Monday, April 18, 2022

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MONDAY, APRIL 18, 2022

VOLUME 116 ISSUE 31 Not officially associated with the University of Florida

Published by Campus Communications, Inc. of Gainesville, Florida

Alachua County inmate alleges abuse by correctional officers AN INTERNAL INVESTIGATION CONCLUDED THE “USE OF FORCE” WAS JUSTIFIED

By Troy Myers Alligator Staff Writer

Family members of Courtney Smith ‚— currently an inmate at the Alachua County Jail — are accusing correctional officers of abuse.

The family said officers beat, tased and choked Smith while in custody, causing him to miss his first appearance before a judge.

ACSO has been accused of neglect in the past, including the incident when Erica Thompson gave birth in prison and lost her baby hours later at UF Health Shands Hospital.

The internal investigation began on April 1 and was completed on April 5.

On March 7, Smith was arrested after he had a mental health crisis.

His fiance, Tamara Thomas, called Meridian Behavioral Healthcare asking for help, and they referred her to the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office non-emergency number, she said.

Smith has a history of mental health concerns and takes medication to help, Thomas said.

“His mental health had gotten so out of control that he thought people were surrounding the house,” Thomas said. “That they were out to get him.”

ACSO officers arrived and went into the house to speak with Smith and calm him down. During the conversation, Smith stood up off the couch, and the officers saw he was sitting on a “white, crystallized substance,” the arrest report said.

Smith was arrested and charged with possession of a controlled substance — about four grams of methamphetamine — according to the arrest report.

Thomas said the drugs found underneath Smith the day he was arrested were not his and she was only looking for help for her fiance’s mental health.

“I think the family alleged that he had some mental health is-

SPORTS/SPECIAL/CUTOUT Javelin throwing,

Story description finish with comma, strawberry growing pg# PhD candidate plays for UF team in spare time. Read more on pg. 12

sues,” ACSO spokesperson Art Forgey said. “When law enforcement arrived and found an illegal substance, then that is going to take precedence.”

Smith’s first appearance before a judge was on March 8. Thomas was confused when her fiance didn’t show up, and the hearing proceeded without him.

The internal investigation report shows Smith didn’t attend the hearing due to “mental health issues and behavior.”

On the morning of Smith’s first appearance, booking officers tried to process him with fingerprinting, photographs and a medical screen.

During this process, the internal investigation report claims he refused commands and tried to walk past the officers.

Officers tried to redirect Smith back into the holding cell for being uncooperative, but he grabbed a nearby wall and the frame of the cell door to avoid going back, according to the internal investigation report.

“Smith was placed on the floor to gain control,” the internal investigation report reads. “Smith began to kick and thrash his body, placing his hands under his body in an apparent attempt to avoid handcuffing.”

Multiple officers restrained Smith, and a taser was used to get control of his hands.

The internal investigation report says Smith bit an officer’s finger and left ligament damage. The officer that was bitten didn’t wish to charge Smith, citing his “apparent mental status and suspected narcotics influence,” the report reads.

In the first appearance hearing documents, the judge ordered the mental health unit of the jail to interview Smith. He was housed in the jail infirmary until March 10, when he was taken for processing again.

Thomas said she received her first phone call from Smith the morning of March 10, two days after he had missed his hearing.

“He called me crying, stating that he had been beaten and choked unconscious,” Thomas

SEE JAIL ABUSE, PAGE 4

Jiselle Lee // Alligator Staff

Florida Gators defensive lineman Justus Boone greets a young fan at the Orange and Blue football game at the Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on Thursday, April 14. Find more photos on pg. 11.

UF to install additional locks following voyeurism case VICTIMS DEMAND CHANGE IN RESIDENCE HALLS

By Marinna Stopa Alligator Contributing Writer,

Editors note: This article contains graphic language about sexual assaults.

Four months after a 24-yearold snuck into UF residence hall bathrooms and recorded women, UF Housing installed additional locks on bathroom doors. But residents remain uneasy about their safety.

Deontre Donnell Mason snuck into female-only floors in Murphree Hall and Thomas Hall and took videos of at least nine residents as they showered, used the bathroom and walked up the stairs.

UF Housing plans to install

new locks on the bathroom doors in Murphree Hall, Thomas Hall and Buckman Hall starting May 2, shortly after the Spring semester ends, according to Chad Doering, the director of facilities management for on-campus housing.

The $14,000 project is estimated to be completed in about 12 weeks, UF spokesperson Sara Tanner wrote in an email.

UF Housing is making safety changes, but for the victims it comes too late.

Four victims said, when entering their dorm building, they pulled the heavy front door closed behind them because they would rather it shut faster than it would on its own for their safety.

They said they are conscious of what they are wearing and how much skin is exposed. With every footstep in the stairwell, they snap their heads to make

Disabled students struggle to navigate an unfriendly campus Construction, outdated buildings make campus inaccessible, pg. 6

Teaser headline

Spring 2022 staff bids goodbye to The Alligator, pg. 5

sure no one is behind them.

Using the bathroom, they said they can not absentmindedly play on their phones. Their minds are consumed with keeping a watchful eye for potential cameras above their heads.

Taking a shower, they said they make sure the curtains are taut along the pole, covering every centimeter of space possible.

They hate that not every hole is attached to a hook. They try to stay as close to the cover as possible, but their hearts can’t help but drop when a sliver of space between the curtain and the wall appears.

On Dec. 2, the then-24-yearold Illinois man entered the Murphree Area dorms by tailgating, which occurs when an unauthorized individual enters a resident hall by following closely behind

SEE VOYEURISM, PAGE 4

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2 ALLIGATOR MONDAY, APRIL 18, 2022

Hawks Today’s plungeWeather at pedestrians in the Norman Hall area

VOLUME 116 ISSUE 31

NEWSROOM:

The nesting birds strike the heads of humans when they get too close to their babies

By Lily Kino Alligator Staff Writer

Emma Bissell thought a frisbee whacked her head outside Normal Hall. But frisbees don't leave talon marks.

The 20-year-old UF telecommunications sophomore was attacked by a hawk in January. On Wednesday morning, UF’s College of Education sent an email warning students to be wary when walking in the Norman Hall area.

The hawks are back for their annual mating season, ready to dive-bomb anyone near their babies. This is the third year that the same set of hawks has nested, UF’s Assistant Vice President of Facilities Services Mark Helms said. They come every spring for six weeks and leave once they have their babies.

On Jan. 27, a bird flung itself at the back of Bissell’s head, concussing her. She was rushing to her Dance Marathon headshots.

Shocked and confused, she trudged to the meeting, where one of her friends cleaned up her wounds. The hawk left three gashes on the back of her head.

“I was already having a bad day, and it was 8:50 in the morning,” Bissell said.

Three hours later, her roommate urged her to go to

the hospital. After waiting seven and a half hours in the Shands Hospital Emergency Room, Bissell was seen by a nurse and found that the nurse was just as confused as Bissell at what had happened.

“She didn’t even know how to list it,” Bissell laughed. “She was like, ‘I guess I’ll put that under attack?’”

The nurse gave Bissell a Tetanus shot at the hospital and told her she had a concussion.

Bissell wasn’t surprised by the email Wednesday because she had heard of several students getting attacked in the last month.

“I don’t think [the email] will do anything because students still have to walk that way for class and to get home,” Bissell wrote. “Also, an email doesn’t stop a hawk.”

While the birds typically return every spring in late March or early April, Helms said their mating cycle is unpredictable, explaining why Bissell was struck months ago.

After receiving UF’s warning, students have taken to TikTok to express their concerns about the hawk hostilities and share their own stories.

Several users commented that they, too, have been attacked by hawks. Others used humor to make sense of UF’s warning email.

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Hawks attack humans when they feel they are getting too close to their offspring.

“When they lay eggs and the eggs hatch, then they become very aggressive like mommies and daddies sometimes do,” the vice president of facilities services said. “We will continue to monitor it, and when they move on for their summer season and the little ones are gone, we will take it all down and wait for them next year.”

UF wildlife ecology and conservation professor Mark Hostetler presumes the bird that attacked Bissell was a redshouldered hawk, but many other birds can attack humans.

“If you get attacked by a mockingbird, you're just kind of annoyed, right?” Hostetler said.

“There's not really huge talons on them that could hurt you.”

But regardless of the bird, be on the lookout and bring an umbrella to hold over your head when passing through the area, he said. @lily_kino lkino@alligator.org

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Parts of the walkway in front of Norman Hall are blocked off due to aggressive attacks from hawks on pedestrians. A sign with safety tips is seen on Sunday, April 17.

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Students still feel unsafe VOYEURISM, from pg. 1

residents as they enter, William Robinson, the UF residence hall director, wrote in an email.

Jaclyn, a 19-year-old UF biochemistry sophomore, said the incident made her nervous to do the simplest of things in her own dorm, like using the bathroom or taking a shower. Jaclyn’s last name is being withheld to protect her privacy as a victim of sexual violence.

Before coming to Gainesville, Mason committed similar crimes at the University of Minnesota on Oct. 13 and the University of Central Florida on Nov. 29, according to arrest reports. The year prior, he was apprehended in a women-only dorm at Palm Beach Atlantic University and banned from campus.

He was arrested at UCF on Dec. 7 and was released on a $10,000 bond the same day.

Mason said he invaded the women’s privacy to feel the “rush of being caught,” according to the Orange County arrest report.

Mason victimized multiple female Murphree Area residents. He tried to do the same at Library West.

He was charged in Alachua County with nine counts of video voyeurism, a thirddegree felony sex offense.

Penalties could include up to five years in prison, five years probation and a $5,000 fine per charge.

Since December 2014, UPD reported 10 cases of video voyeurism — five in the last five years — according to UF public safety data. Four of them resulted in an arrest, including Mason.

Four of the 10 cases occurred in on-campus residence halls, but this case was the first since October 2016.

In the months following the incident,

women involved feel their trauma doesn’t matter to UF and the housing department.

A timely warning was sent to the UF student body by the public safety department Dec. 3, the day after the incident, describing the incident and the suspect.

A 19-year-old biology freshman, who agreed to identify herself as a victim of Mason’s actions if her real name was not used, said the email “brushed off this crime as no big deal,” despite the fact so many residents were directly violated.

In a follow-up email, Murphree Area residents were told to not let people follow them as they entered or exited their residence hall and to be “mindful of maintaining a safe environment for all residents.”

“It felt as if we were being blamed for this incident with no responsibility taken by the school,” she said.

On Feb. 16, a follow-up warning was sent out, reminding students of the initial incident and informing them the suspect had been identified. The email also mentioned there was a warrant out for his arrest on the charges of burglary and video voyeurism and he is banned from UF properties.

Megan Caufman, a 19-year-old wildlife ecology and conservation freshman, has been afraid to live in Murphree Area since the incident.

Entering her dorm building, she pulls the heavy front door closed behind her, trusting her strength to shut it quicker than it would on its own. Walking up the stairs, she is conscious of what she is wearing and how much skin is exposed. Every footstep in the stairwell causes her to turn her head and verify no one is behind her.

She feels like those affected had to reach out to UF and beg them to do something about the situation.

“Since the guy who did it is gone, it’s

kinda like UF forgot about it and therefore forgot about the victims,” she said.

Along with other structural changes to the residence hall itself, such as replacing the existing double shower curtains with solid doors, victims said they wished there was more consistent police presence outside the dormitory.

Uniformed officers patrol campus 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, Captain Latrell Simmons said.

The Student Community Oriented Police Effort, also known as the SCOPE program, assigns officers to specific residential areas

said.

Smith also said his shoulder had popped out of place, his ribs were bruised and it felt like he had been choked. He told Thomas his tongue was swollen from biting down on it after being tased so many times, she said.

“It’s not true,” Forgey said.

Smith missed his first appearance hearing before the judge in order to hide the alleged abuse he accused correctional officers of, Thomas said.

“My brother — Courtney Brian Smith — is in need of a wellcare check,” Smith’s sister Von Smith said. “The involved Alachua County Correctional officers need to be investigated, fired and arrested.”

Kevin Scott, project director of Just Income GNV and Florida Prisoner Solidarity organizer, remembers witnessing inmate abuse during his time in prison. When prisoners tried to speak out against the abuse, they were punished.

“Someone reporting that the

guards abuse them, I 100% believe that, because I witnessed that with my own eyes, countless times,” the 47-year-old said.

“Guards will take that person into the laundry room, because there's no cameras in there, and they'll beat the hell out of you. That is common practice.”

Scott now advocates for people currently and formerly incarcerated through the many organizations he’s collaborated with. He believes incarceration removes people from an environment where they can receive humane treatment.

“There are people in prison who have no business being in prison. They need to be receiving mental health treatments, not put in a cage where they are neglected and abused,” Scott said.

Thomas was housed in the infirmary for one more night until March 11, when he was transferred to general population — the main group of prisoners within a jail that are not separated for disciplinary measures or for their protection. While Smith was in the in-

Marinna Stopa is a contributing writer for The Alligator.

Esha Nair // Alligator Staff

Murphree Hall is seen during Spring 2022.

Investigation shows no wrongdoing JAIL ABUSE, from pg. 1

— Murphree Area being one of the largest and busiest.

Educating students and the faculty and staff that serve them is a top priority, especially in crimes like video voyeurism, Simmons said.

No matter how many officers patrol campus, they can’t do it all themselves, he said. He stressed the importance of the “see something, say something” initiative.

firmary for those days, there were no reports, entries or complaints about any injuries after force was used to gain control of his hands, the internal investigation report said.

“If he is in need of any type of mental health medications or mental health treatment, then he would receive that,” Forgey said.

When Thomas visited her fiance for the first time on March 11, she saw visible bruises, bite marks on his tongue, taze marks on his back and a black eye with cuts on his face.

Smith’s family members remember him not having any cuts or bruises anywhere on his body the day he was arrested.

In Smith’s correctional photo, he has a black eye.

“He was beaten by numerous Alachua County correctional officers while being handcuffed at the wrists and shackled at his ankles,” Von said.

In the report, it states the video of the incident was reviewed, and Smith was resisting officers’ efforts and commands.

“At no time during this incident did any of the involved officers use excessive force,” the internal investigation report reads. “The force used to get inmate Smith under control was justified and within ACSO policies and procedures.

Chanae Jackson, a 42-year-old Gainesville criminal justice activist, believes Smith should not have been taken to jail. Instead he should have gone through a central intake facility, where people in mental health crisis go to be evaluated and treated, especially if the family called Meridian.

“If a person is in a mental health crisis, stabilizing that crisis should be what is first,” Jackson said.

Often, when family members call a mental health facility, they refer them to law enforcement.

Law enforcement officers then have the power to Baker Act somebody if deemed necessary, Forgey said. The officers who responded to Smith could have done so if they didn’t find the illegal drugs that take precedence over mental health issues.

Today, Smith is still being held at the jail with a $10,000 bond amount. His arraignment date is

set for May 2.

“My family is concerned that they may beat Courtney again or murder Courtney while he is housed in solitary confinement,” Von said.

Smith’s sister has reached out to ACSO’s Sheriff Clovis Watson Jr. and Alachua Police Department’s Chief Jesse Sandusky asking for help, she said. Watson never responded and Sandusky told her he would notify the Office of Professional Standards.

“Jail may not be the right place for him,” Forgey said. “But that’s not for me to decide; that’ll be for the courts to decide.”

Unless the court orders Smith to be moved due to mental health, he will go through the court system with his felony charge of a controlled substance. A judge will make the ultimate decision on how long Smith will serve, or if he will be taken to a mental health facility.

Melanie Peña contributed to this report. @Troy_Myers1 tmyers@alligator.org

MONDAY, APRIL 18, 2022 www.alligator.org/section/opinions

Goodbye Column

Part of history

T

he Alligator newsroom is lined with its history.

The best issues, framed, hang over editors’ desks. The sagging couch where I nestled for the past 16 print nights seems pulled out of an estate sale, or an abandoned frat house. Closets contain stacks of our recent issues and proud collections of novels written

by Alligator alum.

A back room holds shelves of bound yellowed pages from September 1962 until January 2011. The folding spines mark the year we went from “Florida Alligator” to “The Independent Florida Alligator.”

Black and white photos show the faces of our legends, the editors that led us to independence, the laughing faces over loose pages of copy, the focused eyes over clunky typewriter keys.

That newsroom smells like history, a library of student journalism. Some old white boards still hold messages from past Editor-InChiefs, scrawled with the dates of Spring 2020.

The print nights of my predecessors stay frozen in the time capsule that our newsroom has become.

The day after I was picked as Spring 2022 EIC, I stepped into the newsroom with Asta and Anna at my side. I felt like a stranger. A tourist craning to see the homes of the people who lived where I’d fallen in love with.

I looked at my old, sparse bylines drowning in a page of words.

I thought I would never become part of the beast that is The Alligator. I’d always be a small tick on the back of the reptile charging through Gainesville.

I didn’t know that from the moment I joined staff, The Alligator already had me.

When you work at The Alligator, you are part of our history. No matter how few the bylines, how small the photo, how short the stay. Your work gets tucked into the wall of volumes.

One day a curious young reporter, or a stressed editor will open your pages and find

Goodbye Column your small name, read your article and see something of themselves in you.

I’ve watched five Editor-In-Chief’s speak from the Zoom screen to me and the rest of staff. Everyone has left their mark on my Lianna Hubbard @HubbardLianna reporting and writing. lhubbard@alligator.org Whether it’s the grammar rules drilled in my brain, the needed advice when I couldn’t break the story or the pick-me-up when elections weighed me down.

Every staff I’ve seen at UF has been full of the passion and drive that student journalists pulse with, the kind that stops a university in its tracks. The Alligator focuses that into the structure and accountability that’s informed our community for decades and built up some of the best journalists I’ve ever known.

The Alligator also had the reputation for being a closed circuit. Despite cycling through a new staff every semester, the same tight knit clique ends up hiring each other.

Our staff this semester could not look more different.

Over half of our staff are newcomers ⁠— first-time Alligators. Staff meetings were about getting people caught up, to the idiosyncrasies of Alligator style and staff traditions.

I couldn’t be prouder of what they’ve managed to create this semester. I’m honored they trusted me to introduce them to The Alligator.

Even those who feel like stray comets are already pulled into the ring.

The Alligator is now up to them. Up to what they choose to do next semester and the semester after that, what they want to keep and what they need to change. The Alligator is yours and I wouldn’t trust anyone else with it more.

Once an Alligator, always an Alligator.

Lianna Hubbard is a senior women’s study major. She is a lifelong Alligator and was the Editor-In-Chief.

The Alligator: An unexpected second home

U

nlike many early career viewed community organizer and powerhouse Faye Williams, who journalists, I never heard has worked relentlessly to remove the obnoxious key clicks symbols of hatred in Gainesville. from neighboring reporters But I would be lying if I said my or the laughter from inside jokes path didn’t have hiccups. that echoed across the newsroom.

Clumsy misspellings and attriThe fragrant smell of Five Star Pizbution errors haunted me. After za or the cranked volume of song Kalia Richardson volunteering to cover my first live @kaliarichardson virtual event, I struggled to identify classics was not a reality I knew.

I had joined The Alligator Sum- krichardson@alligator.org quotes or pinpoint a strong lede.

Thirty minutes turned to an hour mer 2020 as a transfer student, and my page remained blank. The about four months after the onset of the pandemic. As a digital news assistant, I incessant texts from my editor and unshakereported remotely from my Miami home, and able disappointment I felt pushed me to the my interactions consisted strictly of text and brink of leaving The Alligator for good. But video calls over Zoom. It wasn’t until I became through the encouragement of fellow Alligator a features and investigations editor in January staffers, I didn’t quit.

After a one year hiatus from the newsroom that I began to feel the sense of community that a true newsroom fosters. I began to see and a couple internships under my belt, I listened to calls to reapply. I had the honor of The Alligator as a second home.

It’s worth acknowledging that I didn’t envi- spearheading the first Black History Month sion myself as a newspaper gal. Growing up, I package, “Living History,” as the features and hoarded Teen Vogue magazines in my dresser investigations editor, recounting stories of Porand other beauty and fashion papers my mom ters Quarters gentrification to the first Black snagged from the hair salon. During my ear- Gainesville mayor.

The girl who never envisioned herself ly years in undergrad, I wrote and edited for student-run publications like HerCampus and working for a newspaper found solace in the Rowdy Magazine. These papers ignited the impactful stories published and the lifelong fire for arts and style that still flare inside me, friends she made along the way. I still cherbut I craved more. I desired to produce pieces ish the moment I stepped foot into the Alligathat uplifted marginalized communities. Too tor office, a cramped hallway-sized room with often are Black and Brown faces presented in comma puns and newspaper clippings stapled mugshots and tied to violence, and I dreamt of to the wall. I smile reminiscing on the way too long phone calls spent writing and rewriting changing that narrative.

As a general assignment reporter Fall 2020, stories with reporters. Beyond the stories and I had an opportunity to do just that. I authored The Alligator office, my three semesters here, a piece that spoke to Black UF professors, stu- although short-lived, have been remarkable dents and alumni who after experiencing hair and cemented the foundation for the journalist discrimination, further embraced their curly I’ve always aspired to be. textures. I spoke with close friends and former students of the late Patricia Hilliard-Nunn who Kalia Richardson is a senior journalism served as a social justice warrior and an inte- major. She is a lifelong Alligator and was the gral part of the Black UF experience. I interFeatures and Investigations Editor.

Goodbye Column

Gambling with imposter syndrome

I

I’ve been obsessed with words for as long as I can remember. The way they can make you feel, what art you can create or how they shape you.

And I love words, for I grew up having trouble arranging them in my speech the way I could on paper. So I gobbled them when I could, whether that was reading or writing elementary books before I understood what world I lived in.

People say the eyes are the windows to the soul. Words, these stubborn intangible puzzle pieces, are mine.

Journalism, especially student journalism, is powerful and it matters. No matter what your reservation is, places like The Alligator must be saved, for journalism is the preservation of truth and accountability, and we are its future.

I’ve thought a lot about this column, The Alligator’s somewhat pretentious and traditional way of saying goodbye. I’ve stressed about what my message would be or how this would come across.

But that doesn’t matter. In journalism, the truth does. That’s why I’ll be honest.

Frankly, this paper is frustrating. It’s tiresome, and we do really hard work. But just like words, what lovely soulful puzzles, this newsroom saved me.

As a wide-eyed transfer student who stumbled into this somewhat cult-like paper, it took a little time to find my footing. But I didn’t need to be stuck on the ground. Here, as a Black, biracial woman (with several other marginalized identities), The Alligator has given me a space to be myself. And it is here that I’ve flown.

The best editor I’ve ever had dragged me into this paper during the Summer of 2020. It was then that the world kept descending into chaos. And for a time, I did too. I didn’t believe in myself, even though I had been an editor-in-chief prior to coming to UF. I felt like a fraud.

But Grethel Aguila gambled with my imposter syndrome, and published my first story, one that I wrote through a UF reporting class. It detailed a vigil and march for Oluwatoyin “Toyin” Salau, a longtime classmate of mine who was missing and then murdered in my hometown of Tallahassee. I saw her name and picture flash across the TV, with each headline and story, I breathed anger. The former Black Lives Matter activist deserved respect and honesty.

So, I did my best to observe and tell the news with the viewpoint of the people who knew her.

I filed the story with Grethel and it was then that she became my advocate.

“It’s a moving, well-written piece,” she said in a text message that night.

“You’re very talented. We’re all learning as we go along. The Alligator is a great place to learn and grow as a journalist.”

“I’m kinda new to this so my writing isn’t perfect lol,” I messaged back.

I shrugged off her sentiments initially, but she was right about this paper.

When an editor here tells you you’re a good writer, trust them.

Asta Hemenway I contributed more pieces that summer and after she made a few attempts @astahemenway to convince me, I applied for her desk on the Metro team (I’m biased, but ahemenway@alligator.org it’s the best desk here). The editor that Fall called me and offered me the position. I was shocked.

“This is like the best student paper in the country,” I shouted to my parents on a sticky August night. “And he called me.”

I continued to work with Grethel who saw my potential on Metro and after three weeks, she promoted me to the Criminal Justice and Breaking News position. Then, she pushed me to take her place as Metro Editor.

At this paper, I’ve grown from an anxious, self-doubting student to someone who loves spending nights that welcome the dawn calling writers about their stories and their lives. With Lianna and Anna, I have tried to help bring diversity and become an advocate for students just as that editor did for me.

It is here that I’ve refused to listen to past put downs from teachers about my ability to be a “natural writer.” It is here that I’ve discovered a newfound confidence — one that is unapologetic.

It is here that I’ve grown from the young journalist who stuttered through phone calls with the g’s when I said good morning or goodbye.

But I can say goodbye now. I can say a lot of things thanks to the heroes in this student paper.

Asta Hemenway is a senior journalism major. She is a lifelong Alligator and was the Engagement Managing Editor.

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.

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6 ALLIGATOR MONDAY, APRIL 18, 2022

Students with disabilities question UF’s accessibility efforts Lack of funding, construction perpetuates struggle

By Gregorio Ruiz-Perez & Lydia Parker Alligator Staff Writers

Even before Jacob Frisch was diagnosed with autism in middle school, his classmates often hurled ableist slurs at him.

The negative language stayed with him through college. When browsing UF’s autism support group SOCIAL Gators online, he was disappointed with the outlook of autism as something to overcome.

“There is this kind of reinforcement of autism as being negative … rather than being a sort of self identity that’s part of you and part of who you are — something that can be positive,” Frisch said.

For Frisch and four students who share their experiences on college campuses, challenges associated with a lack of accessibility are commonplace. At UF, barriers send a message that they don’t belong — such as construction, neglect of funds, hurtful language and classroom inaccessibility.

Campus Barriers

Though the UF Disability Resource Center has been helpful, students feel like more needs to be done.

Frisch has a friend with cerebral palsy, Connor Panish, who he knew requested housing for Cypress Hall too late and wasn’t able to get in.

Cypress Hall is the only hall at UF with a lift system for students with mobility needs, but other accessibility features can be implemented in other halls with accommodation requests.

“ADA compliance system doesn’t equal full accessibility,” Frisch said.

“We should aim to have a fully accessible university.”

To people without disabilities, construction work might be a minor inconvenience. But for Connor Panish, a 19-year-old UF statistics freshman who relies on routines and accessible routes, it’s made life on campus more difficult. When Connor decided to attend UF he took accessibility into consideration like his brother, who has the same diagnosis.

However, the deciding factor was the quality of the math department, not accessibility.

Connor gets around using a knee brace, while his brother uses a walker and has less function in his hands.

As a Hume Hall resident who relies on Gator Lift, a shuttle service for UF affiliates with mobility needs, road closures due to construction have made it difficult to navigate.

Despite this, he has hopes that the construction and future projects will take people with disabilities into consideration and build a more accessible campus with more elevators, accessible pathways and ramps to replace needless stairs.

“If you’re doing so much construction anyway — that obviously impedes accessibility,” Panish said, “You have a huge benefit of being able to redesign the campus.”

People deserve options and more than one route to get to point A to B, he said.

Carlos Dougnac, assistant vice president for UF College of Planning, Construction and Design, and Russell Froman, assistant vice president for UF Office of Accessibility and Gender Equity, declined to comment on issues regarding construction.

Chase Panish, Connor’s twin brother and Florida Gulf Coast University history freshman, applied to all of the public universities in Florida. After reviewing all of the campus’ accessibility, he chose FGCU over UF. “I wasn’t just thinking ‘Is this school the best academic program?,’” Chase said. “But I had to think, ‘Will I be able to get around?’”

His main concerns about UF had been the sidewalks that are older and more battered and ramps inconveniently placed around campus — specifically those that lead to halls as their main entrance.

FGCU’s campus was required to comply with ADA since it was built in 1991. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 gives civil rights protections to individuals with disabilities.

“You can be retroactively compliant, but it’s much harder to be retroactively compliant than actually being compliant when you’re building

Alan Halaly // Alligator Staff

Molly Wagner, 19, UF freshman, poses for a portrait outside of Anderson Hall. Wagner is diagnosed with muscular dystrophy.

a place,” Chase said.

Since UF was built long before ADA compliance was mandatory, its older buildings are less accessible due to limited amounts of work that can be done on them now.

Chase is able to use a scooter to get around FGCU’s smaller campus rather than use the busing accommodation that UF provides but during the first week of Fall 2021, it broke and he was driven around in a golf car provided by FGCU. Though FGCU has a much smaller campus, the transportation services they provide for students with disabilities are similar to those at UF. Accessibility Resources and Housing

Jenna Gonzalez, the director of the UF DRC, believes that awareness of disabilities is key.

The Disability Ambassadors, an organization within the DRC, is a student-led group at UF that aims to spread awareness and empower people with disabilities.

This semester, the DRC piloted a two-day academic advising drop- in to build a connection with academics. Students registered with the DRC and liberal arts and sciences majors were able to comfortably meet with advisors who understood their accommodation needs.

“Accommodation and academics have to work together,” Gonzalez said. “There has to be communication.”

Sometimes professors don’t understand how to handle student’s accessibility requests, so the DRC is partnering with UF to bridge that gap, Gonzalez said.

Some buildings on campus are historical so they’re unable to have full accessibility measures. For example, if a student gets injured and lives in Murphree Hall, which has no elevators, the DRC would move them elsewhere.

“We technically do not have to provide by law an accommodation for housing,” Gonzalez said.

When Molly Wagner, a 20-yearold electrical engineering freshman, decided to attend UF, accessibility was a huge factor in her choice.

She has muscular dystrophy and uses a wheelchair to get around, but she never wanted to let accessibility limit her education. After touring the campus, she decided that UF provided the best in terms of education and accessibility.

“There are very few colleges that have a dorm set up like Cypress Hall that is so accommodating to somebody in my situation,” Wagner said.

However, after living on campus for a week, she realized the very accessible and accommodating campus she toured is different from what she has experienced.

On her tour she spent much of her time in places that were accessible including Cypress Hall, Reitz Union and Broward Dining but not classrooms. Classrooms need more accessible entrances and less stairs so that all students can interact with professors, Wagner said.

Some smaller classrooms, such as some in Little Hall and Matherly Hall, are too crammed with tables and chairs to have room for wheel-

Esha Nair // Alligator Staff

Paige Fultz, 20, nursing student at Santa Fe College, poses for a portrait in Plaza of the Americas on Sunday, April 17. Fultz, who is deaf, wears a cochlear implant. chairs. If a student needs a classroom accommodation, they can complete a classroom accessibility form on the UF DRC website.

“I feel very independent at Cypress Hall, but with other buildings on campus I don’t feel as accessible,” Wagner said. “I don’t feel as independent because the accessibility is not to the same level.”

Having the independence to get around is important to her, and the changes she would like to see are based around this. Having a pushto-open button in all classrooms is one change she would like to see implemented.

There have been times when no one is around to help her open doors to her classrooms, and even by elevating her wheelchair, it still isn’t enough to get her classmates’ attention.

“Sometimes I have to wait like 20 minutes before someone hears the door because they can’t see me,” Wagner said.

It takes her longer to complete other daily routines than others, so timing her day is already very difficult.

“Then they’re gonna make me take 10 more minutes to get to class because you can’t make the front entrance accessible,” Wagner said.

Anne Allen, manager for IT accessibility at UF, declined to comment.

If the university wants to claim to be inclusive they have to do a better job of spreading accessibility everywhere on campus, she said.

Recent construction near Cypress and Yulee Halls has limited the area to only one accessible path. When there are a lot of people walking it gets hard to not bump into people, she said.

When using buses, the construction also became an issue. On her way to the Florida Natural History Museum for an assignment, Google Maps had not taken into account the construction that was present, making her late.

Once there, finding an accessible entrance required assistance from staff that explained that the

only way she would be able to enter would be through a back entrance.

Calls for additional funding Not only do students with disabilities struggle with accessibility but there are also financial difficulties.

For students like Paige Fultz, 20-year-old Santa Fe College nursing junior, her deafness is something she’s learned to view as unique.

Fultz was born deaf and before age two2 got a cochlear implant with support of non-profit organizations to curve the $10,000 cost.

Cochlear implants sit behind the ear with a portion surgically inserted under the skin for sounds to be sent to the brain to process.

She attended speech therapy from kindergarten to seventh grade and continued to meet with her audiologist to help with her devices and accommodations, but now the DRC is that support for her.

She wishes the process of registering with the DRC was made easier and smoother.

“I think it’s important to make UF students aware of the services that are available for them and that it’s easily accessible,” Fultz said.

As a SFC student hoping to transfer to UF in the Fall, Fultz said her transition has been more difficult because she has to re-set her accommodations. Though UF provides classroom technology, she has to buy specialized equipment for her nursing clinicals, such as a $350 amplified stethoscope.

Fultz believes that since UF has more students than SFC, they should have a better system in place for students because of additional resources and funding.

“Funding should probably go more toward the Disabilities Resource Center and other avenues that college students need more than game day or all these other athletic events,” Fultz said. @GregRuizPerez1 gruiz-perez@alligator.org @lydiagparker lparker@alligator.org

MONDAY, APRIL 18, 2022 ALLIGATOR 7

Mimi the mortician: Gen-Z in death care THE RECENT MORTUARY SCHOOL GRADUATE IS TIKTOK FAMOUS FOR TALKING ABOUT DEATH

By Jiselle Lee Alligator Staff Writer

Miranda “Mimi” Mythen wants to revive the dying deathcare industry.

Under her TikTok account @ mimithemortician, Mythen has more than 1.3 million likes and 59.8 thousand followers. She has been interviewed by Allure and Refinery29 and she has been featured in the DailyMail and the New York Post about her viral videos on funeral service.

On social media, Mythen is leading the conversation for Gen-Z in her industry. But in Gainesville, she’s just another 20-year-old. Only instead of attending UF or Santa Fe College like the rest of her peers, she’s working at Milam Cremation and Funeral Services, where her co-workers are old enough to be her grandparents.

Mythen moved to Gainesville in January after graduating with an associate in science degree from the funeral services program at Florida State College in Jacksonville. By

then, she already had an established social media presence.

“I downloaded TikTok in quarantine like everybody else,” Mythen said. “I had made other random videos before I started mortuary school.

But I really felt like there was no representation of deathcare and funeral directors on there.”

After starting mortuary school in 2020, Mythen began making videos about her day as a mortuary school student.

As her account began to gain a following, people asked Mythen why she wanted to study funeral services straight out of high school and asked her for advice on how to begin a career in the industry.

Howard Beckham, the FSCJ funeral services program director, said Mythen was one of nine students who graduated from the program in December 2021.

Beckham, 66, said Mythen was the youngest student he’s taught since he joined the program as an educator in 2020.

The funeral services industry is in desperate need of funeral directors and FSCJ’s funeral services program is one of three programs offered in Florida, Beckham said.

“Most people aren’t focused at her age into something like this, unless they’ve come from a funeral home background,” Beckham said.

“I was impressed with her success, her abilities and skills.”

People are surprised that my family isn’t in deathcare, Mythen said.

Mythen’s mother, a librarian at FSCJ, watched Caitlin Doughty’s TED Talk about turning your body into human compost after you die, and instinctively thought of her green-thumb daughter, who was in high school at the time.

“I didn’t know what to make of that,” Mythen joked.

But after doing some research into natural burials, Mythen knew what her mother meant.

“I love nature,” she said. “I love giving back. I like recycling, composting, all that kind of stuff. I was really amazed that you could give back to the environment when you die because the environment does so much for you when you’re alive.”

One person who has helped her explore her fascination with the green side of funeral services is Milam funeral director Jane “Weed” Roy. Roy administers all of Milam’s

Jiselle Lee // Alligator Staff

Miranda Mythen and Jane “Weed” Roy stand in front of Milam Funeral and Cremation Services in Gainesville on Wednesday, March 23.

Jiselle Lee // Alligator Staff

Miranda Mythen films a TikTok in her apartment in Gainesville on Wednesday, April 6. Her TikTok account @mimithemortician has accumulated over 1.3 million likes. natural burial funeral services at Gainesville’s local natural cemetery, Prairie Creek Conservation Cemetery.

“Green burials are how I fell in love with becoming a funeral director,” she said. “I was a volunteer at Prairie Creek. It was really an eye opener for me, and I said ‘I want to do this all the time.’”

Milam’s funeral director Mickey Milam told her to go to school and get her license. She did at age 55.

Mythen recognizes the generational gaps between her and her coworkers and sometimes jokes about the typewriters in her office on her TikTok page.

She uses social media as an outlet to connect to people her age, especially after moving away from her friends and family in Jacksonville to Gainesville this year.

Carlos Gonzalez, the 33-year-old Prairie Creek executive director, is one of the youngest people working in funeral services in Gainesville.

He said there are a few reasons why young people may not see a career for themselves in funeral service.

“People who are still at early stages of their lives are trying to figure out what they want to do,” Gonzalez said. “But I think end-of-life care practices or any kind of industry that deals with taking care of our dead

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isn’t really attractive to a lot of folks.”

He knows that people might be hesitant to join the funeral services industry, but he said it’s more welcoming than they might think.

“I think what Mimi is doing and what we’re trying to do is have people see that regardless of age, race, background, heritage — whatever form of identity and wherever you’re at in life — it can be meaningful work,” he said.

Another issue is that not many students who graduate from mortuary school can pass the national board exams to get their license, said FSCJ funeral services program director Howard Beckham.

Mythen paused her internship at Milam in March after a few deaths in her own family, and plans on spending the summer studying for her second board exam.

“I am the first person from our group who graduated from the program to take a national board exam,” she said. She passed her first board exam in March.

Mythen is trying to destigmatize the funeral services industry in hopes that someday she can work with others around her age — possibly in an office where they have laptops instead of typewriters. @Jiselle_Lee jlee@alligator.org

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MONDAY, APRIL 18, 2022 www.alligator.org/section/the_avenue

MUSIC

LITERARY CORNER

Diversity on the rise in Gainesville music community Lady of the Night GAINESVILLE ARTISTS AND ORGANIZATIONS UPLIFT MINORITY VOICES

By Darwin Tortorella O’ gilded lady of the golden snow Your twinkling eyes jewels of the night To the solar winds your love you need not throw

By Amanda Friedman Avenue Staff Writer

Gainesville artists and organizations are working to uplift people of color, queer and female voices in the local music scene.

In a town previously viewed as a hub for white, indie-rock music, now people of color, queer and female artists are breaking into the Gainesville scene with more experimental sounds inspired by hip hop, ska, funk and Latin music.

Although a study from the University of Southern California found that 86% of the top music industry executives are white males, members of the Gainesville music community have been working tirelessly to make the city’s music scene more inclusive of different sounds, people of color, women and the queer community. Local artists, music organizations and live music venues represent the leaders of this movement.

Artists using their voices

Jeremy Hunter, 26, skyrocketed to fame at the end of 2016 when they started posting ska covers on Facebook from their bedroom under the name Skatune Network. Now, in addition to Skatune Network, they also make their own ska-punk music as JER, garnering a niche following of over 200,000 subscribers on Youtube.

“I don’t have as big of a following, but the following that I do have is very dedicated and very supportive,” they said. “That’s more important than having a million followers who could care less about what I do.”

Hunter discovered their love for ska music in seventh grade through listening to the soundtrack of the popular Japanese media franchise Digimon. Once they started diving deeper into different ska bands, they were instantly hooked by the catchy and colorful genre.

To be closer to Gainesville’s vibrant music community, Hunter moved from Broward County in 2017 to pursue his passion.

Even though multiple notable ‘90s ska bands originated in Gainesville like Less Than Jake, many of today’s Florida skapunk bands have broken up — giving ska a reputation as a dying genre. Because of this, Hunter has continued to be denied opportunities to tour or be featured in publications, which has been tough, they said.

As a Black and queer artist, Hunter has always felt supported by the local music scene.

One source of support they mentioned was The Civic Media Center, located at 433 S. Main St, a public library that platforms artists of diverse backgrounds through live music events and art shows.

Spearheading the expansion of hip hop and R&B in Gainesville is artist Israel Jones, 22, from Waldo. Influenced by artists like Kendrick Lamar, Jones described his music

Through your body the cosmos flow Through your limbs, this lustrous light O’ gilded lady of the golden snow Forget not the Hunter, who bows his head low He bathes in your beauty, so brilliantly bright To the solar winds your love you need not throw

Minca Davis // Alligator Staff

as a vulnerable reflection of the Black experience.

Jones signed with local hip-hop-focused record label Dion Dia last year and is thankful to be a part of an organization platforming so many artists of diverse backgrounds.

Dion Dia has also fostered an organic environment for him to grow musically with people who look like him, he said.

However, Jones said he’s disappointed by the local venues that have only recently started curating hip hop events. ‘Dia Days’, which took place at Bo Diddley Plaza on March 17, was one of the first hip-hop shows at the venue, he said.

“There are Gainesville venues that are still living in the 20th century,” he said. “I wish venues could realize that hip hop is a culture and movement. Everything is hip hop.”

Hip hop isn’t the only music genre that’s been historically overshadowed in the Gainesville community — Latin music has been another. For Latino musician Elio Piedra, 30, moving to the United States from Cuba in 2011 allowed him to share his love and passion for Latin music with a new community, Piedra said.

Before he was able to make a feasible income in music, Piedra washed dishes at the now-closed Sabore Restaurant when he moved to Gainesville.

“It was a great opportunity to grow as a citizen, to understand the system, to save money to buy my first instruments and start making connections,” Piedra said.

Eventually, he moved on to working as a drum instructor at local music stores and met Grammy award-winning Latino artist Chuchito Valdés, who he started accompanying as a drummer for Valdés’ local shows.

He then connected with a producer based in California and spent several years touring across the country.

Keep up with the Avenue on Twitter.

Tweet us @TheFloridaAve.

Today, Piedra runs Bringing The Fiesta to You, a one-man show in which he DJs, sings, dances and plays live instruments.

Piedra’s early career was marked by racism and xenophobia in the surrounding areas of Gainesville. He struggled to find work, as many local restaurants weren’t open to booking Latin music acts.

Although Gainesville’s Latin music scene is not as vibrant as other areas in Florida, Piedra has felt embraced by the local community since starting his business. His commitment to spreading messages of love and positivity has remained constant.

“We need to showcase our authenticity and show that we are genuinely trying to engage and embrace the community and share the richness of our culture,” he said.

Within Gainesville’s music community is also a severe lack of female representation.

Bianca Maesa, 25, plays sousaphone in the Sooza Brass Band — a six-piece brass band that started as a few college friends jamming out together.

The Sooza Brass Band has been playing together for over four years. They describe their sound as acoustic dance music or brass funk, Maesa said.

When she was six years old, Maesa moved to Gainesville from the Philippines after her mother got a job at UF Health Shands Hospital. Her love for music began in middle school when she was assigned to play the tuba in band class. She then proceeded to study music at UF, being one of four female tuba players out of 30 in the Gator band at the time.

Read the rest online at alligator.org/section/the_avenue. @afriedmanuf afriedman@alligator.org

The trees of the Earth reach up and grow For your warm embrace they’d take flight O’ gilded lady of the golden snow The bear, the lion, the scales, Virgo They all back you with all their might To the solar winds your love you need not throw But still it seems you do not know All of the beings that swoon at your sight O’ gilded lady of the golden snow To the solar winds your love you need not throw Biography:

Currently a first-year English student at UF, I spend a lot of time writing poems about the world around me, and I plan on writing a collection in the near future. I also really like cats, and I hope to soon rescue one.

Poem’s meaning:

This is a poem I wrote late at night, while I was looking at the stars. I really wanted to personify the stars; they seemed to be especially bright that night because a street lamp was out. I did a bit of research, and I wrote this villanelle about Virgo, the constellation, and based it off of one of her origin stories, in which she hangs herself after her father is killed by his drunken shepherds.

I wanted it to be a message to her, explaining why she shouldn’t throw her love away, but I also wanted it to coincide with her astrological sign, as well as how beautiful the stars were that night. I wanted it to seem like she was the center of the universe, and so the imagery I provided and the bright words contrast with the setting of dark space to really give her that otherworldly, almost mystical feeling, while still keeping the poems meaning intact.

Rugby coach encourages student players The small, mighty team persists, pg. 11

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MONDAY, APRIL 18, 2022 www.alligator.org/section/sports

Jiselle Lee // Alligator Staff

Ashleigh Lucas // Alligator Staff

Football coach Billy Napier runs out on the Ben Hill Griffin Stadium field with players at the Orange and Blue game on Thursday, April 14.

UF cheerleaders hype up the crowd outside the Ben Hill Griffin Stadium for the Orange and Blue football game on Thursday, April 14.

RUGBY

Rugby coaches embody the brotherhood the sport represents THE FLORIDA RUGBY CLUB EMBRACES MORE THAN JUST THE PHYSICALITY OF THE SPORT

By Vanessa Sanchez Sports Writer

Rugby is not only physically demanding but also takes an emotional toll.

The Florida men’s rugby club does not invoke the biggest chatter on campus. However, the band of men has slowly started to make itself known and share the impact rugby can have on the community and players.

Established in 1969, the club has struggled to get a fresh batch of recruits each semester. Veteran players such as team captain Connor Murray have taken it upon themselves to welcome new players.

“I’ve taken my experiences and given back the way I see helps best the player and the team in the future,” Murray said.

Emphasizing the importance of recruitment to his team, Murray has played a vital role in using both social media and tabling methods to gain attention for the club.

When tabling in Turlington Plaza, their most common method of approach is catering their pitch to each individual, trying to see where their interest lies and introducing rugby to them.

Although not every attempt comes up successful, the presence in Turlington has gotten the attention of some of their most dedicated players, including junior Vince Duarte.

Promising recruits like Duarte have stumbled upon the rugby club by chance.

Looking for a new way to improve their athletic ability, rugby seemed like the perfect answer.

Struggling to keep a healthy lifestyle between a heavy load of computer science courses and a part-time software engineering internship, Duarte was trying to balance school and staying active. Passing through Turlington, he saw the rugby club tabling and was instantly pulled in. “[I] met Connor and immediately knew I had to do this for sure,” Duarte said. “It turned out, when I talked to my dad, he played in college as well.”

Although the motivation to stay active compelled him to join the club, what kept him in was the brotherhood he experienced right away. Meeting up outside of class, participating in a Bible study and praying before every match were the little moments Durate cherished.

Rugby fosters a unique culture of respect towards the coaches, teammates, referees and opponents unlike any other sport.

The coaching staff have formed a strong connection with the sport and embody the culture they have come to know.

Head coach Ken Simmons experienced the camaraderie first hand during his years as a player. He began his rugby career as a senior at the University of Tennessee. After falling deeply in love with the sport, he could not imagine his life without it.

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Read the rest online at alligator.org/section/sports. @_vanessa_sanch vsanchez@alligator.org

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LACROSSE

Gator men’s club lacrosse player-led program reaching historic heights FLORIDA FINISHED A 13-1 REGULAR SEASON WITH ITS HIGHEST RANKING IN OVER A DECADE

By Topher Adams Sports Writer

Florida hasn’t won a Southeastern Lacrosse Conference championship since 2010 and hasn't been ranked in the top-10 since 2009. The Gators men’s lacrosse club team hasn’t played a regular season game in almost two seasons.

Yet, with the buy-in from the players and the guidance of head coach Garrett Hanrahan, Florida has its highest ranking in over a decade and are prime contenders not only for a conference title, but the program’s first ever national championship.

Hanrahan, a former Gators lacrosse player himself, took over the program in the fall of 2016, and looked to elevate it in the ever changing Men’s Club Lacrosse Association.

The MCLA has grown massively over the last decade, expanding across the country and becoming an increasingly professional organization.

“We realized at some point that it wasn't just about our own program's evolution, it was about recognizing that the MCLA as a whole was evolving,” Hanrahan said. “The reality at the MCLA level is it really does, at least at the top, toe the line between club and varsity.”

When Hanrahan claimed control, both himself and some of the leaders within the team recognized the need to elevate and professionalize the club. This was a necessary step to reach their competitive goals and

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build a consistently successful program.

To fully maximize the potential of the club, it requires dedication from the players.

An aspect especially important at the club sports level, where the players hold so much power in running and organizing the squad each year.

“No team is going to be successful without the commitment and the buy-in of the players,” Hanrahan said. “We've worked hard every year to find a way to elevate that commitment level.”

Hanrahan also noted how the culture couldn’t be manufactured by himself or the coaching staff, instead having to be built from the ground up by the players. This incremental growth, development and progress over the last five years came to a head in 2020.

The Gators had strong 2017 and 2018 campaigns, winning at least 10 games both years, but they didn’t make waves nationally. The 2019 season finished a disappointing 5-7. In 2020, however, Florida started making noise throughout the MCLA. UF started the season 8-3, including an upset of then-No. 14 Virginia Tech, and broke into the national top-25 for the first time under Hanrahan. The Gators were poised to make a run at their third SELC title and potentially get back to the national tournament, but then the COVID-19 pandemic ended those dreams.

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

Follow us for updates

For updates on UF athletics, follow us on Twitter at @alligatorSports or online at www.alligator.org/section/sports.

@Topher_Adams tadams@alligator.org

12 ALLIGATOR MONDAY, APRIL 18, 2022

TRACK & FIELD

Strawberries and Javelins: The Double Life of Mark Porter PORTER STUDIES STRAWBERRIES WHILE TOSSING THE JAVELIN FOR FLORIDA TRACK AND FIELD

Porter, 23, is a plant-breeding Ph.D. candidate who spends his days at the Gulf Coast Research and Education Center in Wimauma, Florida, one of a dozen such facilities operated by UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. Porter attends online classes and spends countless hours researching strawberry breeding techniques to create the most vivid flavors and colors at the Gulf Coast REC, which sits 30 miles south of Tampa.

Oh, and he happens to be one of the best collegiate javelin throwers in the nation.

Porter began his javelin journey as a freshman at Reading Memorial High School in his native city of Reading, Massachusetts. During his time with the Rockets, Porter won a state championship in 2016, an allstate title in 2017 and tossed a personal best 59.13 meters.

After high school, Porter found himself at Penn State University, where he graduated in 2021 with a bachelor’s in plant sciences. Porter walked on to the PSU track and field team his freshman year and set new personal records each season, culminating in a Big 10 javelin championship last May, where he secured the title with a 72.89-meter throw.

He is the proud owner of the second-best javelin throw in Penn State history, a 73.94-meter toss achieved in March of last year. Porter also participated in two NCAA champion-

By Ethan Eibe Sports Writer

Mark Porter is done for the day.

One of the newest members of Florida track and field’s javelin team stood adjacent to the Percy Beard Track at James G. Pressly Stadium having just completed his first competition as a Gator at the 2022 Florida Relays April 1.

Porter finished second out of 14 competitors, his top throw nearly stretching 69 meters. It wasn’t a poor effort for an athlete whose situation permits limited access to proper training grounds.

Porter has swapped out his athletic tank top and shorts for a blue tracksuit. He watches relay runners sprint by through his orange-tinted sunglasses and enjoys spending the time watching his fellow Gator athletes perform. His short red hair is tossed about by a soft afternoon breeze.

It’s not often Porter has the opportunity to be in Gainesville. In fact, it is only the sixth time he has ever stood on his home track. He is perhaps the most non-traditional student-athlete the University of Florida has to offer.

ships, placing 13th in 2019 and 12th in 2021.

• • • So, how did a kid from the Northeast find himself chucking 800-gram sticks and growing strawberry crops in the Sunshine State?

For Porter, it all started with a stroll through the grocery store.

“You see all these different things [at the store],” Porter said. “You see purple cabbage. You see green cabbage. Cabbage that’s different sizes, different shapes. I just think that’s so interesting, the natural variation.

Being able to harness that and look at all these different strawberries and that sort of thing really makes me happy.”

Porter found himself at a crossroads after graduating from Penn State last Spring.

A plant sciences degree in hand, he knew he wanted to continue his studies in graduate school and have it lead to a career as a breeder.

He also had one year of collegiate javelin eligibility left, granted to him by the NCAA after COVID-19 took down the 2020 season.

While considering the plant breeding options for a master’s program, Porter looked into programs at the University of California-Davis and the University of Georgia. He was on the cusp of committing to attend school in Athens, Georgia,

when he was contacted by doctors Vance Whitaker and Seonghee Lee. They spoke to Porter about a new Ph.D. initiative that would be offered at UF starting in the Fall 2021 semester.

They wanted him to be a part of it.

The strawberry emphasis and breeding opportunities stuck out to Porter immediately. It was enough for him to change his mind.

“I instantly knew I wanted to

work in strawberries with them,” Porter said. “It is a great program and a fantastic setup to study plant breeding. There’s enormous support for it at Florida and there’s a really good central core of plant breeders here.”

Read the rest online at alligator.org/section/sports. @EthanEibe eeibe@alligator.org

Courtesy to The Alligator // Gulf Coast IFAS

Porter, 23, is a plant breeding Ph.D. candidate who spends his days at the Gulf Coast Research and Education Center in Wimauma, Florida, one of a dozen such facilities operated by UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.

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