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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2021

VOLUME 115 ISSUE 19

Published by Campus Communications, Inc. of Gainesville, Florida

Not officially associated with the University of Florida

Student Government working to address traffic safety RESOLUTIONS PASSED ADDRESSING TRAFFIC SAFETY AND HONORING UF STUDENTS LOST IN RECENT CAR CRASHES

By Carolina Ilvento Alligator Staff Writer

Following the tragic loss of three UF community members to traffic crashes over the past two months, UF Student Government is planning traffic safety projects with the university and local and state governments. On Jan. 26, Senate unanimously passed three resolutions on traffic safety and Senator Zachery Utt (Murphree, Inspire) announced an update on his traffic safety course project. Student Body President Trevor Pope also said he plans to work with the Executive Branch to advocate for traffic safety. All the pieces passed demonstrate the Senate’s acknowledgment of and attention to the situation, but they do not specify plans of action. By definition, resolutions are an expression of the Senate’s sentiments on behalf of the Student Body. One of the resolutions com-

memorates the lives of Margaret Paxton and Sophia Lambert, 18-year-old UF students who died one month apart on West University Avenue. The other two demand officials take measures toward various traffic safety projects. The first traffic safety resolution, the School Zone Safety Act, advocates for the implementation of a school zone speed limit and installation of flashing traffic beacons on University Avenue, from Northwest 13th Street to Gale Lemerand Drive. Judiciary Chairman Franco Luis wrote in an email the authors of the bill reviewed Florida State Statutes to ensure the legislation was coherent with the statutes. He wrote he based the legislation on a definition found in the statutes stating the term “school” includes postsecondary schools. However, this comes from an excerpt of the definition of “school buses” and it is still unclear if the definition above applies to the university scenario. The school safety zones statute states a school safety zone must be within 500 feet of a property “used for elementary, middle, or

SEE SG TRAFFIC, PAGE 4

Remembering Judge Stephan Mickle: UF’s first Black undergrad alumnus MICKLE DIED OF CANCER ON TUESDAY AT 76 YEARS OLD

By Alan Halaly Alligator Staff Writer

After spending more than 30 years working as a judicial assistant for Judge Stephan Mickle, Rebecca Butler struggled to put into words what he meant to her and others who adored him. As three decades of memories washed over her, she recounted the day they met in 1983 during her job interview when Mickle was an Alachua County judge. She said he was calm and humble. He hired her on the spot. “He was a gentle giant,” Butler, 66, said. “He’s molded and shaped my life in many ways. I will always be grateful for his

SPORTS/SPECIAL/CUTOUT Bye Becky

wisdom and guidance.” Mickle, the first Black student to earn an undergraduate degree from UF in 1965, died of cancer Tuesday. He was 76. He began his college career at Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach before transferring to UF in 1962. W. George Allen, who then went on to be the first Black graduate of UF Levin College of Law, ultimately convinced him to transfer. Being among the first seven Black students to attend UF was not an easy feat for Mickle, and he struggled to find a sense of belonging. “I remember discussing with my father whether I should put a Florida sticker on our car for fear that some redneck or racist

After 26 Story description years coaching finish with the comma, Gators, pg# soccer head coach Becky Burleigh announced she will retire at the end of the season, pg. 12

SEE JUDGE, PAGE 5

Chasity Maynard // Alligator Staff

John Smith, 40, helps plant strawberries on Saturday, Jan. 23, 2021 at the Gainesville Opportunity Center. More than twenty volunteers helped the Gainesville Opportunity Center, a mental health awareness organization, with new landscaping, including a new butterfly garden at the entrance.

Sustaining UF professor Charles Kibert’s legacy KIBERT DIED JAN. 25 AT 73 AFTER A CAR CRASH ON WEST UNIVERSITY AVENUE

By Sofia Echeverry Alligator Staff Writer

Charles Kibert was always in command of his classroom. He had a military background that reflected in his teaching style. As someone who was always punctual and focused, he expected students to have their thoughts organized when they came to talk to him. “He was always the smartest person in the room,” Kevin Bennett, one of Kibert’s graduate students in 2010, said. Kibert, a UF construction management professor who worked at the university for 31 years, died Jan. 25 after a car crash on West University Avenue. He was 73. Kibert was a Holland professor in the M.E. Rinker Sr. School of Construction Management and the director of the Powell Center for Construction and Environment.

Holland professors are named and chosen within the School of Construction Management; most faculty Kibert who receive the title are long-standing members of the school and professors marked highly in their evaluations by the Rinker School Director. Kibert was born in Pennsylvania as the oldest of six children. At 4 years old, he began to live at Our Lady of Fatima Institute, an orphanage in Elmhurst, Pennsylvania. After graduating from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1969, he was commissioned as an infantry second lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He served in the Vietnam War first as an airborne ranger, then in the U.S. Army Reserves as a special forces officer before retiring as a colonel. Robert Cox, the current Rinker School director, said Kibert

Black-owned beauty businesses

Three Gainesville Black-owned beauty businesses, pg. 6

Gainesville’s First Black Fire Chief

Joseph Dixon was selected as the first permanent fire chief, pg. 8

could change the energy of a room simply by walking into it. Once, when he and Kibert taught a professional development seminar together, the premise was a simulated Department of Defense project. The colleagues wanted to inspire the crowd before the seminar, so Kibert put his uniform to use once more. “Charles shows up at the first meeting with these people in his colonel uniform, and he talks to the group, gives them the charge,” Cox said. “You could’ve heard the national anthem in the background once he came in.” Cox recalled Kiberts’ closing line at the seminar: “I think he told everybody his helicopter was waiting.” Kibert was not only a mentor but a big brother to him, Cox said from Kibert’s old office. Cox’s own office was next door at the time. “You know that it’s someone you’ll never ever replace, but we have to do the best we can

SEE PROFESSOR, PAGE 4