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VOLUME 116 ISSUE 35

TUESDAY, MAY 31, 2022

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SOFTBALL ‘I was just so lost’: Florida routs Virginia Tech, advances to Women’s College World Series Gainesville residents look for change amid GATORS SOFTBALL IS OKLAHOMA CITY BOUND FOR THE FIRST recent mass shootings TIME SINCE 2019, 11TH TIME IN COMMUNITY MEMBERS DEBATE NEXT STEPS

PROGRAM HISTORY

By Fernando Figueroa

Sports Writer

Alligator Staff Writer

With every run Florida batted in to home plate, the dugout stacked and taped Powerade cups atop a rally cap.

By the end of the five-inning game, the orange and blue bound 12 cups together in a tower as the team produced a merciless shutout.

The Gators now head to Oklahoma City to compete in the Women’s College World Series for the first time since 2019 and the 11th time in program history. Their ticket was punched after defeating the No. 3 Virginia Tech Hokies in two of three Super Regional games.

Last season UF hosted a Super Regional, but saw its season come to a close after Georgia swept the Gators by a combined score of 10-0 over two games.

Game one of the series in Blacksburg, Virginia, was less than ideal for Florida, as it was shut out 6-0 Saturday. Hokies sophomore outfielder Emma Ritter’s two home runs highlighted the game that was forced to be completed Saturday following harsh weather conditions at the top of the fifth inning Friday.

Despite losing the opening game, Florida’s solid defense in the final two innings bled into Saturday’s second game. The Gators’ series-extending 7-2 victory set the stage for a winnertakes-all Sunday finale.

Virginia Tech senior pitcher Keely Rochard struggled to keep Florida batters off the scoreboard in Sunday’s first inning. UF freshman outfielder Kendra Falby slid home for the first run of the game, scoring off of two defensive errors.

In the second, Florida exploded offensively as sophomore outfielders Katie Kistler and Avery Goelz recorded runs to put their team ahead 3-0. Falby tallied another run for the Gators via a single from redshirt junior infielder Skylar Wallace.

Rochard gave up two more runs in the third, this time to senior outfielder Cheyenne Lindsey and freshman infielder Reagan Walsh. Hokies freshman pitcher Emma Lemley took over in the circle, but the change in pitching style did not stop Florida from taking on four more runs before retiring the side.

Virginia Tech looked to shift the momentum of the game as the Gators led 10-0, making another pitching change with sophomore Mackenzie Osborne. Goelz singled to center field and allowed Kistler to score another run.

A pop fly secured by Lindsey signaled the end of the game. Florida players threw their gloves in the air in jubilation, tackling fifth-year pitcher Natalie Lugo to the ground in glee.

The Gators season started off strong but hit some turbulence as they finished conference play 13-11, dropping critical games against rivals Alabama, Arkansas and Tennessee. Florida

Leanne Haggerty took a shaky breath as she watched a live stream of police cars circling Robb Elementary School from her Gainesville bedroom. Text scrolled across the screen: more than a dozen children killed.

The 20-year-old UF applied physiology and kinesiology junior heard about the May 24 Texas school shooting through TikTok. She thought it was a sick joke.

An 18-year-old gunman killed 19 children and two adults at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, the second-deadliest school shooting since Sandy Hook in 2013.

“I was just so lost at the thought that someone would choose to walk into a school full of young innocent children and try to hurt them or kill them,” she said. “They really haven't done anything to anyone in their entire life.”

Haggerty prays a gun-related incident won’t occur on or near UF’s campus.

There have been more than 200 mass shootings in the U.S. this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

Twenty-seven of those have been school shootings. In 2020, firearms surpassed motor vehicles as the leading cause of death for children over the age of one in the U.S. In the last two weeks, there have been 42 deaths linked to mass shootings nationally.

On Sunday morning, a shooting at an Oklahoma Memorial Day festival left one dead and seven injured. One of the eight victims was a juvenile.

On May 14, an 18-year-old white male shot and killed 10 people in a predominantly Black neighborhood at a Buffalo supermarket in New York.

Alachua County public schools spokesperson Jackie Johnson said the district has not updated its safety procedures since the shootings. ACPS classes ended Friday. Duval, Manatee and Polk counties banned backpacks for the last week of school.

ACPS recently arrested a student for bringing a loaded gun to Fort

SEE SHOOTING, PAGE 5

By Brenda Bogle

Outfielder Cheyenne Lindsey catches a pop fly Feb. 29, 2020.

She secured the final out Sunday, signaling Florida’s advance to the Women’s College World Series.

Samantha Harrison // Alligator Staff

UF community says new president must combat political interference During the last listening sessions, many said Florida legislators caused faculty’s distrust of the university

By Anushka Dakshit Alligator Staff Writer

With the conclusion of listening sessions, UF community members await the next steps in the presidential search — many of which will continue behind closed doors.

The Board of Trustees will compile the ideal president’s requirements and desired characteristics based on community input from the past month’s 15 listening sessions. The Search Advisory Committee hosted its final sessions May 24, allowing students, faculty, alumni and Gainesville residents to express attributes they think the next president should have.

During the final listening sessions, attendees voiced concerns about lack of transparency and trust with university leaders. They fear political values will interfere with the selection.

Brantlee Richter, a UF plant pathology assistant professor who attended a listening session, said trust was breached between faculty and the president’s office when its values transitioned from campus advocacy to obliging the state government.

“The biggest challenge that the incoming president is going to have to face is how to carve out a position for themselves as the president of the university, not as an employee of the governor,” Richter said.

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill in April allowing the Board of Trustees to require post-tenure reviews every five years and suggesting the Board of Governors may develop regulations regarding tenured status. He also signed the ‘Stop WOKE’ Act last month, which will limit how

SPORTS/SPECIAL/CUTOUT

Professor-endorsed restrictions affect transgender healthcare

The sophomore won the title a year after teammate Sam Riffice did. Read more on pg. 12.

Peach party

Shelton prevails asfinish NCAA singles champion Story description with comma, pg#

SEE SOFTBALL, PAGE 11

SEE LISTENING, PAGE 5

Six-hundred people signed a letter opposing the guidelines supported by State Surgeon General Ladapo, pg. 4 Williston’s Red, White and Blues Farms hosted first peach festival this weekend, pg. 7

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2 ALLIGATOR TUESDAY, MAY 31, 2022

Today’s Weather Tense Senate meeting addresses abuse of power investigation SG MINORITY PARTY LEADER FAITH CORBETT ANNOUNCED ABUSE OF POWER INVESTIGATION REQUEST INTO SENATE PRESIDENT HARTZOG AFTER THE CANCELED MAY 17 SENATE MEETING AND ISRAEL TRIP

By Sandra McDonald Alligator Staff Writer

UF Student Government senators resumed their weekly meetings May 24, and senators grappled over committee recommendations and ethical dilemmas.

UF Senate confirmed five senators to its Rules and Ethics committee.

Gator Party's overwhelming majority pushed these confirmations through Change Party's dissent on each vote.

Minority Party Leader Faith Corbett said Senate’s vote on Rules and Ethics’ recommended candidates was unethical and motioned to refer those seats back to the Replacement and Agenda committee.

The committee was underperforming, she said, by not fairly filling

seats and not considering candidates’ potential connections to Senate President Elizabeth Hartzog and her pending investigations.

President Pro-Tempore Olivia Green said Hartzog abstained from all votes pertaining to the Rules and Ethics Committee when it voted on the recommendations.

Hartzog rejected Corbett’s motions as Chair of the Senate and ruled 11 lines of communication as dilatory throughout the hour-and-a-half long meeting.

Hartzog canceled the May 17 Senate meeting and traveled to Israel.

She and External Affairs Director Noah Fineberg took the trip with a group of senators and student government officials. Both said they attended in their personal capacities in statements to The Alligator last week.

Change Party has moved forward with an investigation for abuse of power against Hartzog. The Rules and Ethics Committee set a hearing for June 2.

“In Student Government, we are the minority party. If we are not here to check the majority party, what are we really

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doing?” Deputy Minority Party Leader Mohammed Faisal asked Senate.

Judiciary Chairman John Brinkman said the complaint against Hartzog was unfounded. He cited Senate rules that give Hartzog the power to cancel Senate at her discretion.

Corbett addressed Hartzog and Brinkman by name. “Put simply, if you are innocent, the facts should point this way.”

By Lindsay Schindler Alligator Staff Writer

As UF admission rates drop with the return to inperson classes, Santa Fe College’s are on the rise.

Cynthia Roldan Hernandez, UF media and content strategist, said the university’s acceptance rate for the class of 2026 was about 22.8%, a steep drop from last year’s 32.8%.

Santa Fe has already admitted more than 8,000 students for Fall 2022 — 170 more freshmen than the previous year — and applications are still open, Santa Fe recruitment director Quinten Eyman said. He said first-time applications are up 4% this year after taking a hit the last few years, and this year’s application rate is at least on par with, if not more than, what was seen before the pandemic.

The college’s reputation of successful transfers makes it an attractive option for students who wish to attend UF. Santa Fe has the highest percentage of transfers to UF of any college; 68% of students who graduate from Santa Fe with their associates degree successfully transfer to UF, according to Eyman.

Taylor Denton, a 17-year-old incoming biology freshman and aspiring veterinarian, strives to walk

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across UF’s stage in 2026 with a bachelor's degree. Her journey will begin at Santa Fe. Denton said UF is her dream school, but she knew she didn’t have the test scores or extracurriculars necessary to get accepted straight out of high school. She decided to attend Santa Fe for her associates degree and transfer to UF in the future.

COVID-19 also plays a prominent role in the number of Santa Fe applicants, Eyman said. The pandemic’s economic impact has left families struggling.

“We try not to pretend that COVID is over,” he said.

“Even though we’re seeing it as maybe slightly less of a public health impact, the economic impact is still with us and probably will be for a while.”

He said Santa Fe reaches out to less wealthy students to ensure they are aware of the cheaper alternative Santa Fe provides.

Santa Fe hosts an annual open house around the time UF admissions are released. This year, UF decisions were released Feb. 25, and the Santa Fe open house took place March 19.

Students are given the opportunity to tour campus and meet with program and academic advisers.

There is no one-size-fits-all track that students follow in life, and sometimes community college is the first step one takes.

“Our job is to provide information and inspiration to help bolster aspiration,” Eyman said.

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4 ALLIGATOR TUESDAY, MAY 31, 2022

UF community challenges transgender youth health

Petition against DOH gathered more than 600 signatures from faculty, staff and students

By Lillian Lawson Alligator Staff Writer

Six hundred UF community members signed a letter opposing a Department of Health guideline endorsed by a UF professor that prohibits transgender people under 18 from adopting characteristics matching their gender identity.

The guidelines would bar access to puberty blockers, hormone therapy and gender reassignment surgery. They were backed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and State Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, who is also a UF College of Medicine professor.

Ladapo has faced criticism at UF due to his controversial views on COVID-19 measures, which were critical of mask mandates, lockdown restrictions and vaccines. Many believed he was not properly vetted and his tenure was rushed.

He said children should not be in the position to make life-altering decisions about their gender or sex. The guidelines recommend access only to social support and counseling. They do not apply to those with genetic sex development disorders such as irregular development of internal and external genatalia.

“The federal government’s medical establishment releasing guidance failing at the most basic level of academic rigor

shows that this was never about health care,” Ladapo said in a press release. “It was about injecting political ideology into the health of our children.”

Nine members of the UF wildlife ecology and conservation department’s Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access Committee wrote a letter criticizing the guidelines and called upon the UF community to advocate for transgender healthcare access for children. It was emailed to members of the UF community Apr. 29.

The letter stated that Ladapo was cherry picking evidence and chose information aligning with his political ideology rather than recognizing current transgender healthcare and its importance to children’s mental wellbeing.

Ethan White, a 45-year-old member of the wildlife ecology and conservation department’s IDEA Committee, said the guidelines are constructed in a way that neglects scientific suggestions and policy.

“Because this was led by a University of Florida faculty member, I think it’s really important for us to all step up and communicate that this is not the way that we should be going about setting policy,” White said.

White has a child who is a member of the LGBTQ community. He said the DOH

guidelines go to an extreme, advising transgender adolescents not present themselves as the gender they identify with. The guidelines also go against general recommendations on allowing adolescents access to medications that stop the production of male and female sex hormones at the appropriate age and stage of life, he said.

If handled incorrectly, he said the guidelines could impact LGBTQ healthcare.

Olgert Bardhi, a 29-year-old recent UF College of Medicine graduate, said he wasn’t surprised the guidelines were released. He felt they were politically motivated and not based on established medical studies.

care for their adolescent patients.

“We’re taught ‘Do no harm’, but if you are not able to provide these forms of care for the patients, which is in their best benefit, then I think that it’s going to at least make physicians think twice about what they’re doing and if they are able to provide the care,” Bardhi said.

Lameace Hussain, a 31-year-old Ph.D. student in the Department of Wildlife and Ecology Conservation, also signed the letter. They came out as non-binary in their late 20s while living in Washington and did not get the support they needed from doctors and their community until later in life. Torn on what gender they were, Hussain struggled with depression and suicide attempts.

“When I was reading it, I thought to myself that they tried to somehow do the wording so they sounded like it was based on science, but it was not,” he said.

“It was incredibly confusing and I had no idea what was going on, and I always thought there must have been something wrong with me,” Hussain said.

He said the DOH guidelines go against recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychological Association, which both support gender-affirming care.

Bardhi wanted to sign the petition as a future medical provider. He said he hopes most physicians continue to follow the academy’s guidelines — instead of the DOH guidelines — to provide the best

They said the new DOH guidelines create discomfort in the LGBTQ+ community at UF and in Gainesville — a fairly queer-friendly city.

“I think that there’s a looming cloud that they go after kids, and eventually it’s going to kind of work its way up,” Hussain said. @LillianLLawson llawson@alligator.org

Namari Lock // Alligator Staff

Graphic depicting the new statement related to the recent Florida Depantment of Health guidance on healthcare for transgender children.

TUESDAY, MAY 31, 2022 ALLIGATOR 5

Mass shootings unsettle students SHOOTING, from pg. 1 Clarke Middle School. One student voiced concerns over the potential school shooting a month prior, and a parent pulled their child from the school after the incident.

The school district mistakenly warned of an active shooter one week after the arrest, worrying family members across the county.

ACPS’s false message was not sent out in response to the Buffalo shooting, nor the Fort Clarke student bringing a gun to school, Johnson said. The district was testing its Intrado Safety shield system, which is used to alert law enforcement and administrators of an emergency, she said.

Florida State University also sent out a tweet falsely alerting residents and students of a “dangerous or life-threatening situation” on campus May 24.

The tweet was deleted shortly after, and the account clarified the message was sent during its annual emergency management training session with FSUPD. FSU did not comment about additional precautions in response to recent shootings.

The state of Florida requires all public schools, including charters, to have a mobile panic alert system. The law, known as Alyssa’s Alert, was put in place

by Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2020 following the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting and was named after Alyssa Alhadeff, one of the 17 victims.

This is just one of the precautions in place to prevent mass shootings in Florida. ACPS fortifies its buildings by assigning a law enforcement officer to every school; performs regular active shooter drills with students and staff; screens vendors, volunteers and visitors; creates crisis plans specific to a school's geography, layout and demographics; and performs threat assessments.

The Alachua County Sheriff’s Office is also part of the Coach Aaron Feis Guardian Program, spokesperson Kaley Behl said.

It trains volunteering school employees and hires personnel to

act as armed guardians.

“All of that is BS,” local Gainesville activist Chanae Jackson said. “It is extremely reactive and does not fix the root cause of the problem.”

Jackson’s top priority is banning assault rifles. She said background checks, mental health advocacy and gun buybacks will not work in America’s gun culture.

March for Our Lives spokesperson Noah Lumbantobing said he thinks universal background checks, mandatory minimum waiting times and raising the minimum age to purchase a firearm can be effective.

March for Our Lives held a public Zoom call Wednesday outlining their next steps for fighting gun violence across the country. They called for nationwide protests on June 11.

“The important thing to do right now is not to lose hope,” Lumbantobing said.

Recent P.K Yonge Developmental Research School graduate Taylor Witt said she felt somber during the last week of school. Teachers shared their personal condolences with students, she said, but the administration barely made an effort to acknowledge the tragedy in Uvalde.

The 17-year-old worries about her younger siblings going to school in a country that is not doing enough to protect them. To decrease gun violence and school shootings, she advocated for more police officers in schools and routine mental health screenings.

Mayor Lauren Poe said the discussion of mental health is a red herring — distracting national conversation from the main issue. He advocated for strictly regulated and licensed vendors, a longer waiting period and background checks for firearm sales.

He expressed his frustration with the “good guy with a gun’ theory” in a recent tweet.

“There were good guys with guns and armor on the scene immediately. They did not act,” Poe wrote.

Other countries with similar governments and economic situations do not experience shootings like the U.S. does. The differences are the steps these countries took to control guns and alleviate gun violence, Poe said.

In January, the Gainesville City Commission approved the Gainesville Police Department’s request for American Rescue Plan Act funds for their One Community Initiative to tackle gun violence. The commision approved $240,000 for community oriented policing, $41,350 for community education efforts, $271,500 for forensic equipment and $68,633 for the public safety coordinator position.

Gainesville resident Matthew Hutchins, 25, said gun buybacks are only effective at getting guns off the streets, and that isn’t the problem.

“I hate to sound like an NRA tagline, but I don’t know if guns are the issue,” Hutchins said.

race is discussed in classrooms. Faculty fears both laws will affect their academic freedom.

Additionally, DeSantis signed a pair of bills keeping the presidential search process hidden from the public.

Ken Dawson-Scully, a father of a UF student, said he was worried politics may conflict with what the university needs to do or wants to do.

keeping a “list, record or registry of legally owned firearms or lawabiding firearm owners.”

Other community members have different opinions about what can be done to prevent mass shootings. Retired lawyer George Robert Dekle noted school shootings are spree killings, two or more murders without a break in between.

“Unlike serial killings and mass murders, spree killings are predictable,” Dekle wrote.

He said the U.S. needs a nationwide monitoring system to detect and apprehend those who plan spree killings.

“Such a system would have detected and could have prevented the Uvalde shooter,” he wrote.

March for Our Lives held a public Zoom call Wednesday outlining their next steps for fighting gun violence across the country. They called for nationwide protests on June 11. @fernfigue ffigueroa@alligator.org

Alligator File Photo

Candles flicker along the front of Library West on Sunday, Feb. 14, 2021. They accompanied 17 luminaries honoring the people killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School four years ago.

Politics in presidential search LISTENING, from pg. 1

The people who commit mass murders will not stop because the weapon has changed, he said.

Williams Temple Church of God in Christ will host a Gun Buyback, where residents can sell firearms without the fear of being arrested, June 25. The event is organized by the Office of the State Attorney, the Eighth Judicial Circuit, GPD and the Save Our City Initiative.

Gainesville City Commissioner David Arreola said the current precautions cannot replace regulating military-grade weapons. He wants to see assault rifles out of the hands of civilians.

However, Florida statutes prohibit local governments from introducing policy regulating firearms. The state can fine elected officials up to $5,000 and remove them from office if they violate this law, Arreola said.

In 2019, Arreola and other elected Florida officials filed a brief challenging its harsh financial penalties. In 2021, the Florida Supreme Court agreed to hear the case on June 9.

Florida statutes also prohibit government entities from

“It concerns me that the rankings of the university could be impacted by those kinds of things,” he said. “I think a president really needs to be able to ride that razor edge between appeasing politicians while appeasing what is required to maintain the highest rankings of the university.”

UF alumnus Juan Galan said effects from tenure and accreditation legislation from the state might deter candidates.

“I'm somewhat familiar with the past and the level of political interference that

existed, let's say, 10 years ago,” he said.

“But today's level is very disturbing.”

Fellow donors have a similar lack of trust in university leadership because they also sense a higher level of political interference than in the past, he said.

Ashley Sanguino, who attended one of the listening sessions, said she wants a clear answer on the Board of Trustees expected transparency in wake of the legislature’s restrictions. Most students aren’t given enough information about the process, she said, and they deserve to have a hand in it.

Rahul Patel, the chair of the presidential search committee, said the current process

is transparent with no outside influence.

All meetings are open to the public unless individual candidates are being discussed.

Many attendees expressed regaining the trust of faculty will be the biggest challenge for the next president.

Faculty fear the board will appoint an outsider who doesn’t understand academic systems and how they differ from political or business systems, Richter said. She said the incoming president needs to understand the particular structures and functions of a land grant institution. @Anushkadak adakshit@alligator.org

6 ALLIGATOR TUESDAY, MAY 31, 2022

Gainesville reflects on Memorial Day Weekend Evergreen Cemetery hosted two events to honor veterans

By Omar Ateyah Alligator Staff Writer

Under the unforgiving May sun, Stephen Carr wandered around Evergreen Cemetery Saturday looking for veterans’ graves to place American flags.

The 75-year-old Vietnam veteran and Gainesville resident followed paper maps to identify where those who served had been laid to rest.

More than 1,000 veterans are buried across Evergreen’s 56 acres, located at Southeast 21st Avenue. Saturday’s flag-placing

tradition happens twice every year in anticipation of Memorial and Veterans’ Day. Marihelen Wheeler, the chair of the Alachua County board of commissioners, also read the county’s proclamation officially recognizing Memorial Day to more than 200 people who gathered at the cemetery Monday.

Attendees held white fans to cope with the heat as they sat before a stainless steel monument inaugurated in November. Los Angeles-based artist James Dinh designed the monument, which features beams with a star-shaped

outline.

Wheeler said it was important to remember both the fallen and returning service members whose lives were significantly altered by their experiences.

“They came home, but they came home and lost homes. They lost limbs. They lost minds,” she said.

Kat Cammack, U.S. Congresswoman serving Florida’s 3rd Congressional District, urged attendees to use Memorial Day to reflect upon how they can be better citizens in light of service members’ sacrifices.

Carr reflected on his own struggles adjusting back to the life of a civilian after returning home. He said he could sleep only with a gun next to him for a year following his return home because of habits he developed during the Vietnam War. Carr said he overcame post-traumatic stress — even as certain memories lingered.

“Eventually you get back into not having to worry about combat,” he said. “That’s just the way the human brain works, that you eventually get over traumatic things that happened to you. Now some things you’ll never forget,

like the death you saw.”

Kathleen Kauffman, a member of Gainesville’s Historic Preservation board, also volunteered. She spoke of her own family’s experience with generations of military service and the importance of setting a positive example for the next generation.

“If we don’t show kids that we are out willing to volunteer and help the community do things like this, how do we expect our kids to learn how to do that?,” she said. @OAteyah oateyah@alligator.org

Yingquan Zhu // Alligator Staff

Milton Lewis Marines fold the flag at Evergreen Cemetery on May 30, 2022.

Yingquan Zhu // Alligator Staff

Citizens gather at Evergreen Cemetery on May 30, 2022, to honor veterans this Memorial Day.

Yingquan Zhu // Alligator Staff

Veterans and Alachua County Veterans Services Division members gather at the Evergreen Cemetery on May 30, 2022 to honor for those who lost their lives fighting for our country.

Yingquan Zhu // Alligator Staff

Milton Lewis Young Marines conducts the flag ceremony onat the Memorial Day Ceremony at the Evergreen Cemetery on May 30, 2022.

TUESDAY, MAY 31, 2022 ALLIGATOR 7

Gainesville residents escape metropolis at Williston’s first Peach Festival

Red, White and Blues Farm implemented new festivals as focus shifts to agritourism

By Namari Lock Alligator Staff Writer

With bright skies and fields of fresh fruit, Red, White and Blues Farm provided the perfect rural escape from Gainesville’s city life.

The farm’s first Peach Festival this weekend included live music, games and approximately 30 vendors. More than 5,000 people attended the event.

Visitors saw one of the biggest smiles on the farm belonging to Steven Keiper, a 45-yearold Williston resident, who the regulars call Farmer Steve.

He started working on the farm cutting sunflowers in 2021 and soon fell in love with 27 acres of the 10-foot-tall plants.

“When I tell you how awesome it was — the whole thing was sunflowers,” Keiper said.

“It was just yellow. You could feel it.”

Keiper moved to Williston a year ago after deciding Gainesville city life was not for him.

Downtown made him uncomfortable, Keiper said, and he now calls Red, White and Blues Farm his spiritual retreat.

He said the set up for the Peach Festival looked like a dream come true.

Rachel Eloy, a 19-year-old UF neuroscience and women’s studies junior, and Radha Seemongal, a 20-year-old UF applied physiology and kinesiology junior, followed dirt roads deep into rural Levy County.

“This is one of my first times driving through the countryside,” Eloy said.

“It wasn’t that bumpy — some of the Gainesville roads by UF were definitely worse.”

Namari Lock // Alligator Staff

Steven Keiper stands in front of the Pumpkin Eater, a machine that gives guests a view of the peach festival at Red White and Blue Farm from 30 feet in the air, Saturday, May 28, 2022.

Seemongal said it was nice to be out in nature, disconnected from the internet. The family-like friendliness of the other guests was not something they recognized in Gainesville.

What started as a family-owned blueberry farm has become the growing grounds for sunflowers, strawberries and peaches. Stephanie Carten, the farm’s marketing manager, said they plan to throw a festival for each crop grown at the farm.

An unexpected hard freeze wiped out 95% of the farm’s peaches just weeks before the festival, she said. To make up for the lost crops, at least a ton of peaches were shipped from South Carolina and a sister farm about an hour south in Umatilla, Florida, for this weekend’s

festival.

After being sold to the larger H&A Farms, the Williston location put its focus into agritourism, aiming to keep the farm open year round.

Though some are excited for the future of Red, White and Blues Farm, others have voiced concerns with commercialization.

What was once a free entry venue has now been burdened with lines and a $5 fee.

General manager Heather Duran assured guests the general admission price is only implemented on festival days and entry will remain free every other weekend.

Red, White and Blues Farm is trying to keep the term “festival” exclusive to its crops, she said. The farm has many events planned for the upcoming seasons including a concert series. It also hosts events such as weddings, birthday parties and field trips.

After school let out Friday, Edward H. White High School juniors and Jacksonville residents Mia Benton, 16, and Cassidy Jordan, 17, traveled to Ocala so Jordan could see where Benton grew up.

Benton spent a lot of her upbringing outdoors tending to her uncle’s horses and going to farms to pick blueberries and flowers. The girls came to the Williston farm Saturday hoping for a similar experience.

Benton said the Red, White and Blues Farm felt like a memory. The two best friends agreed to make the trip a new tradition. @namari_l nlock@alligator.org

Alachua County high schools hold restrictionless graduation ceremonies Seniors did not have to wear masks across the stage for first since pandemic’s start

By Jackson Reyes Alligator Staff Writer

Alachua County high school seniors attended their graduation ceremonies, maskless and side-by-side, for the first time in two years. The county had more than twice as many COVID-19 cases during this year’s graduation week compared to last year.

High school graduation ceremonies in Alachua County did not have any COVID-19 restrictions this year, and graduates were allowed an unlimited number of guests. Though in-person ceremonies were held in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center last year, graduates were required to wear masks and were spaced for social distancing.

According to the New York Times, the daily average for new reported cases in Alachua County during the week of graduations was 70 cases per day. Last year, the daily average during graduations was 26 cases per day. In 2020, the daily average was 4 cases per day.

John Engstrom, a 21-year-old Gainesville resident, said they were wary of Alachua County lifting the restrictions for the graduations, but they attended the ceremony to see their friend’s sister graduate.

Engstrom said the pandemic’s lingering effects put those in attendance at risk, including the students graduating.

“It’s pretty terrifying to see how

many people are here without masks,” Engstrom said.

Optional masking, they said, seemed to be in line with how Alachua County has handled COVID-19.

Graduation ceremonies began May 24 and ended Friday. Buchholz, Gainesville, Eastside, Santa Fe and Newberry high school’s graduations were held in the O’Connell Center.

PAM at Loften High School and Hawthorne High School’s ceremonies were held in the Phillips Center for Performing Arts.

Melanie Feltoon, a senior event coordinator for the O’Connell Center, would not comment on if there was any extra security in wake of the recent school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. Standard guidelines prohibited noisemakers and all weapons from the event. Metal detectors were also used.

Knekeysha Graham, a 39-yearold stepparent of a Gainesville High School graduate, said she was comfortable with a maskless ceremony because of declining COVID-19 cases.

New daily cases in 2022 peaked at 933 Jan. 20 and dropped below triple digits with 91 on Feb. 18; they have not surpassed that number since.

Graham said she hated seeing students graduate under the stress of the pandemic. The restrictions, limited how much support students could get from family by making them pick and choose who could attend their graduations, she said.

Saniya Graham, Knekeysha’s

17-year-old stepdaughter and recent Gainesville High School graduate, said removing restrictions like a guest limit allowed her to invite everyone she wanted to watch her get her diploma.

She said she was relieved she was able to graduate with her friends without being six feet apart.

Tessa Betke, a 17-year-old recent Santa Fe High School graduate, said it was a relief to graduate without social distancing or wearing a mask.

She enjoyed having the freedom to experience the ceremony without restrictions, unlike her 20-year-old brother, Garrett Betke, who graduated from Santa Fe High School in 2020.

Garrett recalled his graduation being at Gainesville Raceway, where he drove a car around the track to accept his diploma. He said the hot weather was not ideal for sitting in the car in a cap and gown.

“Even though we weren’t so fortunate, I’m just glad that my little sister can get the graduation that she always dreamed of,” Garrett Betke said.

Josh Hewett, the 43-year-old father of recent Santa Fe graduate Madison Hewett, said he enjoyed seeing the teenagers graduate without restrictions — it was a morale boost for everyone. @JacksnReyes jacksonreyes@alligator.org

Yingquan Zhu // Alligator Staff

Two graduates congratulate each other outside of the Stephen O’Connell Center after the Santa Fe High School Commencement Ceremony Friday, May 27, 2022.

TUESDAY, MAY 31, 2022 www.alligator.org/section/the_avenue

MUSIC

Long-standing music venue closes doors once again

The Hardback Cafe fades into uncertainty after moving out of current location

by Kristine Villarroel Avenue Staff Writer

When the Hardback Cafe first closed down in January 1999, a crowd of passionate patrons gathered for a two-day concert featuring 26 bands. Images of broken windows, fire-breathing anarchists and police officers on horses painted a picture for many to remember — and many others to hear stories about.

In its 30-year lifespan, the venue, owned and led by retired attorney Alan Bushnell, outlived a 15-year-long hiatus, two relocations and a pandemic, all while fostering a close-knit community where human expression thrives.

Patrons talk devotedly of the venue’s impact on the people surrounding it and the memories they have made there.

Perseverance and community support made the Hardback survive, but building lease and repair complications pushed it out again.

On May 25, it closed its doors again. Its community — reminiscent of one that gathered in 1999 — gathered again, this time for an eclectic event. Musicians, artists, speakers and patrons attended an open mic show performed in the style of a church service; Reverend Angel Dust’s Tabernacle of Hedonism served as the venue’s send off.

The venue closed a chapter right as live music hit a post-pandemic high. That irony isn’t lost on Bushnell.

While restaurants closed their indoor dining areas at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Bushnell kept the space alive by selling eggs and milk outside of the venue’s small front porch.

He had a refrigerator and a business license that allowed curbside sales, so he made it happen.

“I’ve become a master at surviving and functioning with the minimum,” Bushnell said. “That’s, I guess, my art.”

While talking on the venue’s porch, a musician friendly to the venue rode by on a bicycle and approached Bushnell and Miller.

“We’re doing an interview with the Alligator about the recent final

days,” Bushnell said to him.

“The latest final days,” Miller said. “Hardback is forever.”

A place for community

The Hardback embodied the doit-yourself spirit of the Gainesville music scene. It stood on the pillars of diversity, free expression, originality and resourcefulness.

“No matter what your act is, you’re going to get some love there,” Debra Fetzer, frontwoman of punk band Piss Test, said.

From its landmark punk rock, hardcore and metal; to country, hip hop, electronic and folk music, Bushnell made it a mission to give a stage to all musicians who come to his door.

Inside the dark main room, performers brought life and vibrance to the stage. Outside, a crowd gathered between performers, interacting and connecting with one another. Between couches arranged in conversational layouts facing the stage, unconventional decorations and more eccentric artifacts, the venue’s layout had a living room feel that made every show, no matter how big, feel like a house show.

“It’s a beautiful symbiosis,” Miller said. “It’s not about a band being onstage in front of an audience, it’s about a community coming together to interact in creative ways.”

Twenty-four-year-old Adam Leme fell into those couches’ open seats after he moved to Gainesville in 2016.

He recalled feeling swept up in the shared energy that drew a likeminded crowd to the space, and he experienced that characteristic openness from the stage when he started playing there.

During his first show with the band Ra’sbry, Leme said Bushnell stepped in to fix technical sound issues in the middle of the set. To him, this exemplified the type of environment the venue created for new performers. Bushnell wasn’t just running the sound: he was looking out for the acts and helping them sound their best.

People like Miller turn to the Hardback as an escape from an otherwise overwhelming world. To him, the strength found in the artis-

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tic rawness being performed contrasted a highly-corporate world that has strayed away from human values of community and expression.

“This is like an oasis of peace and love even if somebody’s throwing a guitar off the stage,” Miller said.

A generation’s home

Described by Alligator reporter Jenny Williams as “the bastard child of downtown Gainesville” in 1999, the venue gave a flawed but beloved home to the vibrant 1990s punk scene.

Bushnell founded the Hardback in 1989 after law enforcement started a city-wide movement to shut down house parties — where the punk community had existed up to that point.

The original location, where Boca Fiesta, the Backyard and Palominos now sit, wasn’t a perfect venue. The building wasn’t well maintained, and by the late ‘90s, the ceiling was held together by duct tape. But with a new space to exist, the community made the venue their own.

“The Hardback succeeded because there were no places for bands to play anymore,” Bushnell said.

Bushnell sold the business to Matt Sweeting and Drew Demaio in summer of 1997. Under their punk-enthusiastic management, the venue reached new heights of cultural importance in the scene.

However, the change proved to be short-lived.

Investors bought the building, located in the heart of Gainesville’s downtown, and resolved to replace the Hardback’s space with commercially friendly businesses.

It was effectively the end of the Hardback as 1999 Gainesville knew it. So patrons went all out.

Twenty-six bands played in a two-day pseudo-festival, with venue regulars like Hot Water Music, Radon and Assholeparade performing their farewells.

The closure of the original Hardback was dramatized and mystified through oral tradition as it was passed from person to person.

Some think of the farewell show as a riot, but Miller, who hosted it, denied that.

Yingquan Zhu // Alligator Staff

Two girls hug while listening to the band Heart Prevails at the Hardback Cafe’s closing party on Saturday, May 14, 2022.

“The last day wasn’t a riot, [there were] police on horses, that’s true,” Miller said. “That’s what made it look like a riot.”

“The last day” ended with the passionate patrons breaking windows, smashing beer bottles, blowing fire into the night sky and effectively tearing down the building with their bare hands.

No arrests were made and no one was injured — it was simply a passionate display of a memorial service for a beloved space.

While he admires the notorious farewell, Bushnell hoped the recent closure wouldn’t mimic it. “​​Our last day is not going to be that,” Bushnell said. “I want my security deposit back.”

The Hardback’s legacy nearly became an urban myth during its 15-year hiatus.

For years, newcomers assumed the venue still lived, as Matt Walker noticed while teaching a class at UF on his book “Gainesville Punk: A History of Bands & Music”.

“People still talked about it,” Walker said. “It never went out of the consciousness of the local music community.”

In 2016, Bushnell reopened the Hardback on 211 West University Avenue, and the community that had been built around it promptly returned.

It moved to its current location, in the area near downtown dubbed “Undertown” by some locals, on 920 NW 2nd Street in 2019. Again, the community followed.

building, the complications eventually caught up to the venue, and Bushnell decided to close it down once again.

To the community surrounding the venue, the closure is a reflection of a city-wide trend: rising rent prices and new developments take up city resources and push longstanding local businesses out of the frame.

Miller sees it as real estate developers “taking a big turd on Gainesville, and wherever a flower can grow, it may pop up around the periphery.”

While trying to find a place to relocate, Bushnell has faced the competitive real estate market in the city.

He says that whenever he looks at a space, it’s either needing intensive repairs or unaffordable. He’s not yet found a suitable successor to the Undertown location.

Even with these roadblocks, Walker doesn’t see the community going anywhere anytime soon. The author has seen how the scene regroups, reshapes and continues to survive.

“You might not know where it’s going to pop up next, but it will keep existing,” he said. “There’s always going to be people who are there to create.”

As the Hardback goes into an indefinite hibernation, the community won’t hold its breath. Wherever it might happen, the people will use their resources as they always have and will find, or create, new spaces to exist and interact in the creative ways the Hardback has always welcomed. @ktnedelvalle kvillarroel@alligator.org

A flower in the turd

Facing lease conflicts and a faulty

NCAA Regionals return to Gainesville this weekend

Florida advanced all the way to the SEC Tournament final in Alabama, rewarded with host regional. Read more on pg. 11.

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ANSWERS: 1A-Chapel 5A-Wound 6A-Nurse 7A-Aspect 1D-Coward 2D-Alumnus 3D-Endorse 4D-Forest B-Snow leopard

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Release Date: Tuesday, May 31, 2022 Release Date: Tuesday, May 24, 2022

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13

TUESDAY, MAY 31, 2022 www.alligator.org/section/sports

BASEBALL

Gators to host regional after SEC Tournament run UF bullpen carries postseason play back to Condron Ballpark for second consecutive season

By Carson Cashion Sports Writer

HOOVER, Ala. — The road to hosting an NCAA Regional in Gainesville was filled with more potholes and cracks than a UF construction site.

The Gators’ Southeastern Conference record sat at 6-12 April 24, putting their chances of making the tournament, let alone hosting a regional, into question. The team rallied, rattling off nine wins in 12 conference games to end the season.

The SEC Tournament would be the final chance to assert themselves as worthy of a hosting placement, but even the trip to Hoover was not perfect.

After a 10-0 beatdown at the hands of the No. 2-seed Texas A&M Aggies Thursday, Florida faced three straight elimination games that would forecast the team’s regional fate. The Gators from early April, who at one point had lost eight of 12 conference games, would’ve more than likely folded after that kind of loss to the Aggies.

Instead, they kickstarted a threegame winning streak that sent the No. 7-seed Gators to the tournament final. Despite a beat-down at the hands of the No. 1-ranked Tennessee Volunteers in the tournament finale Sunday, Florida was awarded a home regional.

Head coach Kevin O’Sullivan emphasized the talent, albeit inexperience, of the pitching corps

all year. After sophomore ace Hunter Barco was ruled out for the remainder of the year due to Tommy John surgery, the depth of the highly touted recruiting class was put to the test the remainder of the year.

The week was a barometer of the team’s bullpen.

UF’s top two pitchers, sophomore Brandon Sproat and freshman Brandon Neely, were used before the elimination games began.

Florida’s chances to host a regional were in the hands of unlikely faces.

Redshirt junior Nick Pogue, who battled inconsistency as he recovered from his Tommy John surgery, allowed just two runs in five innings against No. 3-seed Razorbacks Friday.

Saturday morning, against the red-hot Crimson Tide, redshirt freshman Nick Ficarrotta iced the game with 6.1 scoreless frames, setting up a do-over date with the No. 2-seed Aggies.

Sophomore Timmy Manning saw his first competitive game since April 5 against Texas A&M. The lefty rebounded from this season’s subpar outings and worked five scoreless frames in the semifinal against the No. 5 team in the country.

If anyone at Hoover Metropolitan Complex saw that coming, they should play the lottery.

The tournament-finale blowout at the hands of Tennessee was a disappointing end to the run, of

course, but a demoralizing loss from the Volunteers is hardly out of the ordinary; entering Sunday’s final, the nation’s top team outscored opponents 27-5 in the tournament.

UF entered the tournament with an inoffensive 15-15 conference record. The Gators turned that into an aggregate record of 19-17: the kind of record that allows a ballclub to host a national tournament.

Mere hours after the team loaded the buses and headed back to Gainesville, Florida was announced as the No. 13 national seed and one of 16 teams hosting a regional.

Oklahoma, Liberty and Central

Michigan will make the trip to the Sunshine State as play begins Friday afternoon.

The 2022 Gator baseball season was akin to a “Final Destination” kind of roller coaster that goes off the rails, yet lands on a soft pillow and is granted an NCAA Regional.

“We had so many guys that didn’t really have a lot of positive contributions to the season on the field, they got their chance today,” junior catcher BT Riopelle said.

“In the last couple of days

they really made the most of their opportunities and we’re really excited about them moving forward.”

In spite of the loss to the Vols, Florida appears to be playing its best baseball at the right time with 16 wins in its last 21 games, and that is just what every team wants heading into postseason play.

The Gators have the deepest caverns of their bullpen to thank. @CarsonCashion ccashion@alligator.org

Softball topples Tech SOFTBALL, from pg. 1 also persevered through a three-week stretch of games without fifth year infielder Hannah Adams after a hand injury kept her out of the lineup.

UF’s late season performance catapulted it into contention.Florida now prepares to face the best teams in the nation on the biggest stage for collegiate softball at the Women’s College World Series June 2-10.

The other seven teams making the trip to the WCWS are the Oklahoma Sooners, Texas Longhorns, UCLA Bruins, Northwestern Wildcats, Oregon State Beavers, Arizona Wildcats and Oklahoma State Cowgirls.

The Gators first taste of action on the diamond will be against Oregon State Thursday. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN. @bogle_brenda bbrenda@alligator.org alligatorSports has a podcast!

The alligatorSports Podcast releases episodes every Wednesday and can be streamed on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or your other preferred streaming platform.

Grethel Aguila // Alligator Staff

Florida's Brandon Sproat pitches against Jacksonville on March 13, 2021. Sproat pitched 8.1 innings Tuesday in Florida's 2-1 win over South Carolina.

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12 ALLIGATOR TUESDAY, MAY 31, 2022

MEN’S TENNIS

Ben Shelton wins NCAA singles championship The sophomore sensation became Florida’s second consecutive champion

By Brenda Bogle

in a celebratory hug. His father, Florida head coach Bryan Shelton, trailed behind. The Buchholz High School product grinned over his father’s shoulder as he soaked the moment.

Sports Writer

Florida sophomore Ben Shelton held a 5-2 lead in the third set of the singles championship match.

The No. 2-ranked player and current SEC player of the year was on the verge of greatness, about to secure the national title.

Shelton calmly delivered a powerful serve. San Diego redshirt senior August Holmgren countered quickly, playing the ball back to Shelton’s court.

Shelton jumped at the chance to end the match. He placed the ball just out of Holmgren’s reach to capture the 2022 Division I singles title.

The match was anything but comfortable. Shelton lost the first set 4-6, before he took an early 3-1 lead in the second set. Shelton kept Holmgren at bay for the remainder of the contest, ultimately winning 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Shelton pumped his fist and shook hands with Holmgren before volunteer assistant coach Scott Perelman embraced him

senior Axel Nefve 6-0, 7-6 (7-1) in the first two rounds of play.

The sophomore kept it rolling, overcoming Ohio State sophomore JJ Tracy 6-4, 6-4 and Stanford sophomore Arthur Fery 6-3, 6-4.

His Final Four performance ultimately punched his ticket to the finals. Shelton executed an impressive comeback to eliminate Tennessee graduate student Adam Walton 6-7 (3), 6-3, 7-5.

His display of toughness mirrored teammate Sam Riffice’s performance a year ago. The Gators’ top doubles pair now individually hold back-to-back singles titles. Riffice won the program’s third NCAA singles crown last season.

Riffice put up a formidable showing as the reigning singles champion, advancing to the Final Four alongside his teammate.

An all-Florida final wouldn’t materialize, however, as the veteran did not outlast Holmgren, who advanced to the final 6-7, 6-4, 6-2, to leave one Gator standing.

Shelton and Riffice vied

“I’m just really proud of him today with the way that he competed,” Bryan said. “He never lost his resolve even after losing the first set, he just continued to get better as the match progressed.”

Following the win, the newly crowned champion marveled at Holmgren’s talent.

“To be able to beat a player like [Holmgren] and come out on top, it’s really special,” Shelton said.

“I’m glad that I got to do it with a lot of my family here, my dad on the court with me, our great coaches and my teammate Sam on the sidelines cheering for me.”

Shelton battled his way to the title match against Holmgren. He defeated Michigan junior Ondrej Styler 7-5, 6-2 and Notre Dame

Faith Buckley // Alligator Staff

Ben Shelton, pictured in a Feb. 2021 match against Auburn, captured the NCAA Division I singles national championship Saturday. for a doubles title in addition to their individual quest, but their run came to an end in the quarterfinals, falling to Texas redshirt sophomore Cleeve Harper and senior Richard Ciamarra 7-5, 6-2.

Shelton becomes just the fourth

singles champion from Florida and qualifies for a Wild Card bid into the 2022 U.S. Open Main Draw. @bogle_brenda bbrenda@alligator.org

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