Monday, Oct. 3, 2022

Gainesville looks to aid Southwest Florida families in Ian’s wake

FAMILIES SAW UPROOTED TREES, FLOODED STREETS

By Alissa Gary & Aidan Bush Alligator Staff Writers

Carolina Boitel’s hometown was underwater — local restaurants were flooded, cars were submerged and trees were uprooted.

The 19-year-old UF computer science sophomore is from Fort My ers, one of the Southwest Florida cities primarily destroyed by Hur ricane Ian. She lost contact with her family in the evening Sept. 27, so she resorted to scanning news stations and social media from her apartment in Gainesville.

“It’s just devastating seeing your hometown completely under ruins, submerged underwater, and you’re 300 miles away, and there’s nothing you can do about it,” Boitel said.

While Gainesville students and residents alike felt only indirect ef fects from the storm, many have families further south who wit

Editorial

nessed the full extent of the disas ter. The state has seen more than 70 deaths in Ian’s wake, according to a Saturday Miami Herald report.

The death toll has been high est in Charlotte, Lee, Sarasota and Volusia counties.

The UF community has mobi lized to provide material and finan cial support to the affected areas, some organizing food and item drives and others sending rescue groups to Southwest Florida. Boi tel’s family was safe and only saw power outages, uprooted trees and debris fall on their yard. Others saw more severe effects like extensive flooding from rain and storm surge.

“It's just really frustrating and heartbreaking, especially just not being able to be there,” Boitel said.

“During a time like this is when I’d most want to be with my family.”

Although Allison Skolmutch, a 20-year-old UF business manage ment junior, knew the hurricane was headed toward the state. She

Have you been impacted by the overturn of Roe v. Wade?

As The Alligator gets ready to launch a forthcoming project on the local im pact of Roe v. Wade’s reversal, we’re asking for your help. Students and Gainesville residents, we want to hear from you.

Whether you’re outraged at the decision or side with the Supreme Court, your perspective is vital to helping our reporters understand how Gainesville feels about the decision.

We’re looking for people with a wide variety of experiences including people who have had abortions, people who have considered an abortion but went through with having a child, people who have gotten pregnant in college, impacted medical professionals, young people who hold an antiabortion perspective and more.

Our paper has its own long, storied history with the issue — it was a 1971 insert of abortion providers that caused the chain reaction leading to our independence from UF. We felt it was our responsibility to tell people’s stories on the issue again.

The Alligator welcomes all perspectives. Our main ask is that we have an opportunity

SPORTS/SPECIAL/CUTOUT

Richardson and Kitna air it out

Story description finish with comma, pg#

The quarterbacks both saw plenty of action against Eastern Washington. Read more on pg. 14

Gainesville left mostly unscathed after hurricane

City saw less than 1 inch of rain

By Fernando Figueroa Alligator Staff Writer

Edna Hamilton was watching TV and eating a Wendy’s chicken sandwich when a three-foot wide, 75-foot tall oak tree thundered down on her Gainesville home, sending a 15-foot branch through the roof of her living room.

Hurricane Ian sideswept Gainesville on the afternoon of Sept. 28, causing gusts that toppled the tree. It crushed her carport, shattering the windows of her 2002 Honda Accord and blocking her front door.

When Hamilton, the 79-year-old retiree, stepped out the back door to assess the damage, she didn’t see the downed power

lines tangled in the tree and stepped right over them. Hamilton’s neighbor, who was sitting in her car and heard the crash, immediately alerted her of the live wires and told her to stop moving. The neighbor then gave her a jacket and blanket to stay warm, said Kathy Rhea, Hamilton’s cousin.

“She's 79 years old and suddenly homeless,” Rhea said. “She's scared to

Federal student loan relief plan limits eligibility, faces legal backlash

NO EXACT APPLICATION LAUNCH DATE HAS BEEN SET

By Heather Bushman Alligator Staff Writer

Just ahead of the application period, access to sweeping nation wide student debt relief is now narrow at best and nonexistent at worst.

The White House announced Sept. 29 its debt forgiveness plan will no longer apply to around 770,000 private loan borrowers, even if the loans are guaranteed by the federal government. The change came on the same day six states filed a joint lawsuit against the Biden administration to block the plan.

President Joe Biden proposed up to $20,000 in forgiveness for borrowers who make less than $125,000 annually and received a

Voting access issues persists as election draws near Minority voter turnout continues to lag behind that of white voters, pg. 5

Pride Community Center plans festival return

The festival went on a temporary hiatus due to COVID-19, pg. 9

Pell Grant — a program awarding college funding to students with exceptional financial need — in August. Borrowers who make less than $125,000 annually but didn’t receive a Pell Grant would be eligible for up to $10,000 in relief, per the plan.

Biden’s administration hasn’t yet opened or released any specif ics of the application, but it has detailed steps borrowers can take to check their eligibility and prepare to apply.

Jazmin Sanders, a 26-year-old manager at a cybersecurity com pany and Gainesville resident, is eligible for the full $20,000 in re lief as a Pell Grant recipient. The plan reduces some of the $30,000 in debt she accumulated through federal loans she used to attend UF, save for one she took out privately.

After years of hearing about possible loan forgiveness, Sanders said she’s glad to see some action toward climbing student debt,

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Rae Riiska // Alligator Staff

Gainesville Regional Utilities surveys a power line after a downed tree cut power to residents Wednesday, Sep. 28, 2022.

Funding changes prompt worry from UF clubs

Senate vote pushed back

By Claire Grunewald Alligator Staff Writer

With the strike of a gavel, the Sept. 27 UF Senate meeting was adjourned after about 15 minutes. The Reitz Auditorium erupted in cheers from more than 100 UF students, who attended in protest of the bill that could reduce club funding.

UF students are still advocating for their organizations in an ongoing conflict with the university and Student Government after the Senate vote on a bill that allocates funds was pushed back.

After recent organization classification changes over summer from the university, SG set out to revise allocated funding codes for organizations. The revisions, which may cause funding decreases for various organizations, were originally scheduled to be voted on at the Sept. 27 Student Senate meeting.

Leading up to the Senate meeting, 60 representatives of student organizations registered to speak on the bill during the public forum.

However, the Senate didn’t meet quorum, with only 26 senators attending. Despite low attendance from senators, more than one hundred students showed up to express support for student organizations. Some students believe quorum wasn’t met because of the high attendance rate from students. The Senate will now vote on the bill at the next meeting Oct. 11.

Organization representatives left the meeting in high hopes because they now have more time to fight for funding.

David Delgado, a 20-year-old aerospace engineering junior, is the president of the UF Liquid Propulsion Development Team, an organization potentially impacted by

the bill’s revisions. Delgado has been fighting for the future of his team the past week and was happy with the outcome of the previous Senate meeting.

“We heard earlier in the day that [the Senate] had received so many public comments that senators were saying ‘I’m not going to show up,’” Delgado said. “So, we felt like that was a pretty strong win.”

Effective July 1, student organizations are now classified as either General Registered Student Organizations or University Sponsored Student Organizations, according to UF Student Activities and Involvement. Along with this change in classification, there could be changes to the amount of funds and resources certain organizations receive.

Senators will read the bill for a second time at the Oct. 11 Senate meeting. The bill is meant to revise SG codes to match UF Student Activities and Involvement regulations, which state GRSOs can receive funding from SG but no support from university departments. USSOs cannot request funds from SG but can use resources and funds from university departments.

Prior to the classification change, most organizations were classified as registered student organizations. Comparable to GRSOs, RSOs organizations could receive SG funding and weren’t considered university entities; however, most of these organizations still used university resources, such as using classroom space, while receiving SG money.

The updated bill language is to match with UF SAI and to match, classify and clarify all of the classifications of organizations on campus, said Budget and Appropriations Chairwoman Catherine Giordano (Gator-District A) at the Sept. 20 Senate meeting.

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Gator officials didn’t respond to multiple requests from The Alligator for comment as of Sunday.

The bill is also intended to prevent organizations from using double the resources they’re allocated. If the bill is passed, critics say many student organizations will lose most of their funding and resources starting Spring 2023. This could eventually result in organizations disbanding.

Some student leaders and senators were confused about the state of their organizations from the alleged lack of transparency and communication from the university and SG. Faith Corbett, Change Party Senate caucus leader, and her party originally had no idea what the bill entailed due to a lack of communication, said Corbett.

“I think [the situation] points to a lack of transparency and a lack of communicative efforts between student government organizations, student government entities and other organizations,” Corbett said.

Marginalized organizations and smaller organizations on campus haven't been given the same information or the same insight that it seems like leading organizations have, Corbett said.

Students plan to continue to advocate for the futures of their organizations by speaking to UF officials and speaking at the next Senate meeting. The meeting will be held Oct. 11 at 6:30 p.m. in the Reitz Union in the Senate Chamber.

@grunewaldclaire cgrunewald@alligator.org

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The UF Student Senate meets in the Senate Chamber of the Reitz Union Tuesday, June 7, 2022.

Local groups send help

operations. Thankfully, she said no person or animal was injured by the storm.

ty received a massive wave of calls. It caused students and families to wait for significantly long periods of time for any response.

carried on Sept. 26 and 27 as usual, attending the career fair and going to classes.

She hadn’t expected the storm to grow to a Category 4 — it wasn’t until Sept. 27, she said, that she re alized its strength.

Even more, she didn’t expect it to head toward her family in Fort Myers.

“I've never seen anything like this happen to my town before,” Skolmutch said. “That's my home town. I know this area. I grew up in this area. And now it's all under water.”

Skolmutch has fond childhood memories of family trips to Fort Myers Beach and Sanibel Island, which she described as a beautiful beach town. Her family has lived in the same house in inland Fort My ers her whole life. Luckily, she said, their home didn’t flood; they only saw power outages that made con tacting each other more difficult.

“It just doesn't seem real to me,” Skolmutch said. “I still in my mind feel like I'm going to go back home for Thanksgiving and all those beaches are still going to be as they are. But in reality, I know it's going to probably take a while for them to recover.”

University centers and farms through the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences across the state also sustained damages.

The Range Cattle Research and Education Center, located about an hour inland from Sarasota, saw heavy flooding, with students, fac ulty and animals still trapped in the area, said Jeanna Mastrodicasa, IFAS associate vice president for

It wasn’t until Sept. 30 — three days after Ian first made landfall — that IFAS was able to contact the center. After some storm water receded Sept. 30, a rescue group brought the center a satellite-pow ered phone to facilitate communica tion back to Gainesville.

After decades of dealing with hurricane aftermath, IFAS has learned texting is the most efficient and reliable way to contact affected areas, Mastrodicasa said.

“It was scary,” Mastrodicasa said. “We just had to wait and see. There was so much rain and such a slow moving storm that a lot of places you just couldn't reach.”

IFAS deployed groups from Gainesville and other central Florida locations to the Range Cattle Center to aid in recovery and cleanup, she said. Although she couldn’t esti mate the cost of damages yet, Mast rodicasa said recovery may be slow due to lack of supplies and time for insurance reimbursements to apply.

“We did our best to be ready,” Mastrodicasa said. “We were ready. And now we're ready to respond.”

As UF students became increas ingly concerned regarding the hur ricane’s impact on their classes, the university activated its Crisis Phone Bank — a line where students with families near direct impact of the storm could ask questions about the university’s handling of the hurri cane. UF also created an extra line to deal with a high expected volume of callers.

UF spokesperson Cynthia Roldan said the additional line was integral to fielding questions as the universi

night for most

death, and she's terrified of the thought of having to rebuild.”

A neighbor gave Hamilton a chair, and she sat outside her home for an hour waiting for Gainesville Regional Utilities to turn off the electricity in the neighborhood so that she could be safely removed from her property by fire rescue.

Aside from severe cases like Hamilton’s, the hurricane had a minimal impact on the county. People in the northwest part of Alachua County might not even have known there was a storm.

Hamilton moved into the Stephen Foster Neighborhood in Gainesville with her mother and stepfather in the ’60s, Rhea said. Whoever built her home funneled cement between the gaps in the brick as reinforcement, helping it outlast Florida’s turbulent subtropical climate. The house, built long before Florida’s strict building codes were implemented, survived Hurricane Matthew in 2016 and Irma in 2017.

But the city was prepared for the storm.

Mayor Lauren Poe signed a local state of emergency Sept. 26. By Sept. 28, the city had distributed more than 32,000 sandbags and activated its Emergency Operations Center, city spokesperson Rossana Passaniti said.

In an alert sent out on the night of Sept. 26, UF announced it would cancel classes beginning Sept. 28.

“It's an assist for us to be able to help the community reach the infor mation faster,” Roldan said.

Other campus organizations have organized relief efforts in the form of food and material drives.

Jewish Gators, the UF branch of Lubavitch Chabad, collected gen erators, non-perishable food items, toys and other donations for affect ed families in Central and South west Florida. Student volunteers on the Jewish Gator student board drove the materials to affected areas Sept. 30, Rabbi Berl Goldman said.

Chabad also opened its doors for those who needed shelter and meals during the hurricane. Gold man said he sees the recovery effort as collaboration between people of all faiths in aiding those affected by the hurricane.

“I am continually impressed and empowered and inspired by the random acts of generosity, caring in every way by every type of person,” Goldman said. “The human spirit and soul and kindness is amazing.”

Gainesville Fire Rescue deployed its regional task force, which is trained to make it through flood ing, debris and destroyed areas, to Southwest Florida, too. The team’s goal is to search, rescue and provide care for individuals trapped by de struction.

Assistant Chief David Sutton said Gaineville’s group, named Task Force 8, has conducted search and rescues for similar disasters in the past, including the collapse of a condo building in Surfside in June 2021.

“We're proud that we have those individuals that have acquired that training in our department so that we can be part of the rescue ef

forts,” Sutton said.

For those unable to evacuate, such efforts help damaged commu nities rebuild following the wake of the hurricane.

Cole Erickson, a 19-year-old UF international studies sophomore, said his family in Alva, Florida, ex perienced similar issues. Their prop erty had fallen trees, water damage, damage to their pool enclosure and power outages.

However, evacuation was dif ficult, both because of the family’s German Shepherd dog and how late-noticed the hurricane’s change in direction was.

“A large part of it also has to do with how unpredicted it was,” Er ickson said. “People didn’t really have that much time to prepare.”

Sutton advised students to pre

The university received backlash for not canceling Sept. 27 classes, which affected some students’ hurricane preparation plans. Alachua County Public Schools and Santa Fe College announced Sept. 27 they would cancel classes from Sept. 28 to Sept. 30.

While forecasts predicted up to 18 inches of rain and 58 to 74 mph wind speeds in Alachua County, the reality was much tamer. Gainesville saw less than an inch of rain and wind speeds not exceeding tropical storm strength, said Jeff George, UF chief meteorologist and director of the Florida Public Radio Emergency Network.

Ian’s eye missed Alachua by about 80 to 90 miles, but its outer rain bands began hovering above the county at around 5 p.m. Sept. 28 and stayed until 2 p.m. Sept. 29, George said.

However, more than 18% of GRU customers lost power during the storm, said GRU spokesperson David Warm. Most of the outages were caused by wind, he said, but all homes had their power restored by 1 a.m. Sept. 30.

Some businesses saw the power outages as an opportunity to help their community where they could. Sweet Dreams Homemade Ice Cream, located at 1522 NW 13th St., invited people without power to use its empty freezer pace to store perishables.

The owners of Sweet Dreams kept their business open during hurricanes in the past because they couldn't afford to close, said 20-year-old ice cream scooper and owner’s son Jack Manfredi. Staying open paid off, he said.

The idea of providing customers with a place to escape and occupy their minds during catastrophes carried onto this year’s hurricane, Manfredi said.

pare themselves for future storms by following evacuation orders and stocking up on supplies if they’re expecting a direct hit. He also said it’s important not to visit damaged sites until it’s completely safe to do so.

“The first step is do everything you can to not be in the position where you need to be rescued from your home,” Sutton said.

To support those affected by the hurricane, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Red Cross and Volunteer Florida are accept ing donations and volunteers at this time.

@AlissaGary1 agary@alligator.org @aidandisto abush@alligator.org

Sweet Dreams’ power didn’t flicker during the entire 21 hours the storm spent over Gainesville.

Still, David Prevatt, UF professor of civil and coastal engineering, said residents should start preparing for hurricanes long term.

“That operation takes not just weeks, not just months, but literally decades,” he said.

Proactive preparation aims to harden homes, schools, businesses and utilities, with the goal of making them more resilient to hurricanes and tornadoes, he said. But much of this work tends to happen away from the public eye, leading to a disconnect between community members and the buildings they reside in.

That needs to change, Prevatt said. For a community to thrive, people need to be invested in the laws that go into housing, such as what type of materials are standard and whether those materials are robust enough to resist heavy wind loads, he said.

Many people only see resilient housing standards as a way to increase cost, but Prevatt argues this is the necessary cost of reducing long-term damage over a decade.

“Enhancing your community resilience means understanding what it means to live in a community,” Prevatt said. “That is essentially not being a stranger to your neighbors, and not being a stranger to the people in your road or your neighborhood. But understanding who they are and what their needs are.”

@fernfigue ffigueroa@alligator.org

Namari Lock // Alligator Staff

Hurricane Ian death toll continues to rise to 70 deaths as reported by The Miami Herald Saturday, Oct. 1, 2022.

Voting barriers, inequities abound as midterm elections loom

ADVOCATES CALL FOR CANDIDATE ENGAGEMENT WITH MINORITY COMMUNITIES

By Omar Ateyah Alligator Staff Writer

Shenita Blunt is concerned about the level of engagement from candidates to ward the Black community in the city.

The 55-year-old Gainesville resident and frequent voter said those running for politi cal office should do a better job in fulfilling a fundamental task: letting the historically marginalized know their vote counts.

“I’m here. Let me hear your voice,” Blunt said in reference to the message she believes candidates should convey. “Let me know what it is that you want, so we can work as a team to make it happen.”

In the absence of such engagement, Blunt argues, marginalized voters won’t feel compelled to participate in the elec toral process.

“They don’t think that anybody gonna hear them,” she said. “‘Why am I talking? They don’t come to our communities.’”

As the 2022 midterm general election grows near, data reveals racial disparities in Alachua County voter turnout. Limita tions like suppressive voting laws and con fusion surrounding the rights of those with felony convictions present further barriers across the state.

For the 2020 general election, white vot er turnout was about 78% while the figure was about 68% for Black voters in Alachua County, according to the county’s Supervi sor of Elections Office data.

Nationally, nearly 71% of white voters made their way to the polls while the fig ure was more than 62% for Black voters and around 58% for all minorities, accord ing to the Brennan Center for Justice. Black voters constitute about 17% of those reg

istered in the county despite being about 21% of the county’s population.

Similar racial gaps in turnout can be seen in other recent elections. In the 2018 midterm election, about 59% of Black vot ers made their way to the polls while about 67% of white voters did in Alachua Coun ty, according to the county’s Supervisor of Elections Office data.

In April 2021, Republican legislators in Florida passed a voting bill critics argued imposed harsh limitations on voters. The law limits ballot collections and drop offs, makes voters request absentee ballots for elections rather than receiving them auto matically and limits so-called line warm ing activities — such as food provided by groups within a radius of 150 feet from the voting location. Earlier this year, Florida passed another bill to establish an anti-vot er fraud law enforcement body. The legis lation forms an Office of Election Crimes and Security with the purpose of investi gating potential voting crimes.

Jamil Davis, Florida’s state organizing manager for Black Voters Matter, said he believes laws like that can have a psycho logical effect on voters in deciding whether to go to the polls. For the average voter, he fears such a force can serve as a deterrent to exercising their right to vote.

“It now puts me in a space of ‘will I even be arrested just for showing up to go vote?’” he said.

Earlier this year, District Judge Mark Walker ruled against provisions — includ ing voting dropbox limitations — of a 2021 law known as Senate Bill 90 on the basis they were racially discriminatory. In his ruling, Walker outlined Florida’s sordid history of racial discrimination from a 1920 lynching of a Black man who attempted to vote to 21st century voter roll purges.

However, the 11th Circuit Court of Ap peals sided with the state.

Cecile Scoon, president of the League of

No certain timeline

which totals $1.75 trillion among graduates nationwide.

“I feel like America’s finally coming around,” she said.

The provisions originally applied to borrowers who took out student loans through the federal government or had their private student loans guaranteed by the federal gov ernment. Guaranteed private loans is when the government assumes responsibility for paying 97% of the original loan amount to the private lender if the borrower is unable to do so. Now, Americans with their loans guaranteed by the fed eral government won’t see any of their debt forgiven if the loans are unconsolidated, even if they meet all other criteria.

Borrowers who planned to consolidate existing loans — or pay off a collection of loans with a single, larger loan from the federal government — were eligible for the program prior to Sept. 29. But new guidelines will only grant relief to those who applied to consolidate their loans with a federal loan prior to Sept. 29.

As it stands, those who meet the federal consolidation cri teria or took loans directly from the government are eligible for relief. That includes at least 15% of UF students who, ac cording to data from the Department of Education, took out federal loans to complete their degrees.

70 percent of UF undergraduates complete their degrees debt-free, UF spokesperson Cynthia Roldan wrote in an email. A number of those students, like Alexa Cole, chose to attend UF to ensure they fell into that category and avoided accumulating debt at other schools.

Cole, a 21-year-old UF computer engineering senior, was accepted to universities out of state as a senior in high school. But as a Boca Raton native, she qualified for in-state tuition at UF, which was covered by the Florida Prepaid program fund her parents set up for her.

Like 23,000 UF students, according to statistics from the UF Office of Student Financial Aid and Scholarships, Cole

state’s role in ensuring those who register are actually eligible, those with felony con victions can’t always verify whether they have outstanding payments.

Another problem is some felons are un aware that the nature of their crimes affect whether they can register. They aren’t in formed on the fact the change in Florida’s law doesn’t apply to sex offenders or those with murder convictions.

Women Voters of Florida — one plaintiff in the case against SB 90 — said concerns about the impact of current and historical injustices keep some voters away from the polls.

“All of those sort of present-day differ ences in treatment and historical, inten tional discrimination have flowed together so that a lot of people, Black and brown people, low-income people,” she said, “they feel like they don’t count, they can’t be seen, and they’re going to be treated un fairly.”

When voters are made aware of the connection between the people elected to office and the decisions they make that im pact them, they’re more willing to partici pate in the electoral process, Scoon said.

Another potential obstacle facing some Florida voters lies in the path of convicted felons looking to head to the polls. In 2018, about two-thirds of voters in the state ap proved an amendment to allow many con victed felons — not including those con victed of serious offenses such as murder and sexual assault — to vote once they’ve completed their sentences.

However, the Florida Legislature ap proved a law to make felons pay pend ing fines before they can vote. Despite the

also qualified for the Bright Futures scholarship. The scholar ship completely covers tuition for in-state students who earn the Florida Academic Scholars Award, which requires a 3.0 cumulative GPA.

Cole wanted to attend schools out of state, but the choice came down to cost, she said.

“I would either be $200,000 in debt or if I went to Florida — because I had prepaid and Bright Futures — I’d be able to actually have money,” Cole said.

Though the plan doesn’t apply to her, Cole said debt for giveness provides necessary relief for alumni like her cousin, a UF graduate who completed both the dental and orthodon tic program in the College of Dentistry.

“I think it was a really good decision,” she said. “There are people that really needed it.”

No certain timeline exists, but the Biden administration said applications for loan forgiveness will open within the next few weeks and close Dec. 31, 2023. The application doesn’t require any supporting documents, according to a post from the president’s Instagram account.

Borrowers are encouraged to apply before Nov. 15 so the government can approve their application before the nation al payment freeze expires at the end of the year. Biden ex tended the freeze, which pauses required monthly payments, to lessen the economic pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic and its lingering effects.

The plan would wipe away thousands of dollars in debt from some 43 million Americans — if it makes it to the other side of a federal lawsuit.

Representatives from Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and South Carolina, all GOP-controlled states, sued the Biden administration Sept. 29 for alleged harm to loan providers. The suit argues that Biden’s forgiveness incentiv izes borrowers to consolidate their loans through the federal government instead of paying them off to banks or private lenders, eliminating interest and curbing the companies’ es sential revenue sources.

Legal representatives for the states also claim the White House has no authority to waive millions of dollars in debt. Biden pointed to the 2003 Higher Education Relief Opportu nities for Students Act, which allowed the federal govern

This gap in knowledge contributed to voter fraud charges against 20 convicted felons who voted in August despite being ineligible to do so due to the nature of their offenses. Those charged and arrested could potentially be penalized with a $5,000 fine and a prison sentence of up to five years.

Combating a lack of knowledge about election matters and voter apathy are two other challenges in getting community members out to the polls.

Blunt said she believes first impres sions at the polls, along with knowledge of what’s on the ballot, are critical leading up to the election.

She wants to see more engagement from candidates in local neighborhoods to keep community members informed. She sug gested candidates reserve spots at local li braries or churches for outreach purposes.

Ivanna Gonzalez, the director of cam paigns for Florida Rising, said she believes it’s important to make voters understand that casting a ballot is simply the begin ning of the process to bring about reform.

“I think it’s just really helpful to combat the traditional idea that you can change the world with voting, because the message is actually it starts with voting,” she said. “We get to decide who is going to be our partner or our opponent when we continue to do the work after election day.”

@OAteyah oateyah@alligator.org

ment to alter financial aid program regulations in the after math of 9/11 as precedent, but the suit says no overarching statute grants his office the ability to clear debt on such a massive scale.

“In addition to being economically unwise and inherently unfair, the Biden Administration’s Mass Debt Cancellation is another example in a long line of unlawful regulatory ac tions,” the office of Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peter son wrote in a news release.

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich hinted at a simi lar lawsuit on behalf of his state, and a public interest lawyer also pushed back on the forgiveness plan on the grounds of abuse of executive power. But experts say the case holds little weight, CNN reported.

The stricter applicant conditions may lessen the plan’s legal uncertainties. With the consolidation deadline already passed, private borrowers no longer benefit from consolidat ing their loans federally, erasing the incentive to abandon their existing agreements.

For now, the forgiveness plan stands, and eligible appli cants could see some of their debt cleared as soon as four weeks after applying.

Kelley Graham, a 25-year-old UF law graduate, qualifies for $10,000 of relief on her $52,000 in debt. Though the plan doesn’t completely erase her debt, Graham said she was re lieved to see a portion of it forgiven.

“I was like, ‘Well there goes some of it,’” she said.

Graduates across the country have claimed $20,000 isn’t enough to significantly aid in relieving debt and called for complete forgiveness, but Graham said she sees this wave of relief as the first step in long-term debt policy.

Graham’s thankful to see some debt forgiveness for her self and others in the short term, she said.

“I wish it could be more, but I understand that they can only do a little bit right now,” she said. “People are mad about it, but I’m like, ‘Feel better for the people that it’s help ing.’”

Minca Davis // Alligator Staff

P.K. Yonge: A UF laboratory school with rich history

SCHOOL MAINTAINS DIRECT CONNECTION WITH UNIVERSITY

By Sophia Bailly Alligator Staff Writer

Before entering sixth grade, students at P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School have to make the jump from one side of Tumblin’ Creek to another.

The waterway, which divides campus based on grade level, serves as a literal and symbolic bridge between the elementary and second ary school students. On the north side of the water stand students K-5, who wait until the final week of their fifth grade school year be fore they cross the walkway with their parents, signifying their transition into the next tier of their education.

P.K. Yonge, a laboratory school governed by UF, allows faculty and staff the unique op portunity to explore new methods of teaching without having to follow district policy. At P.K. Yonge, this means rock band class, a studentrun business class and college-level courses af filiated with UF.

Every year, parents across Alachua County jump to apply for the chance to send their kin dergarteners to the school, which is determined by a lottery system.

P.K. Yonge is one of four Florida K-12 schools directly affiliated with a university, serving as its own school district. P.K. Yonge isn’t affiliated with Alachua County Public Schools and has its own superintendent. All P.K. Yonge employees carry GatorONE Cards, follow the regulations and policies set by the university and work under UF’s Board of Trust ees.

P.K. Yonge Director and Superintendent Brian Marchman said the appeal of the school, which currently enrolls around 1,300 students, comes from its focus on the individual.

“I think the thing that makes P.K. Yonge most unique is the focus on the whole student and the whole child,” Marchman said. “It’s a small, personalized educational experience for students.”

P.K. Yonge began from American philoso pher John Dewey’s laboratory school model in the early 20th century, Marchman said.

Under this model, an elementary or second

ary school was located on a college campus, which granted college education majors di rect access to teaching experience. Laboratory school employees used university resources and staff members to execute new learning methods and nontraditional coursework for laboratory school students.

Laboratory schools follow state policies but are able to experiment with various learning models in conjunction with the neighboring university.

P.K. Yonge provides Advanced Placement courses, dual enrollment at Santa Fe College or UF and career technical education programs focused on engineering and robotics. Megan Koppitch, P.K. Yonge’s K-12 librarian, said the developmental aspect of the school allows staff members to introduce new educational oppor tunities to the campus without school district interference.

Koppitch has worked at the school for six years, she said. She’s served in other roles like senior class coordinator and a media and civic literacy teacher for juniors and seniors.

“I don’t want to say we get to make our own rules, because obviously, we have to follow

what the state says that we have to do,” Kop pitch said. “But we have shared governance, which means that as a school, the faculty has a little bit more of an input in how we want things to run.”

Students in the secondary school take four classes each semester, with each class lasting 90 minutes every day. Elementary students have a homeroom class, then transition to other classrooms for specific subject areas.

Students apply to P.K. Yonge through a lot tery system.The lottery is categorized to deliver free education to a diverse and accurate repre sentation of population demographics based on gender, race and ethnicity, family income and academic needs, Marchman said.

This year, the school had a 24% acceptance rate for kindergarten with 222 applicants apply ing to 54 seats.

“Parents want their children to be here,” Marchman said. “We’re quite proud of that.”

Read the rest online at alligator.org.

sbailly@alligator.org @sophia_bailly

UF awards distinction to first female College of Medicine professor Sara Jo Nixon brings humor to otherwise technical field

By Siena Duncan Alligator Staff Writer

As a child, Sara Jo Nixon looked at her two younger sisters. One was the pretty one; one was the funny one. So, she said, she decided to be the smart one.

Now, Nixon is the co-vice chair of the UF Department of Psychiatry and chief of addiction research. She became the first woman in the Col lege of Medicine to be named a distin guished professor by the university in August — one of the highest honors a UF professor can receive.

In total, the College of Medicine only has four distinguished profes sors, and the other three are men. But she’s not special just because she’s the first woman, Nixon said. There are plenty of other women who are deserving.

Receiving the award confirms the

fact that 16 years worth of her work at UF is valued, she said.

“You always want to believe that you’re going to be able to leave some kind of legacy,” she said. “I’m thrilled.”

Decades ago, she said she used to be frustrated by the idea of deliberate career boosts for women — getting a job because employers want to even out the gender ratio in a workplace, for example. As a graduate assistant at the University of Oklahoma, she told her mentor, developmental psy chologist Patricia Self, she’d never want to land a job just because she was a woman.

She still feels she would rather be known for her accomplishments rath er than her gender, she said. But Self gave her some advice she still follows to this day, Nixon said.

“She made a very good point,” Nixon said. “And that was it doesn’t

matter why you got the job, it matters what you do with the job.”

She views her new title as a distin guished professor the same way, she said. It doesn’t matter that she’s the first — it matters how she can use the new title to go even further.

Nixon grew up in Oklahoma with school teachers for parents — her father was also a minister and her mother would later become a social worker. She came from a six-person household that struggled to make ends meet with two younger sisters and a brother, Nixon said.

Although she never went hun gry, she grew up mindful about her expenses. When it came time to pur sue higher education, Nixon said she worked hard to finish her bachelor’s degree in science early at Southwest ern Oklahoma State University so she wouldn’t have to pay for more than she needed to.

As an undergraduate student, she typically took 17 to 19 credits a semester and worked part time, she said. She was unsure of how much longer she could stay out of the work force, she said, while living a subpar life. Nonetheless, she eventually de cided she wanted to go to graduate school.

“How much can I tolerate having nothing for this period of time?” she said. “But I knew if I didn’t do it, I would always regret it.”

Her internal compass had always pointed her toward wanting to be a professor, she said. So, she pursued a doctorate degree in psychology and found her way to UF, where she’s worked since 2006.

Carol Mathews, psychiatry interim chair for the UF department of neuro science, said she’s known Nixon for as long as she’s been at UF — since 2015. Mathews worked with Nixon

on a variety of projects and looked to her for help with navigating research and becoming more involved with graduate student education. She said Nixon has been a great resource for her.

But the greatest part about work ing with Nixon is her light-hearted at titude, Mathews said.

“She has a wicked sense of hu mor,” she said. “She lightens the room up.”

Back during the height of the CO VID-19 pandemic in 2020, Mathews said her department was having regu lar Zoom meetings to discuss the vi rus. Because it was a difficult topic, she said the department created a competition to see who could come up with the best Zoom background to develop more of a sense of camara derie.

Read the rest online at alligator.org.

@SienaDuncan sduncan@alligator.org

Students weigh in on Chartwells, UF’s new food service provider

UF BROKE TIES FROM ARAMARK IN SUMMER

By Halima Attah Alligator Staff Writer

The atmosphere of a collegiate dining hall has remained the same for decades: teeming with eaters and full of ever-chang ing food options. For students at UF, the lat ter is now especially true.

UF Business Services announced its split from Aramark in May, choosing to end a 13-year contract with the food service com pany to partner with Chartwells Higher Ed ucation — the provider now spearheading dining throughout campus.

Almost halfway through the semester, students with meal plans have had the chance to taste their way through many of Chartwells’ food initiatives — leaving some happier than others.

UF’s previous food service contract was due to expire June 30, 2022, Brandi Renton, UF’s associate vice president of business af fairs, wrote in an email. The introduction of Chartwells’ services on campus began shortly before this contractual termination June 18.

Chartwells has brought a series of de velopments to campus, with local restau rants playing a large role in their plan for UF. Spots like SweetBerries Eatery & Frozen Custard and Opus Coffee have made UF’s campus their new homes — a change that aligns with Chartwells’ approach to univer sity dining, while allowing them to offer students familiar foods through traditional dining halls.

For some UF students, the university’s separation from Aramark was represen tative of the goals they’d been fighting to achieve for a while.

The Food Justice Coalition, composed of different Gainesville-based organiza

tions and UF students, advocated for a food provider with better practices. It formed in January of last year, with members being openly critical of Aramark’s connection to wage violations and prison labor.

Aramark has operated in American pris ons since 1976, through subsidiary compa ny Aramark Correctional Services. The larg est food service provider to U.S. prisons, it has gained notoriety for serving American inmates with inadequate food and violat ing several safety and health-based policies in correctional facilities — while simulta neously being accused of exploitation for not compensating the inmates who have worked under its management.

Coalition members like Leah Cohen, co ordinator at the Agricultural Justice Project, consider this recent food service switch a victory. As UF dissolved its ties to Aramark and settles in with Chartwells, the associa

tion celebrated its progress.

“That was a win for the campaign,” Co hen said. “We’re excited to partner with Chartwells and be on campus.”

However, views on this change haven’t been uniform. On campus, students’ opin ions vary as to whether Chartwells’ food and services have topped Aramark’s. To Jacob Aronovitz, a 19-year-old UF nursing sophomore, dining hall food still lives up to a not-so-great reputation.

“I mean, food is food,” Aronovitz said. “It’s not the greatest stuff. But I’m happy with it.”

Food for the Gator Good, Chartwells’ lookbook for UF, details a central focus of its mission: a culinary commitment to pro viding inclusive food options that accom modate halal, kosher, vegan and vegetarian diets. Some students like Micheala Vollmer,

an 18-year-old UF applied physiology and kinesiology freshman who eats a vegetarian diet, have seen the benefits of the dining halls serving different meal options.

“They would implement a lot of tofu into the meals, which was good,” Vollmer said. “In Broward, specifically, they had vegan eggs and vegan sausage — it was good that they offered it.”

But soon after, Chartwells’ inclusive op tions became repetitive, Vollmer said. She had a meal plan during the Summer B term, but she opted not to renew her subscription this Fall.

“I was mainly eating a lot of yogurt and cheese pizza every day,” she said. “It was stuff I got really tired of.”

Since its introduction to UF this summer, Chartwells has begun incorporating its phi losophy into the student dining experience — most notably through the Florida Fresh Dining program, Renton said.

“Food-forward and people first is the approach,” Renton wrote. “The brand has engaged the campus community through in novative cuisine and quality service.”

Students should have the opportunity to choose from rotating meals and des serts, according to a document that features Chartwells’ menus for UF, obtained by Food Justice Coalition members and shared with The Alligator.

Chartwells’ plan for UF also incorporates the inclusion of local restaurants. UF Busi ness Services detailed this vision, saying its focus on local partnership and purchasing will allow Chartwells to “engage the cam pus community” through innovative cuisine and quality service.

Read the rest online at alligator.org.

@HalimaAttah hattah@alligator.org

Proposed amendment could scrap constitution revision measure

Revision Commission

By Heather Bushman Alligator Staff Writer

Florida has more methods to amend its constitution than any other state, but an upcoming ballot provision in November’s general election may take one of those away.

In the upcoming election, Amendment 2 could dismantle the Constitution Revision Com mission, a body that reviews and proposes new provisions to the state constitution every two de cades. Though initially formed with bipartisan intentions, the commission has received criti cism for its lack of accountability and disruption of the democratic process.

The commission proposes amendments for the ballot with out any state legislative interfer ence, drawing on citizen concerns from places like public forums to draft the changes.

Jonathan Marshfield, a UF constitutional law professor, said this ability to put unedited mea sures in front of voters makes it

especially powerful.

“It doesn’t have to go back to the legislature,” he said. “They can just send them directly to the voters on an up-or-down vote.”

Commission amendments were meant to represent biparti san interest, but those expecta tions haven’t materialized in the eyes of the electorate, Marsh field said. This perceived parti san lean, he said, is largely to do with the 37 people who sit on the commission — and how they got there in the first place.

Most commission members are selected by partisan actors. The governor appoints 15 members, including the commission’s chair; the state Senate president ap points nine members; the speaker of the state House appoints nine members and the chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court ap points three members. The state attorney is automatically granted a spot on the commission.

Many commission members work in law as politicians, attor neys and other government ac tors. Of the 37 members in 2018’s

commission, 33 of them were Re publican.

Marshfield said the selection process and member makeup — in the public’s view — signified a movement of party influence from one office to another.

“It basically was just a transfer of existing political and partisan division,” he said.

The Constitution Revision Commission was established in 1968 to propose amendments to the Florida Constitution outside the traditional process. Typically, 60% of the Florida House and Senate must approve a proposed amendment for it to make the bal lot. If 60% of voters elect to ap prove the measure, it’s added to the constitution.

Three iterations of the com mission — bodies that met in 1977, 1997 and 2017 to draft amendments for the following year’s election — have proposed provisions that are now consti tutional amendments. The 1997 commission passed a provision that authorized required back ground checks for firearm pur

chases, and the 2017 commission created a state board of educa tion and banned vaping indoors, among other amendments.

Opponents like state Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, said the relatively unrestrained abil ity to propose legislation creates uncertainty about what will show up on the ballot. He likened the commission to a game of Juman ji, where the results are out of control.

“We don’t know what’s com ing out next,” he said. “It could be something good, it could be something terrible, but I would rather not play the game.”

The approval rating of the commission’s proposals has steadily climbed since the first meeting in 1977. Voters rejected all eight of the first commission’s proposals but passed all but one of the nine amendments in the 1998 election. In the 2018 elec tion, all seven amendments pro posed by the commission passed.

Though other states have mea sures to call constitutional con ventions, where selected mem

bers will review and amend the state constitution when neces sary, Florida is one of the only states with a designated commis sion written into its constitution.

Only New Mexico and Arizona have a similar mechanism. A sub committee within Arizona’s state Legislature can review and pro pose changes to the pay rates of elected officials, and Amendment 4 of the New Mexico state con stitution allows an independent commission to submit proposals to the legislature for ballot con sideration.

The commission is unique in its ability to completely sidestep Florida’s Legislature, drafting constitutional amendments that go directly to the public on that year’s ballot. The lack of legis lative oversight on commission proposals presents a dangerous power imbalance, Brandes said.

Read the rest online at alligator.org.

@hmb_1013 hbushman@alligator.org

Lorenzo Vasquez // Alligator Staff

UF students grab their greens at Gator Corner Dining Center Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022.

Gainesville weathers the storm

Sophia Abolfathi // Alligator Staff

City residents prepare sandbags at a self-serve site at the Gainesville Citizens Field in East Gainesville, Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022. Each household is allowed 10 sandbags.

Sophia Abolfathi // Alligator Staff Shoppers at a Gainesville Walmart wait in line to stock up for the hurricane Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022.

Sophia Abolfathi // Alligator Staff

Rabbi Berl Goldman, director of the Chabad UF Jewish Student and Community Center, runs a Hurricane Ian relief drive for affected communities, Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022. This is the organization’s third full shipment of practical supplies since Thursday, Sept. 29.

Rae Riiska // Alligator Staff

A tree smashes through a Gainesville house at 3233 NW 12th Terrace a day before Hurricane Ian was supposed to hit the region Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2022 www.alligator.org/section/the_avenue

The Amazing Acro-Cats return to Gainesville

GROUP’S FIRST GAINESVILLE SHOW SINCE 2015

By Luna Boales Avenue Staff Writer

Soaring through hoops, strum ming guitars and stupefying audi ences across the country, a talent ed cast of cats are purr-fecting the art of acrobatics.

As seen on shows such as “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” and Netflix’s “Cat People,” The Amazing Acro-Cats is returning to Gainesville for the first time since 2015.

Audiences can expect a live 90-minute performance featuring trained rescues, as well as a musi cal finale by all-cat band The Rock Cats. The feline group will play five shows at The Hippodrome Theatre between Oct. 7-9, with shows at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tick ets are between $48 and $60 and can be purchased online.

If the event sells out, people can sign up to volunteer at the Hippodrome via the Acro-Cats’ webpage and receive a free ticket.

Performances by The Amaz

ing Acro-Cats feature a series of tricks varying in difficulty, such as spinning, high-fiving, jumping through hoops and balancing on balls, said Samantha Martin, chief executive trainer and founder of The Amazing Acro-Cats.

The show is more than just an opportunity to watch cats do tricks — it’s a reminder to take ac tion and help stray cats when pos sible, Martin said.

“It’s a fun, entertaining show,” she said. “It’s also a show that’s supposed to deliver a message to people out there about finding a cat, training their cat and spaying and neutering their cat as well be cause there’s a huge problem out there.”

Martin founded The Amazing Acro-Cats in the early 2000s, she said. The group is supported by Rock Cats Rescue, a non-profit created by Martin in 2009 and based in Brooks, Georgia.

The organization supports foster kittens as young as two days old, some of which are fac ing euthanization or cannot sur vive without being bottle-fed and housed in an incubator.

Originally, Martin said her goal

was to adopt a few rescue kittens to add to the Acro-Cats. But when she arrived at the animal shelter, 12 kittens were scheduled to be euthanized.

So, she adopted them all. Soon after, Martin said, she decided to create Rock Cats Rescue.

“I realized that there’s a prob lem out there,” she said. “Why are so many cats ending up dumped by their owners?”

The foster cats of Rock Cats Rescue are later put up for adop tion with the goal of reducing the issues of homeless stray cats and overflowing shelters, Martin said.

All the cats are trained through clicker training, Martin said, which uses positive reinforcement to enable the cats to memorize tricks and behaviors.

But Martin said it’s important

for audiences to know the cats are well cared for and get to show their personalities, unlike many circus animals that spend the majority of their lives either per forming or confined to kennels or crates.

Just like all other house cats, Martin said, the Acro-Cats are completely in charge. It’s up to the felines to choose whether to complete a trick, so every show is different, she said.

Karma Hurworph, 61, is both a stagehand and the caretaker for The Amazing Acro-Cats. Her responsibilities are similar to her former role as a veterinary techni cian — she feeds the cats, medi cates them when needed and helps Martin with training, she said.

Hurworph said she thinks The Amazing Acro-Cats’ shows are so successful because it’s rare to hear of a cat show.

Because performances are subject to the whim of each cat’s mood, Hurworph said, even re turning guests will be entertained — no show is ever the same.

“The cats play off of the au dience,” she said. “There are so many different factors, and it’s just a lot of fun.”

@LunaBoales lboales@thealligator.org

By Lauren Brensel Avenue Staff Writer

For two decades, Gainesville pride festivals were a constant. But the COVID-19 pandemic has since halted the in-person celebration.

The annual festival hosted by the Pride Community Center of North Central Florida will return Oct. 22 at Bo Diddley Plaza, nearly a month after the center was vandalized. The center has celebrated Pride in Gainesville every year since 2008 aside from the last two years.

The center faced further problems when the front door and a window were found smashed Sept. 24. A hateful note was also left behind, leading Gainesville police to investigate the vandalism as a hate crime.

Pride Center President Tamára Perry-Lunar do, 42, said the vandalism was a result of the Pride student meetup scheduled for Sept. 27 — an event referenced in the note, which isn’t public as the investigation continues.

The incident won’t stop the center’s activi

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ties, she said, including the upcoming festival.

This year, there will be no parade leading up to the festival because of extra expenses like security. After the vandalism, Perry-Lunardo said, the Pride Center will have additional se curity to ensure the festival is a safe environ ment.

“It wouldn’t be the first time we’ve seen negative signs and things like that,” Perry-Lu nardo said. “But we certainly don’t want any one to feel encouraged by that attack. It was a cowardly and hateful attack.”

To end the night, there’ll also be a dance party alongside a performance from the Gainesville brass band Sooza, which consists of UF School of Music alums and students.

This year’s theme is “We’re here, we’re queer — loud and proud.” It was chosen by the Pride Center’s board of directors as a spinoff from “We’re here, we’re queer. Get used to it,” which was popularized by the activist organization Queer Nation in the 1990s.

Board member and volunteer coordinator

Faith Reidenbach, 62, said the theme is very meaningful to her. She came out in 1975 and moved to Florida in 2020, she said.

“I feel like I went back in time at least three decades,” Reidenbach said. “At first, it was only a couple decades and then when the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ came along and book ban ning — actually, it feels like more than three decades.”

The theme brings the attention back to the LGBTQ+ community, Perry-Lunardo said.

“We don’t really want to focus so much on those who would speak against us,” she said. “We want to focus more on our pride as a com munity.”

On Sept. 27, the center hosted the LGBTQ+ youth event as previously planned. Fourteen students attended, and volunteers stood guard at the boarded-up door.

After the vandalism, the Pride Center took to social media to share photos of the damage and a link for donations. The center received donations amounting to a five-figure total, Per

Basketball is around the corner

New head coach Todd Golden and Florida men’s basketball began fall practice this past week. Read more on pg. 15.

ry-Lunardo said.

“It’s really beautiful,” she said. “I’m pretty pleased that it’s had the opposite effect than I think was intended.”

The last Pride festival was in 2019 and had its highest turnout to date, according to the late Pride Center President Terry Fleming. Fleming died April 28, 2020, and this year’s Pride festi val will be the first without him.

“God bless him, Terry did everything him self,” Perry-Lunardo said. “A lot of the prepa rations have been taking what we knew from Terry and the instructions that he left but also kind of reimagining it.”

The festival is being planned by the Pride Center’s five board members, some of whom are balancing other jobs, Reidenbach said. Vol unteers will also be there to sell merchandise, help out in the kid’s space, greet vendors and clean up at the end of the night.

The Pride festival will be held from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. Those interested in volunteering can sign up online.

@LaurenBrensel

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MONDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2022 www.alligator.org/section/opinions

We want your input

from pg .1

to speak with you.

Student reporters, photographers and designers are working on stories about everything from how rural and minority communities may be disproportionately impacted to another on the next generation of anti-abortion activists.

We recognize the decision to get an abortion is one that’s deeply personal, requiring a great deal of thought and care. But the only way to truly understand how Roe’s reversal is impacting our university, city and county is by grounding it with people’s stories.

The truth is, abortion isn’t black and white. Despite how it may be depicted — whether in the media or through legislation — its essence is shaped by those who experience it, as well as the individuals who surround them.

Representing your story fairly is our main concern. For specific cases where telling your story may harm your personal or work life, The Alligator’s Editorial Board can discuss the possibility of anonymity. Although we cannot guarantee anonymity in all cases, it can be a way for more people to feel empowered to come forward.

If you’d like to share your perspective on abortion or tell a reporter how this issue is impacting you or people around you, please send us an email at editor@alligator.org. We look forward to hearing from you.

Makiya Seminera EDITOR -INCHIEF

Alan Halaly ENGAGEMENT MANAGING EDITOR

Isabella Douglas DIGITAL MANAGING EDITOR

UF Top 5 Ranking – What's Next?

University of California, Berkeley; Univer sity of California, Los Angeles; Univer sity of Michigan; University of Virginia; and University of North Carolina at Cha pel Hill have always been ranked by U.S. News and World Report among the top-five public re search universities.

No university has ever broken into that topfive ranking and stayed there for two consecu tive years, until last month, when UF was ranked among the top five for the second year in a row. Berkeley and UCLA are tied for first, Michigan and Virginia tied for third, and UF and UNC are tied for fifth.

What is the reason for UF’s rise in stature? UF’s rank ing is simply due to the entire UF community establishing that goal and focusing on the metrics necessary to achieve it. U.S. News combines 17 metrics to rank 440 national research universities. The metrics include student outcomes, faculty resources, finances, alumni giving and peer assessment. The progress UF has made in improving those metrics, and the nearly 100 other metrics we track, is due to the commitment and focus of everyone in the UF community, including our friends and supporters.

its metrics. UF at that time was not among the most selective universities in the nation. Today, UF would be on the list of the nation’s most se lective universities, with over 10,000 more appli cants for this Fall’s entering class than last year’s record number of applications.

What is next for UF? All of UF’s 16 colleges are stronger today than eight years ago. However, there is much work to be done for UF’s stature to move higher among the very best research univer sities. Many of our more than 200 academic de partments are not considered by their peers to be among the top-10 departments nationwide. The metrics for ranking departments are different than those used to rank the overall university. Every department chair, school director and college dean should understand their department, school and college rank compared to peers and should develop a strategy to improve that ranking.

Halima Attah OPINIONS EDITOR

When I graduated from Miami Killian Senior High School in 1973, the only metric I could find in the Cutler Ridge pub lic library to compare the stature of universities was selectiv ity, the percentage of applicants accepted. I assumed the greater the selectivity, the more prestigious the university. Interestingly, U.S. News no longer uses selectivity as one of

Column Column Kent Fuchs opinions@alligator.org

One of UF’s greatest attributes is that it is intentionally and intensely comprehensive, particularly as reflected in the number and breadth of academic departments. As UF begins the next era in its continually growing stature, no academ ic department should be left behind. With the leadership of faculty, department chairs, school directors and college deans, I am confident every UF department can move into the top 10 or even top five among their national peers.

If that happens, the real winners will be our students.

Kent Fuchs is president of the University of Florida.

Behind UF’s guise of a Top 5 ranking lays systemic inequity

Can you imagine if UF’s leaders cared about equity as much as they cared about rankings?

I don’t ask this question to be snarky. I do so out of a genuine interest in improving conditions at UF — an institution where I have spent the past five years of my life as a graduate student.

Recently, UF has been celebrating the renewal of its top-five public university ranking. But last month, U.S. Secretary of Education, Miguel Cardona, called college rankings “a joke.” He pointed out they encourage colleges to compete for prestige when they should be working toward equity.

Erika Davis opinions@alligator.org

When you think about it, public four-year colleges and universities utilize selective practices in deciding which students to admit each year. Elite colleges are praised with high rankings for doing so, when the vast majority of their students graduate on time, get jobs and give back to the university.

This perpetuates a vicious cycle centered around hoarding money, prestige and resources at elite schools and among an elite class in society. If we could dare to imagine a public education system that cared more about the wellbeing of all students than hierarchical rankings and prestige, we would be looking at a very different picture.

Instead of looking to the top-ranking elite schools as educational models, we should be looking to the most successful community colleges and under-resourced institutions. Most community colleges are required to admit all local students who apply. Graduation and retention rates at our community colleges are a more accurate picture of the state of public higher education.

We should look to these institutions to see how they find ways to best serve all students who apply. We have a lot to learn from under-resourced colleges and universities that operate on shoestring budgets, while still providing students with quality experiences.

I struggle to understand how UF’s leaders can continue to parade this year’s top-five ranking given the issues that have emerged recently. This ranking comes at a time when both state legislation and decisions made by the university’s board of governors have made it increasingly difficult for students to have honest conversations about topics like racial and gender equity.

Education is supposedly the great equalizer, yet education has never been equitable. Whether we consider gender, race, class or ability, educational advocates are constantly battling for the protection of their basic rights in American schools. All one has to do is look

at the current school choice controversies to see that people’s faith in the public education system is at a low.

To save public education, we must facilitate open conversations. We need to create a system that recognizes student, teacher and parent agency without favoring one over the other. By funneling the passion of each of these groups into school improvements, we can imagine new solutions to persistent problems.

Instead, legislators and university administrators are exacerbating tensions between these parties. In K-12 schools, legislators are turning parents against teachers, encouraging them to censure content and report teachers who bring in outside materials, limiting teacher innovation and agency.

At the university level, similar approaches have been taken, turning students against faculty both during the pandemic and now, through the enactment of House Bill 7 and its student complaint process.

These actions are claimed to have been taken in the name of accountability. In actuality, they create an environment of mistrust and surveillance, which prevents genuine relationships or conversations from occurring in a classroom. They also create additional stress for the most vulnerable faculty members, including graduate students and untenured faculty.

These are just a couple of examples of the hostile climate that has contributed to an exodus of students and faculty of color at UF over the past few years. From the Spring to Fall semester of this year, I’ve learned of five professors of color who have decided to leave UF, and more who are looking for other jobs.

One ranking UF’s leaders don’t like to discuss is the university’s 2018 grade from the USC Race and Equity Center’s Black Student Report Card. UF received an F in representation equity. Notably, Black student enrollment has dropped considerably as UF’s overall ranking from U.S. News has increased.

If I were applying for my doctoral program today, I would have little interest in an institution that boasts an elite ranking while ignoring — and even exacerbating — its low Black student and faculty recruitment and retention rates.

Instead of feeling excited that I will be graduating in the Spring with a doctoral degree from a top five public school, I feel conflicted that I will be graduating with an education degree from an institution that is perpetuating educational and societal inequities.

Erika Davis is a PhD candidate in Curriculum and Instruction at UF.

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University Women’s Club will dissolve despite 100-year celebration

CELEBRATION

OCT.

By Anushka Dakshit Alligator Staff Writer

With a centennial celebration underway, the University Women’s Club has some unconventional plans: the organization will be dis solved after their 100th anniversary.

The club’s membership has gone from 400 members to less than 100. The scope of socialization has changed, and current members are getting older and are unable to keep up with the responsibilities of the club, leading to its dissolution.

“I think it’s just a sign of the times,” said Betsy Trent, a mem ber and retired executive director of nonprofit March of Dimes North Central Florida. “Younger people just have other interests, they’re working or they can do their social activities in other ways.”

Silver afternoon tea settings,

dainty dinner parties and other types of activities that were enjoy able back in the ‘60s and ‘70s are not a form of socialization anymore, she said.

In the meantime, the women who found a community in UWC will be celebrating the years of friendship and service that came from it Oct. 18 in the University Women’s Clubhouse at 324 Wood lawn Drive. The event will take place from 6-9 p.m.

Joan Van Rinsvelt, a UWC mem ber of 55 years, is helping to plan the celebration as one last hurrah.

Van Rinsvelt arrived in Gainesville in 1967 because her husband was hired as a UF profes sor. Soon, she said, she needed a community of women like her to talk about their families and home lives.

“I used to say when I was young, ‘If you have a group of women like the University Women’s Club, you don’t need a shrink,’” said Van

Rinsvelt.

As a housewife, she found a sense of community in UWC.

Van Rinsvelt, who has held ev ery officer role except for president, said she could always rely on the women she met through UWC to talk about her problems.

University Women’s Club’s first meeting was Oct. 6, 1922, during which the university president at the time, Albert Murphree, suggest ed a formation of an organization that would promote socialization among women.

The wives of the university’s presidents historically served as ad visers and have hosted many UWC activities, according to UF archives.

Meeting locations have var ied over time, being held in the Young Men’s Christian Association building, fraternity houses and the Gainesville Women’s Club. Now, the group has moved to a clubhouse located on Woodlawn, between Southwest 2nd Avenue and West

University Avenue.

The purpose of the club was to help the spouses of UF employees and faculty become acclimated into the university environment, Trent said.

Trent has had numerous vice presidency roles where she man aged events.

Trent organized events such as gourmet dinner groups, in which different houses would host a group

of eight to 10 people who would bring dishes according to a set menu.

“We’d share it in a formal way, so people would be dressed, and you would bring your nicer china and silver,” Trent said.

Read the rest online at alligator.org. @anushkadak adakshit@alligator.org

UF College of Medicine departments appoint diversity liaisons to promote inclusion

16 OF 29 DEPARTMENTS HAVE LIASIONS

By Siena Duncan Alligator Staff Writer

More than half of UF College of Medicine departments now have a diversity, equity and inclusion liaison — a faculty member specifically dedicated to addressing social issues within the college.

The program has been in development since earlier this year. Liaisons are chosen by department heads. So far, 16 of 29 departments have appointed one. Some large departments have selected two, such as anatomy and cell biology, where John Aris and Nadja Makki serve as liaisons.

Mar’Tina Wimberly was asked to be a liaison in early September. As a Black woman and a professor in the Department

of Community Health and Family Medicine, Wimberly was eager to start giving back to her university, she said.

She received her medical degree from UF in 2017, and she said one of the reasons she made it through school was because of the Office for Diversity and Health Equity.

The office provides resources and mentors to what it defines as underrepresented groups in medicine — African American, Latino, Native American and LGBTQ students.

Led by Donna Parker, College of Medicine associate dean for diversity and health equity, Wimberly’s now part of a network of diversity liaisons to better support workplace inclusion.

“[The office] was sort of a hub for me,” she said. “I had support. And to help with improving that within the department and

the college campus, it’s a big deal for me.”

The goal is to have liaisons in all College of Medicine departments, Wimberly said, so they can form a team across departments to develop diversity initiatives. The program’s also meant to involve younger minority faculty as diversity liaisons to give them chances to further develop their careers.

Wimberly’s most looking forward to networking with other liaisons and forming a community with them, she said. Within her own department, she said it’s exciting to have a formal program dedicated to inclusion.

Wimberly plans to work on recruitment of underrepresented employees and finding ways to help them individually improve as faculty, as well as helping them get promotions.

At the end of the day, Wimberly said,

these sort of initiatives improve the College of Medicine’s ability to research and take care of patients. A more diverse faculty will develop trust with a diverse body of patients, she said.

“Our department should look like the people that we’re serving,” she said.

This program comes from a series of recent efforts from the College of Medicine to improve its diversity outreach. The percentage of underrepresented groups in UF faculty — African American, Latino, Native American and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander — was 11.3% in 2021, according to the UF Diversity Dashboard.

Read the rest online at alligator.org.

@SienaDuncan sduncan@alligator.org

Photo by Photography

Courtesy to The Alligator University Women’s Club members gather for a social event held between the years 1969 and 1970.

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MONDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2022 www.alligator.org/section/sports

FOOTBALL

Gators rout Eastern Washington, get back in the win column

Florida took it to the Eagles through the air, racking up 392 passing yards

By Joseph Henry Sports Writer

The 24-hour shift of UF’s game against the Eastern Washington Eagles, a result of Hurricane Ian’s devastating landfall in Florida, led to the lowest attended home game this season. The action on the field, however, was lively, as UF made the most of its favorable matchup.

Florida (3-2, 0-2 SEC) defeated EWU (1-3, 0-1 Big Sky) 52-17 Oct. 2 inside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. The Gators looked dominant in each phase of the game on the way to their largest margin of vic tory this season. Offensively it was a balanced attack; UF com plimented 392 passing yards with 274 yards on the ground.

The Gators jump back into Southeastern Conference play next Saturday against the Mis souri Tigers. Missouri nearly up set the then-No.1 Georgia Bull dogs, losing 26-22, a day before Florida took the field. The Tigers rank 12th in the SEC in offensive yards per game but have now shown they can play with any

one. UF is also facing a shortened week ahead of the homecoming matchup.

Eastern Washington began the game with the football and drove into Florida territory. Eagles quar terback Gunner Talkington led EWU on a 13-play, 49-yard drive that ended with a field goal to open the scoring.

When the Gators’ offense and redshirt sophomore quarterback Anthony Richardson took the field, they wasted no time airing it out. Florida scored in just one play: a 75-yard touchdown con nection between Richardson and redshirt junior wide receiver Jus tin Shorter.

UF took the lead in 11 seconds.

When Eastern Washington took the field for its second drive, it was once again a methodical thrashing of the Gators’ defense.

However, like the previous pos session, Florida tightened up once the Eagles crossed into the red zone. This time, UF forced a turn over on downs to hand the ball back to Richardson.

The Gainesville native took the first snap of the drive and rolled

to his right. Richardson then cut upfield with blockers paving the way for a 45-yard scramble. The Gators didn’t hesitate after the big run, scoring their second touch down of the afternoon just three plays later. It was sophomore run ning back Montrell Johnson Jr. who hit pay dirt.

In the first quarter, UF’s of fense ran just five plays and was on the field for two minutes and five seconds. The unit scored 14 points and averaged 31.4 yards per play.

On the Gators’ next possession, Richardson exited the game with an injury. His backup, redshirt freshman Jalen Kitna, entered the game and drove Florida into the red zone, including a solid 22yard completion to junior wide receiver Ricky Pearsall for his first career pass.

“We got that play call and I read it how we were taught,” Kit na said.

During another injury timeout, this time for EWU cornerback Darrien Sampson, Richardson re entered the Florida huddle. On the next play, redshirt sophomore running back Nay’Quan Wright scored a four-yard touchdown, his second of the season.

Eastern Washington once again stalled on offense, relin quishing possession back to UF. For the second time in the game, the Gators needed just a single play to score.

Richardson faked a handoff to freshman running back Trevor Eti enne before flipping the ball back to Pearsall. He did the rest, taking the ball 76 yards to the house.

Florida extended its lead to 28-3 in 16 seconds.

“It’s [a play] that we’ve had in the chamber for a little bit,” UF head coach Billy Napier said.

back of the endzone to add on an other touchdown.

Both sides entered their respec tive locker rooms at halftime with the Gators leading 35-3.

Richardson looked to take an other shot to begin the second half, but his decision was an er rant one. He lofted a deep pass in the direction of Henderson, 49 yards down the field. The pass was intercepted by Eagles defen sive back Marlon Jones Jr.

“[Richardson will] be sick to his stomach when he sees it on tape,” Napier said.

As the third quarter rolled along, the Gators tacked on a field goal before Richardson saw his afternoon come to an end. Kitna returned to the game and wasn’t shy about pushing the ball down field.

“In the past couple of weeks I’ve become more comfortable with him as a player,” Napier said.

Later, redshirt junior Lorenzo Lingard, who transferred from Mi ami, scored his first touchdown as a Gator. He got a good amount of snaps in the latter moments of the game, totaling 45 yards on five carries to go along with the score.

Eastern Washington eventually found the endzone in the fourth quarter. Talkington threw a wellplaced over-the-shoulder pass to wide receiver Jakobie James for the Eagles’ touchdown. Eastern Washington would score once more with 3:17 to play; backup quarterback Kekoa Visperas ran in a 25-yard touchdown to skew the final score just a bit more.

The game was already sealed, however. Florida ran away with the game from the jump, despite the short-lived 3-0 lead EWU held in the opening few minutes.

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The Gators didn’t have to wait long to get back on offense; East ern Washington running back Justice Jackson fumbled on the 40-yard line to set UF up in a fa vorable position. Four plays later, Richardson hit sophomore wide receiver Xzavier Henderson in the

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The Tacoma, Washington, na tive unloaded on his third throw of the game for a 62-yard touch down to freshman wide receiver Caleb Douglas. It marked the first touchdown of both of their colle giate careers.

“I knew I was going to have a one-on-one shot outside, so I took my drop and let it fly,” Kitna said.

Follow us for updates

By the time the clock hit triple zeros, the Swamp was nearly bar ren. The Gators were back over .500 though and generated some positive energy to carry into the rest of their season.

“We’ll turn the page,” Napier said.

Florida’s game against Mis souri is set for a noon kickoff and will be broadcast on ESPNU.

@Josephhenry2424 jhenry@alligator.org

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

Florida redshirt freshman quarterback Jalen Kitna saw his first action as a Gator Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022. He completed eight passes for 152 yards and a touchdown against Eastern Washington.

Rae Riiska // Alligator Staff

Eastern Washington sophomore wide receiver Efton Chism III is tackled by Florida sophomore wide receiver Ja’Quavion Fraziars on a kick return Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022.

Record-breaking crowds for Gators football home games prompt stadium safety concerns

ATHLETIC LEADERSHIP, POLICE PREPARED FOR LARGE CROWDS THIS SEASON

By Claire Grunewald Alligator Staff Writer

On Sept. 3, 90,799 fans flocked to Ben Hill Griffin Stadium for the kickoff to the Florida Gators football season. The record number totaled more than 2,200 over capac ity.

No seat was empty for the sold-out game, contributing to the jovial roar of the stadium as Florida upset the Utah Utes. Beyond the excitement of football’s return to the Swamp were football fans worried about their safety in the overcrowded stadium.

Large crowds are nothing new; however, as packed stands are a staple at most Florida games.

Fans have packed the stadium every game to show support for the football team led by its new head coach, Billy Napier. The Swamp has been close to full all season, with an average attendance of 85,435 for the Gators’ first four home games. Despite as surance on safety precautions from the Uni versity Athletic Association and local law enforcement agencies, these crowded games are accompanied by a variety of safety con cerns like fights breaking out among fans.

Vivienne Lewis, a 19-year-old UF psy chology sophomore, attended the second home game against the Kentucky Wildcats and said she was trapped in the chaos. She was trying to get to her seat and a fight broke out between a UF fan and Kentucky fan next to her in the crowd. She couldn’t move away from it because it was too packed inside the stadium, Lewis said.

“The Kentucky fan was trying to push past me but was knocking me and other people over because we couldn’t make room for him,” Lewis said.

The Kentucky game was also sold-out, packing the stadium with 89,983 fans. Cou pled with the Utah game, it was the fourth highest attended pair of games to open a

MEN'S BASKETBALL

football season in the program’s history.

The Gators’ third straight home game against the South Florida Bulls Sept. 17 was the first home game of the season that wasn’t over capacity. The recorded atten dance was just shy of the capacity limit, with 88,496 attendees.

About two weeks later, UF hosted the Eastern Washington Eagles. The game, which was moved from Oct. 1 to Oct. 2 due to Hurricane Ian’s landfall in Florida, brought in a crowd of 72,462.

Fans have continued to express concern for their safety at the stadium after experi encing alleged dangerous incidents at the games from overcrowding.

Summer Atteberry, a 20-year-old music education junior, said she buys season tick ets every year, typically opting to sit in the student section at each game.

“I always have a great time,” Atteberry said. “But no matter where I sit, I always get shoved around and there is zero space to breathe.”

Overcrowding doesn’t only lead to being pushed around — students can lose their spot if they walk away.

“I try to only leave my seat to use the bathroom because even though I am sit ting in the specific seat I paid for, I worry it won’t be there when I return,” Atteberry said.

Despite issues, the UAA always prioritiz es safety of game attendees and prepares in advance for games. It extended the footprint of the gate entrances and bag check lines to reduce bottlenecks with fans entering the stadium, senior associate athletics director Steve McClain said.

The UAA hires more than 4,500 employ ees, he said, to ensure a safe environment on gameday. Leadership coordinates with various police and public safety agencies leading up to each season and game, Mc Clain said.

The Gainesville Police Department is one of the local law enforcement agencies that works at the stadium on game days. GPD has encountered similar issues on game days over the years, no matter the stadium’s attendance, GPD spokesperson Lisa Scott said. They still make special safety consid erations for games that are likely to attract more people.

“If we know that it's a game that histori cally brings a lot of people or that the op posing team has a fan base that travels well, we're going to probably back the game with more employees,” Scott said.

The Alachua County Sheriff's Office is another police agency hired to keep fans safe inside the stadium. One of the biggest problems ACSO has faced this year is fans sitting anywhere they want to without the right tickets, ACSO spokesperson Capt. Kal ey Behl said.

“We're seeing people that have good seats, taking a screenshot of their ticket on their phone and sending it to their friends to sneak down to their seats,” Behl said.

GPD and ACSO want fans to always pri oritize their safety at games. The agencies encourage fans to to approach police offi cers if issues arise during games.

Florida’s next home game will be Satur day, Oct. 8 against the Missouri Tigers. The matchup is set to be one of the marquee events of UF’s homecoming weekend. Kick off is set for noon.

@grunewaldclaire cgrunewald@alligator.org

New faces, new season: Gators basketball gears up for 2023

Florida’s refreshed roster has high hopes for the first season under Todd Golden

By Jackson Castellano Sports Writer

Just seven months ago, Florida basketball was in a dangerous posi tion. Former head coach Mike White, following a disappointing seventh season with the team in which the Gators missed the National Colle giate Athletic Association tourna ment, opted to depart the team for cross-state rival Georgia.

In the aftermath of the decision, Florida lost out on top recruit Ma lik Reneau after the five-star power forward flipped his commitment to Indiana. UF had seemingly no direc tion in a competitive transfer market and nobody at the helm to guide the way. Uncertainty surrounded Flori da’s star Colin Castleton, with many believing he’d take the next step to pro basketball.

UF had no coach, no exciting prospects and no signs of success on the near horizon. However, inside the gym at Florida’s first preseason practices this week, things looked

very different.

It starts with new head coach Todd Golden.

At 37 years old, he’s making the step up to Southeastern Conference head coaching after three promising seasons leading the San Francisco Dons. He previously worked under Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl and has been categorized into the up-and-coming wave of analyticsfocused coaches.

From his introductory press con ference, Golden expressed his desire to reshape the roster and construct a more modern offense.

“You should expect to see a big, strong and deep roster that has a lot of skilled and unselfish players that are willing to put the team in front of themselves,” Golden said.

He made good on his promise, bringing in a group of transfers that are set to make an immediate im pact. Specifically, guard Kyle Lofton, forward Alex Fudge and guard Will Richard all fit that description.

Lofton, a fifth-year from St. Bo

naventure, should make a splash offensively for the Gators. He was second in assists per game and as sist-to-turnover ratio in the Atlantic 10 Conference last season. His fastpaced playmaking ability should ease in initiating the offense Golden is striving for.

Fudge looks to serve as an allaround motor for the team. His size and athleticism make him a promis ing defensive prospect. Fudge aver aged just 14 minutes per game his freshman season with Louisiana State but got run with many of the Gators’ returning starters in practice.

Richard, who is out two to four weeks due to a minor leg injury, missed the majority of the week’s practices. Lofton also left the final practice of the week with a groin injury. The team insists the two in cidents are minor. In short, Florida will need its transfer class to act as key contributors this season.

Perhaps more imperative than Golden acquiring a solid transfer class; however, is the fact he con

vinced Castleton to stay for his fifth year of eligibility. The former Michi gan transfer was the centerpiece of the Gators’ roster last season. When out with injury, Florida looked like a completely different team. Castleton was primed for another dominant year, and convincing him to return and fulfill that potential is a huge win for Golden.

“Colin’s our most proven play er,” Golden said. “It definitely helps when your best player is your best leader. In his mind, he came back here to win and be successful. He’s not gonna leave anything up to chance that way.”

Also returning for the Gators is sophomore Kowacie Reeves. Besides Castleton, the young combo guard will likely have the highest impact of any returning member of the team. He broke out near the end of last season, putting up a career high 21 points in the Southeastern Confer ence tournament versus Texas A&M.

Reeves is poised to take full-time ownership of a starting role this sea

son and will be a focal point offen sively for UF.

Apart from anecdotal evidence at team scrimmages, there’s little to show for the Gators at this point before the season. However, excite ment within the walls of the Florida basketball practice complex and be yond is slowly growing.

“I think this team has the mak ings of being an NCAA Tournament team,” Golden said. “That’s a simple barometer that we can use once we get into March to see if we feel like we’ve had a successful season or not.”

The public gets its first chance to see the Gators men’s basketball team in action during the Orange & Blue scrimmage Nov. 1. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.

Regular-season action begins six days later when Florida hosts Stony Brook.

jcastellano@alligator.org

Rae Riiska // Alligator Staff

Florida fans crowd the Ben Hill Griffin Stadium stands during the Gators game against the Kentucky Wildcats Saturday, Sept. 10, 2022. The announced attendance that evening was 89,993.

MEN'S TENNIS

Gators open ITA All-Americans Championships with pre-qualifying over weekend

BRASWELL, GRANT ADVANCE TO QUALIFYING

By Kyle Bumpers Sports Writer

Florida men’s tennis went 13-3 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-American pre-qualifying round Oct. 1 and 2.

Florida saw five representatives — Jonah Braswell, Will Grant, Lukas Greif, Tanapatt Nirundorn and Togan Tokac — compete in the pre-qualify ing round to decide who would ad vance to the qualifying round. Nate Bonetto already received a bid to play in Monday’s qualifying round, and Axel Nefve earned a spot in the main draw, which starts Wednesday.

Braswell made a splash in his col legiate debut. His first match came against Memphis redshirt sophomore Juan Sebastian Zabala. Braswell made quick work of his opponent, winning in straight sets (6-1, 6-4).

He moved on to play Missis sippi State graduate student Gregor Ramskogler in the second round of

pre-qualifying. Braswell, again, wast ed no time winning 6-3, 6-2 and not dropping a set on the day.

His hot streak continued into day two as he took on Texas A&M sopho more Mathis Bondaz. He got another straight-sets victory (6-2, 6-3) to move onto the last round of the day.

Braswell clinched a spot in the qualifying round with a victory against Vanderbilt freshman Nathan Cox. He took the first set 6-2, but lost the second 6-3. He finished the match with a strong 6-1 victory in the final set to advance to the next round.

Grant had a strong first day of pre-qualifying as well. His first match came against Louisiana

State senior George Stoupe. The junior took the first set, 6-3, but Stoupe fought back and took the second, 6-4. Grant took the edge in a tight race, winning the third set, 7-5.

He moved on to the second round in which he faced St. John’s senior Axel Vila Antuna. Grant won the match more convincingly than the first. He won both sets (6-4, 6-2) to earn him a spot in Sunday’s matches.

Grant went on to play against

South Carolina junior James Story in the third round. He delivered his sec ond straight-sets victory of the tour nament (6-3, 6-2).

Grant’s final match of pre-qual ifying came against North Carolina sophomore Christopher Li. Grant handled the first set and won 6-2. He stayed strong despite Li’s push to take the second set and won 7-6 (4) to move on to the qualifying round.

Greif saw tough competition as his ITA action began against Wake Forest senior Juan Lopez De Azcona. Greif took the first set with a nar row victory, 7-6 (5). The second set went to Azcona, 6-3, but Grief stayed strong and won the third, 6-4.

He didn’t let the grueling match slow him down, and he took his next match in straight sets. He beat Texas junior Evin McDonald in straight sets (6-3, 6-4) to advance to the round of 64.

Greif’s journey came to an end against Tennessee Volunteer senior Angel Diaz. He took the first set 6-4, but Diaz got hot and took the last two sets, (6-2, 6-3).

Nirundorn played Oklahoma se

nior Justin Schlageter in his first ac tion as a Gator. He lost the first set, 6-3. He rebounded and won the sec ond set, 6-2, but couldn’t keep up with Schlageter and got swept 6-0 in the final set, ending his first tourna ment with the team.

Tokac came out strong and took a victory in his first match on Florida’s squad. He played Nebraska-Omaha freshman Ryoma Mishiro and took the first set, 6-0, in a one-sided fight. The second set belonged to Mishiro, who won 6-4, but Tokac returned to his first-set form and won the third set, 6-3.

Tokac saw another tight match in his second time playing Oct. 1. He faced UC-Berkeley junior Lucas Magnaudet, and took the first set 6-3. He lost the second set 7-5, but pulled through with a tie-breaking win in the third set, 7-6 (1), to advance in the tournament.

Tokac’s third match was his most lopsided yet. He took down Drexel sophomore Alan Jesudason in straight sets (6-2, 6-0) to advance to the fourth round of pre-qualifying.

His final match came against LSU

sophomore Julien Penzlin and ended with another straight-sets decision. However, he was on the other side of the result this time, losing 6-1, 6-3.

Braswell and Grant advanced to the qualifying round after winning their four matches this weekend. They join Bonetto in the qualifying round which begins Monday.

Nefve will await his UF team mates as he prepares to take the court Wednesday in the tourna ment’s main draw.

Doubles qualifying play will also begin Monday, and the Gators have three pairs competing. Freshmen Nirundorn and Tokac will face off against North Carolina State senior Robin Catry and junior Luca Staeheli.

Nefve and Grant will see Universi ty of Southern California sophomore Peter Makk and junior Lodewijk Weststrate. Bonetto and Greif will team up to take on Yale’s senior Mi chael Sun and junior Theo Dean.

The first event of qualifying Mon day begins at 9 a.m.

@BumpersKyle kbumpers@alligator.org