to sign up for club teams and start their journey.

Despite the two-year age gap, the brothers are always together and see themselves as best friends.

They’ll get lunch and go to the store. They’re together all the time.

And they don’t even have to talk to understand what’s going on

in each other’s heads.

“I’ve known him for 19 years,” Peyton Donald said. “I can just give him a look 50 feet away and he’ll know what I’m talking about.”

Senior diver Anton Svirskyi said the brothers support each other and the team in a way only family can.

“Even in individual sports like diving, having brothers who dive together can still create a sense of family within the training environment,” Svirskyi said.

He said the brothers bring in competitive spirit and provide emotional support to the team during challenging times.

When the Donalds’ family

comes to cheer for them, it cheers for the rest of the team as if they were family as well, Svirskyi said.

“This sense of shared experience and understanding contributes to a strong bond between brothers and their teammates,” he said.

Svirskyi said this creates a supportive atmosphere that resembles a family dynamic, and he explained how Peyton Donald helped Skip Donald to come out of his shell.

“Last year, Skip Donald was just starting to develop his relationships here in Florida and was oftentimes found to be an outsider in many groups,” Svirskyi said. “Having a brother alongside him helped

Skip better fit into the environment surrounding him.”

Svirskyi said he feels he’s spent his entire life with the brothers, despite only knowing them for a few years.

“Ultimately, whether in a team sport or an individual sport, having brothers involved enhances the overall experience and contributes to a sense of unity and camaraderie,” he said.

The two were homeschooled and never got the chance to compete against each other until the 2023 NCAA Championships.

When they finally challenged each other, they teased one another, Skip Donald said.

The Donalds have brought both a strong relationship and strong results to the team.

Skip Donald led the Gators with a 361.90 in Thursday's preliminary round on Day 2 of the Tennessee Invitational.

He also placed first in the men’s 1-meter Wednesday after scoring a 359.00. Peyton Donald followed close behind in fifth place with a 335.80.

The Donalds will compete next in a matchup against in-state rival Florida State University in Ocala, Florida, Jan. 26. @laceyyrog lrogers@alligator.org