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VOLUME 117 ISSUE 18
TUESDAY, JANUARY 17, 2023
Not officially associated with the University of Florida
Published by Campus Communications, Inc. of Gainesville, Florida
UF Honors Program forms committee to seek new director POSITION EXPECTED TO BE FILLED BY MID-MAY
By Halima Attah Alligator Staff Writer
Rae Chan // Alligator Staff
Attendees march down East University Avenue for a Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebratory parade Monday, Jan. 16, 2023. Find this story on page 6.
The UF Honors Program has officially begun a search for the replacement of former director Mark Law, who Provost Joe Glover fired in August. Law, who had held his position within the Honors Program since 2014, was fired to the surprise of the Honors Program community. He was notified of his termination a month before the effective date — Aug. 15. That day, he broke the news to the Honors community himself via email. “Unfortunately, we found his plans lackluster across the board — from admissions and recruitment to academic and student life programming,” said Mori Hosseini, UF Board of Trustees chair, during his State of the University Address in August. Law expressed disagreement with Glover’s decision and wrote in an email to Honors students and families that the UF Board of Trustees provided the former director with no reason for its action. Melissa Johnson, the former senior associate director of the
Marston Science Library returns to 24/7 schedule New hours will begin in March By Amanda Friedman & Alissa Gary Alligator Staff Writers
After two years of student advocacy, 24-hour library services will soon return to UF's campus. UF Student Government announced Jan. 13 Marston Science Library will once again offer 24-hour services with funding directed by the office of the provost. While the library used to operate on a 24-hour schedule, the COVID-19 pandemic paused those hours indefinitely, leaving many students wondering whether they would return. Newell Hall has been the only 24-hour study space for students
since Fall 2021. Marston Library’s extended hours will start in March, Student Body President Lauren Lemasters wrote in an email. Provost Joe Glover has agreed to fund overnight access at the library to collect data on student usage to help inform future funding decisions, she added. “Since the beginning of my term, I have heard students wanting 24/7 library access,” Lemasters said. “My team and I benchmarked overnight access at UF with other peer institutions and collected data from the University Libraries to share with the provost.” Lemasters didn’t provide further information about funding issues or why it took
roughly two years for 24-hour library operations to return. It’s unclear as of Sunday evening whether university leadership is considering extending the hours of other libraries. Angela Ornelas, a 21-year-old UF political science senior, said she was glad to see the hours return. She often does schoolwork late at night and gravitates toward the library that’s open the latest, she said. “I'm really happy to have it open 24/7 because everybody is on a different schedule,” Ornelas said. “It's really important to accommodate for everybody's different schedules and lifestyles and responsibilities.” Sen. Grace Shoemaker (Change-Engineering) sent her first email regarding the 24-hour library initiative in 2021, she said. Since then, she has presented statistics and
SPORTS/SPECIAL/CUTOUT
Sony Pictures acquires UF professor’s film
Florida’s drop/add deadline was Friday. pg# Read more on pg. 11.
Hundreds celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Jaden Rashada is finish yet towith enroll at UF Story description comma,
Iman Zawahry has worked on the film for nine years, pg. 5
The downtown Gainesville parade returned to full capacity for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, pg. 6
program, has assumed the role of interim director since Law’s termination. An established search committee will find a permanent director by mid-May, said Angela Lindner, associate provost for undergraduate affairs and search supervisor. Each committee member confirmed their intent to participate in the search for a new director by mid-December, Lindner wrote in an email. All of the committee’s meetings will be open to the public — contrary to UF’s presidential search, which was largely conducted behind closed doors until the Board of Trustees announced a sole finalist. However, the online presence of the search will remain muted. “Keeping a public site about the search process is not typical for a search at this level of position,” Lindner said. The committee will update members of the UF community of its finalists as the search develops, Lindner said. “As with all traditional searches, the search committee will announce on-campus interviews of the finalists,” Lindner said. “These too will
SEE HONORS, PAGE 4
information regarding the initiative several times to the Student Senate. Although she didn’t have a direct hand in completing the project, Shoemaker’s glad it’s finally become a reality, she said. “I thought this might be something we would see in a few years, or be a project that would at least take until next year,” Shoemaker said. “To have an announcement that it’s starting now in spring before I graduate was just insane. I seriously didn’t believe it for a moment.” Shoemaker plans to partner with the library system to conduct research on Marston’s usage and financial efficacy, she said, so Glover can evaluate whether the initiative is sustainable for a long period of time. “The reevaluation is where I say it’s not quite over,” Shoemaker said. “But it’s a great start.” While Minority Party Leader Faith Cor-
SEE MARSTON, PAGE 5
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