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{{seealso|List of University of Florida alumni}}
{{seealso|List of University of Florida alumni}}


The University of Florida has more than 320,000 alumni.<ref name="MediaGuide"/> The university has produced two Nobel prize-winners, eight members of the [[United States Senate]], almost thirty-five members of the [[U.S. House of Representatives]], ten [[Governors]], and multiple United States Ambassadors. UF graduates have served at the head of such diverse and important institutions as the [[United States Environmental Protection Agency]], [[American Bar Association]], the [[United States Marine Corps]], the [[National Organization for Women]], [[Burger King]], [[NASCAR]], the [[University of Central Florida]], [[Florida State University]], and [[Florida International University]], also the [[Tampa Bay Buccaneers]], the [[New York Yankees]], [[Barnett Bank]], and the Jim Walter Company. Major corporations run by graduates include [[Merrill Lynch]], [[Northwest Airlines]], [[Gartner]], [[Deloitte & Touche]], [[JC Penny]], [[Reebok]], [[Macy’s]], [[Scripps]], [[Golin Harris International]], [[Darden Restaurants]], [[Avaya]], [[The Richards Group]], Torano Cigars, James B. Beam Distilling, and [[City Furniture]]. Major regulatory bodies such as the [[Federal Communications Commission]], the [[Nuclear Regulatory Commission]] and the [[Public Relations Society of America]] have had University of Florida alumni at the helm in recent years. It is also important to note that UF boasts a history of 12 Rhodes Scholars.<ref>{{Citation
The University of Florida has more than 320,000 alumni.<ref name="MediaGuide"/> The university has produced two Nobel prize-winners, eight members of the [[United States Senate]], almost thirty-five members of the [[U.S. House of Representatives]], ten [[Governors]], and multiple United States Ambassadors. UF graduates have served at the head of such diverse and important institutions as the [[United States Environmental Protection Agency]], [[American Bar Association]], the [[United States Marine Corps]], the [[National Organization for Women]], [[Burger King]], [[NASCAR]], the [[University of Central Florida]], [[Florida State University]], and [[Florida International University]], also the [[Tampa Bay Buccaneers]], the [[New York Yankees]], [[Barnett Bank]], and the Jim Walter Company. Major corporations run by graduates include [[Merrill Lynch]], [[Northwest Airlines]], [[Gartner]], [[Deloitte & Touche]], [[JC Penney]], [[Reebok]], [[Macy’s]], [[Scripps]], [[Golin Harris International]], [[Darden Restaurants]], [[Avaya]], [[The Richards Group]], Torano Cigars, James B. Beam Distilling, and [[City Furniture]]. Major regulatory bodies such as the [[Federal Communications Commission]], the [[Nuclear Regulatory Commission]] and the [[Public Relations Society of America]] have had University of Florida alumni at the helm in recent years. It is also important to note that UF boasts a history of 12 Rhodes Scholars.<ref>{{Citation
|first=John
|first=John
|last=Elderkin
|last=Elderkin

Revision as of 17:46, 19 September 2007

University of Florida
Official school logo
Official school logo
MottoCivium in moribus rei publicae salus
(Latin: "The welfare of the state depends upon the morals of its citizens")
TypePublic
Established1853
EndowmentUS $996,245,000 [1][2]
PresidentJ. Bernard Machen
Academic staff
4,534 [3]
Undergraduates34,612
Postgraduates15,081
Location
Gainesville
,
Florida
,
United States
Campus2,000 acres (8.09 km²)
ColorsOrange and (Royal) Blue   
NicknameGators
MascotAlbert and Alberta
Websitehttp://www.ufl.edu

The University of Florida (Florida, UFL, or UF) is a public land-grant, space-grant, research university located in Gainesville, Florida. The university is one of 62 elected members of the Association of American Universities.[1] The university traces its institutional roots to 1853.[2]

University of Florida is the third-largest university in the United States, with 50,912 students (as of Fall 2006) and has the eighth-largest budget (nearly $1.9 billion per year). UF is home to 16 colleges and more than 150 research centers and institutes. As of 2005, Florida ranked second among all institutions in the number of National Merit Scholar students enrolled, behind Harvard.[3] As of early 2007, UF ranked fourth in the nation for enrollment of freshman National Merit Scholars.[4] Researchers at the University of Florida were responsible for developing the famous sports drink Gatorade.[5]

The University of Florida is ranked by U.S. News & World Report 49th overall among both private and public "National Universities".[6] Listed as a Public Ivy,[7] the 2007 Academic Ranking of World Universities list assessed the University of Florida as 51st among world universities and 38th in the United States based on overall research output and faculty awards.[8] The Washington Monthly ranked the University of Florida as 37th overall in its 2006 National College Ranking.[9] For 2007 Newsweek ranked UF one of the Top 25 Hottest Schools.[10]

The University of Florida offers many Graduate Programs — including engineering, law and medicine — on one contiguous site, coordinating 123 master's degree programs and 76 doctorate programs in 87 schools and departments. [4]

UF participates in the NCAA sports programs. Ten Gator athletic teams turned in top-10 finishes in 2005-2006, including a NCAA title by the men's basketball team. Those finishes resulted in Florida finishing fifth in the 2005-06 NACDA Directors' Cup. [11] Its mascot is an Alligator named Albert, and UF's intercollegiate sports teams are referred to as the Florida Gators.

History

The institutional history dates back to 1851 when the legislature set about creating two seminaries, one west of the Suwanee River, and the other to the east. Some trace UF's history back to 1836 when the U.S. Congress authorized an establishment of a "University of Florida." [12]

File:CenturyTower.jpg
Century Tower

In 1853, UF's official date of founding, Gilbert Kingsbury was the first man to take advantage of the legislation passed in 1851 and established the East Florida Seminary (EFS) in Ocala, FL. Before coming to Florida, Kingsbury taught at Thetford Academy in New Hampshire. This was the first state-supported institution of higher learning in Florida and set the foundation for the University of Florida.[13] James Henry Roper, an educator from North Carolina and State Senator from Alachua County, built a school called the Gainesville Academy right around the same time period. In 1866 after EFS had closed due to the Civil War,[14] Roper offered his land and school to the State of Florida in exchange for the relocation of East Florida Seminary to Gainesville, Fla. His offer was accepted and the current site of the University of Florida was in place. Epworth Hall was the main building of East Florida Seminary and still stands, in downtown Gainesville. It is not on the present campus of UF today. [15]

Another precursor to the University of Florida was the Florida Agricultural College established at Lake City in 1884 by Jordan Probst. FAC became the first land-grant college in the state. Florida Agriculture College became a powerful force in the state and changed its name to the University of Florida in 1902, a change that would be short lived. [16]

Murphree Statue outside of Criser Hall.

The 1905 Buckman Act consolidated the colleges of the state. The member of the Florida Legislature who wrote the act, Henry Holland Buckman, is the namesake of Buckman Hall, one of UF's earliest buildings. [17] The Buckman Act provided for the creation of the State University of System of Florida and the Florida Board of Control to govern the affairs of the system. [18] It also called for the merger of several institutions into the new University of the State of Florida. The institutions apart of this were the University of Florida at Lake City (formerly Florida Agricultural College), the East Florida Seminary in Gainesville, the St. Petersburg Normal and Industrial School at St. Petersburg and the South Florida Military College at Bartow.[18]

The act created this one university in the state, but also designated two colleges be formed. Florida Female College would serve as a Women's college and the State Normal School For Colored Students (now Florida A&M University, a historically black university) as a postsecondary institution for African-American students.

On July 6, 1905, the state legislature selected Gainesville for a new university campus. Andrew Sledd from the University of Florida at Lake City became the first president, while architect William A. Edwards designed the first official campus buildings in the collegiate gothic style. Classes began on September 26, 1906 with 102 students. In 1909 the name of the school was shortened to the University of Florida.

The alligator was chosen as the school mascot in 1911. The school colors, orange and blue, are thought to have come from both the Blue and White of the University of Florida at Lake City and the Orange and Black of East Florida Seminary at Gainesville. [19]

Official school logo
Official school logo

In 1909, Albert Murphree was appointed president of UF and attempted to organize the colleges of the university and increased the enrollment of the school substantially. He is the only man with a statue on the campus. President John J. Tigert took over in 1928 and established the grant-in-aid or athletic scholarship program in the early 1930's which is currently used by the NCAA. Tigert was disgusted with the under-the-table payments being made by schools to athletes and radically changed the NCAA with his scholarship plan. [20]

In 1946, there was an incredible increase in male students wanting to attend the University of Florida due to the formation of the GI Bill. Though UF attempted to accommodate the new demand, it simply could not. Faced with a waiting list of nearly 2,200 men, Tigert went to Governor Millard Caldwell for help. Therefore, the Tallahassee Branch of the University of Florida (TBUF) was opened up to serve men on the campus of Florida State College for Women. [21] [22] By the end of the 1946-1947 school year, 954 men were enrolled at TBUF which was governed by the University of Florida in Gainesville. The following semester, the state decided to create a new co-educational Florida State University and end the Tallahassee Branch of the University of Florida. This sequence of events also opened up UF to women undergraduate students for the first time as the University of Florida officially became co-educational. Admission of African-American students also began in 1958. Shands Hospital first opened in 1958 along with the medical school. Rapid campus expansion began in the 1950s and continues to the present day.

In 1985 Florida became a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), a higher-education organization composed of 62 public and private institutions in North America. UF is one of only 17 public, land-grant universities that belongs to the association.

The University of Florida has continued to rise in the U.S. News and World Report rankings. In 2001, UF was labeled a Public Ivy and was 2nd in Kiplinger's 2006 Best Buys of Education behind the University of North Carolina. University of Florida is currently ranked the 49th overall best university (according to US News), however the state of Florida and UF alumni are actively making a concerted effort to become a Top-10 overall public. [23]

As of 2007 the UF College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) is currently undergoing a Five-Year Plan. Announced by Neil Sullivan, former dean of CLAS, on 1 September 2006, the plan calls for reduced funding for the departments of English; Germanic and Slavic Studies; Mathematics; Philosophy; and Religion, while increasing financial resources for the departments of Botany; Zoology; Chemistry; Criminology, Law, and Society; and Psychology; and in the Program in Biological Sciences. The plan has sparked a debate among graduate students and faculty, many of whom view the development and implementation of the plan as a potential breach of shared governance.


Admissions

The acceptance rate at UF has trended downward as the applicant pool has become larger and more competitive. The university has a freshmen retention rate of 93%.[24] For the first-year students that enrolled at UF in 2007, the median SAT score is 1220 - 1390, the Median ACT is 26 - 31, and the Average GPA is 3.9 - 4.4.[25]

Three years after university officials capped the size of the freshman class at about 6,600, competition at UF is at an all-time high, forcing admissions workers to choose among the brightest and leaving behind an unprecedented number of disappointed families.[26] Of those who applied to be part of this fall's incoming freshman class, an estimated 42 percent were accepted -- the lowest acceptance rate in the history of the state's public schools. Selectivity at the state's top university is expected to heighten as UF continues to work toward becoming one of the nation's Top 10 public universities.[26]

More than 2,000 freshmen and sophomores participate in the honors program, which offers 90 to 100 honors courses per semester. UF has the highest admissions standards in the state, with a majority of admitted students scoring more than 1400 on the SAT.[27]

Early decision admissions

In 2007, Princeton University, University of Florida, and Harvard College announced that they were discontinuing their Early Decision admissions in an effort to help foster economic diversity in their student bodies. These three universities assert that Early Decision admissions forces students to accept an offer of admission before evaluating the financial aid offers from multiple universities. It should be noted that a leading college board states that any prospective student "should not apply under an Early Decision plan if he or she plans to weigh offers and financial aid packages from several colleges later in the spring." The University of Florida's single application deadline will be set for November 1.[28]

University Auditorium at the heart of the University of Florida

Notable alumni

See also: List of University of Florida alumni

The University of Florida has more than 320,000 alumni.[24] The university has produced two Nobel prize-winners, eight members of the United States Senate, almost thirty-five members of the U.S. House of Representatives, ten Governors, and multiple United States Ambassadors. UF graduates have served at the head of such diverse and important institutions as the United States Environmental Protection Agency, American Bar Association, the United States Marine Corps, the National Organization for Women, Burger King, NASCAR, the University of Central Florida, Florida State University, and Florida International University, also the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the New York Yankees, Barnett Bank, and the Jim Walter Company. Major corporations run by graduates include Merrill Lynch, Northwest Airlines, Gartner, Deloitte & Touche, JC Penney, Reebok, Macy’s, Scripps, Golin Harris International, Darden Restaurants, Avaya, The Richards Group, Torano Cigars, James B. Beam Distilling, and City Furniture. Major regulatory bodies such as the Federal Communications Commission, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Public Relations Society of America have had University of Florida alumni at the helm in recent years. It is also important to note that UF boasts a history of 12 Rhodes Scholars.[29]

Among the individuals who have attended or graduated from the University of Florida are actress Faye Dunaway, author Michael Connelly, pilot Paul Tibbets, zoologist Archie Carr, astronaut William Frederick Fisher, reporter Stephanie Abrams, poet C. Dale Young, director Hugh Wilson, comedian Darrell Hammond, activist Rita Mae Brown, actor Stephen Root, TV personality Bob Vila, novelist Carl Hiaasen, inventor John Atanasoff, two Heisman Trophy Winners, numerous NFL Pro Bowlers & NBA Basketball players. The University of Florida has also been home to several top Olympians throughout the years. Nearly 100 former UF players have gone on to play for the National Football League, including the all-time leading rusher Emmitt Smith and the legendary coach Steve Spurrier.

Educational reputation

Awards include a Fields Medal, numerous Pulitzer Prizes, NASA's top award for research and Smithsonian Institution's conservation award. There are currently more than 60 Eminent Scholar chairs, and nearly 60 faculty elections to the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, or Arts and Sciences, the Institute of Medicine or a counterpart in a foreign nation. More than two dozen faculty are members of the National Academies of Science and Engineering and the Institute of Medicine or counterpart in a foreign nation.[24]

UF ranked fourth in The Scientist magazine's "Best Places to Work in Academia" (2005); fifth among all universities in Kiplinger's magazine "Top 100 Public Colleges" (2003). UF was also ranked first in top overall values amongst all the public flagship universities by USA Today (2006). UF admitted 1,049 International Baccalaureate students for the 2004-2005 academic year - more than any other university in the world. The freshmen retention rate of 94 percent is among the highest in the U.S.[30]

Baughman Center on Lake Alice at the University of Florida

Research and discoveries

The University of Florida, the state’s largest university and one of the biggest research universities in the nation, contributes nearly $6 billion annually to Florida’s economy and is responsible for nearly 75,000 jobs. [30] The Milken Institute named UF one of the top-five U.S. institutions in the transfer of biotechnology research to the marketplace (2006). Some 50 biotechnology companies have resulted from faculty research programs. UF consistently ranks among the top-10 universities in licensing.[24] Royalty and licensing income includes the glaucoma drug Trusopt, the sports drink Gatorade, and the Sentricon termite elimination system. It should also be noted that the UF is currently ranked seventh among all private & public universities for the total number of patents awarded for 2005.[24]

UF was awarded $583 million in total research expenditures (which is more than all the other Florida universities combined - in sponsored research in 2006-2007).[31] Research includes diverse areas such as health-care and citrus production (the world's largest citrus research center). In 2002, UF began leading six other universities under a $15 million NASA grant to work on a variety of space-related research during a five-year period. UF has a partnership with Spain that helped to create the world's largest telescope in the Canary Islands (the total cost was $93 million).[24] Plans are also under way for the University of Florida to construct a new 50,000-square-foot research facility in collaboration with the Burnham Institute for Medical Research that will ultimately be located adjacent to the UCF's Health Sciences Campus in Orlando, FL. Research will include the areas of diabetes, aging, genetics and cancer.

The $60 million McKnight Brain Institute, part of the UF Health Science Center, is the most comprehensive program of it's kind in the world. The Institute is comprised of 300 faculty members from 10 colleges, and 51 departments campus-wide.[24] In addition, UF is also doing some innovative Diabetes Research In a statwide screening program, that has been sponsored by a $10 million grant from the American Diabetes Association. The University of Florida also houses one of the world's leading lightning research teams.[24] Also UF scientists have started up a biofuels pilot plant that has been specifically designed to test ethanol-producing technology.[24]

UF is also host to a nuclear research reactor which is known for its Neutron Activation Analysis Laboratory.

Academics

File:Marston.jpg
Computer Science and Engineering and Marston Science Library, University of Florida. The sculpture in the foreground is named 'Alachua,' but is better known among students as the 'French Fries.'

UF is divided into sixteen colleges which offer over 100 undergraduate majors and 200 graduate degrees, including the only public dentistry and veterinary medicine programs in the state.[32] The centerpiece of the journalism programs at UF is WUFT, which consists of both a PBS television station and an NPR radio station. The commercial radio station, WRUF AM850, is also one of the oldest stations in the state.

The ratio of women to men is 52:48. Of the 49,693 students, 24 percent are graduate students, and 7 percent are in professional degree programs including architecture, dentistry, law, medicine, pharmacy and veterinary medicine. About 7,500 students live on campus. Approximately 26 percent of the student body represents minority populations with 7.9 percent African Americans, 10.1 percent Hispanics, and 6.5 percent Asian-Americans or Pacific Islanders.

The University of Florida is ranked 2nd overall in the total number of Bachelor Degrees awarded to African Americans, and 3rd overall for Hispanics. In addition UF ranks 5th overall in total number of Doctoral Degrees awarded to African Americans, and 2nd overall for Hispanics. Lastly UF ranks 3rd overall in total number of Professional Degrees awarded to African Americans, and 1st overall for Hispanics.[24]

The University of Florida is home to an Honors College that offers many honors courses to students who earned SAT/ACT scores of 1400/33 or above. The Honors program lasts for a student's first two years, but Honors program services and courses remain available to upperclassmen. Honors students must complete four honors courses to be awarded an A.A. degree with honors or high honors. Honors at the bachelors degree level are determined by rules set by the student's College and major. It should be noted that National Merit Scholars, as of the Fall 2007 term, are no longer being offered a competitive academic scholarship upon enrolling at the university.[33]

The University of Florida School of Medicine was founded in 1958 and conferred its first degrees in 1962. It was ranked amongst the Top-50 for the 2007 edition of U.S. News and World Report for Research.[34] In addition the UF School of Medicine was also ranked in the Top-50 for Primary Care as well.

Student government

Student Government at the University of Florida consists of an executive, judicial, and unicameral legislative branch.

The executive branch consists of a Student Body President, Student Body Vice President, Student Body Treasurer, 9 agencies, and 41 cabinets. The Student Body President, Student Body Vice President, and Student Body Treasurer are elected in annual elections held in the spring. The legislative branch is composed of 94 senators, who serve one year terms. 47 senate seats are elected each spring semester and the remaining 47 are elected each fall semester. The senators elect a Senate President and Senate President Pro Tempore twice a year - once in the fall, and once in the spring - to lead the Student Senate. The judicial branch has three functional components: the Student Supreme Court (headed by a Chief Justice), the Student Honor Court (headed by the Honor Court Chancellor elected each spring), and the Student Traffic Court (headed by a Chief Justice). The student government currently operates on a yearly 12.6 million dollar budget.

File:GatorbyUA.jpg
Gator Bronze Statue near the Plaza of the Americas

Sorority and fraternity affairs

Sorority and Fraternity Affairs (formerly known as Greek Life) at the University of Florida is separated into four divisions: Interfraternity Council (IFC), Panhellenic Council, Multicultural Greek Council (MGC), and National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC).

The Interfraternity Council (IFC) comprises 28 fraternities. These include the following: Alpha Epsilon Pi, Alpha Gamma Rho, Alpha Tau Omega, Beta Theta Pi, Chi Phi, Delta Chi, Delta Tau Delta, Delta Upsilon, Kappa Alpha Order, Kappa Sigma, Lambda Chi Alpha, Phi Delta Theta, Phi Gamma Delta, Phi Kappa Tau, Phi Sigma Kappa, Pi Kappa Phi, Pi Lambda Phi, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Sigma Chi, Sigma Nu, Sigma Phi Epsilon, Sigma Pi, Tau Epsilon Phi, Tau Kappa Epsilon, Theta Chi, and Zeta Beta Tau.

The Panhellenic Council is made up of 16 sororities. These are Alpha Chi Omega, Alpha Delta Pi, Alpha Epsilon Phi, Alpha Omicron Pi, Chi Omega, Delta Delta Delta, Delta Gamma, Delta Phi Epsilon, Delta Zeta, Kappa Alpha Theta, Kappa Delta, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Phi Mu, Pi Beta Phi, Sigma Kappa, and Zeta Tau Alpha.

The Multicultural Greek Council consists of 11 organizations (5 fraternities and 6 sororites) that are culturally based (for instance Latino, Asian, South Asian, etc.). MGC organizations include Delta Phi Omega, Gamma Eta, Kappa Phi Lambda, Lambda Alpha Upsilon, Lambda Theta Phi, Lambda Theta Alpha, Pi Delta Psi, Sigma Beta Rho, Sigma Lambda Beta, Sigma Lambda Gamma, and Theta Nu Xi.

The National Pan-Hellenic Council comprises 9 Historically-Black organizations (5 fraternities and 4 sororities) and include Alpha Kappa Alpha, Alpha Phi Alpha, Delta Sigma Theta, Iota Phi Theta, Kappa Alpha Psi, Omega Psi Phi, Phi Beta Sigma, Sigma Gamma Rho, and Zeta Phi Beta.

There are now also two recognized fraternal organizations for Christian students, Kappa Upsilon Chi fraternity and Sigma Phi Lambda sorority. [35] [36]

Recreation

Some recreational activities available for students include outdoor courts and playing fields on campus, in the O'Connell Center, the Student Recreation and Fitness Center, the Southwest Rec Center, and the Florida Gymnasium for indoor sports. Florida offers intramural and club sports ranging from archery to weightlifting. Near the campus are many recreational lakes and rivers, including university-owned Lake Wauburg.

The campus also contains open spaces, small ponds, picnic areas, shady nooks and an 81-acre wildlife sanctuary that provide opportunities to enjoy Florida's year-round outdoor life.

Historic sites

The University of Florida Campus Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. The district includes 19 buildings, eleven of which had been added to the register previously, and encompasses approximately 650 acres. Two buildings outside the historic district, the old WRUF radio station (now the university police station) and the old P. K. Yonge Laboratory School (now Norman Hall), are also listed on the register.

Additionally, the former East Florida Seminary Academic Building, now known as Epworth Hall, was listed on the register in 1972. Epworth Hall was deeded to the first United Methodist Church of Gainesville in 1911.[37]

Colleges and academic divisions

The University of Florida is divided into 16 colleges and more than 100 research, service and education centers, bureaus and institutes--offering more than 100 undergraduate majors.

North Lawn at UF.

These colleges include:

In addition to the colleges, UF has a number of administrative divisions and centers that support the academic units, including the UF Division of Continuing Education. The university is also the first American university to receive a European Union grant to house a Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence.[38]

Libraries

The Libraries of the University of Florida form the largest information resource system in the state of Florida. In total the University of Florida has nine libraries, and almost 4 million volumes of books & journals.[24] Collections cover virtually all disciplines and include a wide array of formats – from books and journals to manuscripts, maps, and recorded music. Increasingly collections are digital and are accessible on the Internet via the library web page or the library catalog. The George A. Smathers Libraries provide primary support to all academic programs except those served by the Health Science Center Library and the Lawton Chiles Legal Information Center. See the full list of UF Libraries and see the digital collections.

Athletics

Main article: Florida Gators
File:FloridaGators.png
Logo of the University Athletic Association, Inc., responsible for the intercollegiate athletics program at the University of Florida.

The school's sports teams are called the Florida Gators and compete in the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference of the NCAA's Division I. In football, Florida, as well as all other SEC schools, competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS; still often referred to by its former designation of Division I-A). The Gators have a number of rivalries, most notably the in-state Florida State University, and the conference competitors University of Georgia and University of Tennessee. Florida dedicates about $44 million per year to its sports teams and facilities. In 2004-05, Florida won its 14th consecutive SEC All-Sports Trophy. The Florida athletic program has ranked among the nation's top ten in each of the last 23 years and in the top five for 12 of the past 17. Florida is one of only two schools that has ranked among the top 10 athletic programs for the last 23 years.

Florida is the second Division I FBS school to win multiple national championships in each of the two most popular NCAA sports: football (in 1996 and 2006 both championships were unanimous) and men's basketball (in 2006, and again in 2007). With a 41-14 win over #1 Ohio State in the 2006 BCS National Championship, held January 8, 2007, in Glendale, Arizona, Florida became the only Division I school in NCAA history to hold football and basketball titles at the same time. Florida was 12-1 in the regular season, and won the SEC Championship on the road to the BCS Championship Game.

In 2002-03, UF placed a record 193 student-athletes on the SEC Academic Honor Roll. The 2002-03 season marked the sixth consecutive year UF placed 100 or more student-athletes on the SEC Honor Roll.

Football

Main article: Florida Gators football
See also: 2007 Florida Gators football team
Interior of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, also known as "The Swamp."

The Florida Gator football team first took the field in 1906. Since then, the Gators have played in 34 bowl games, won seven Southeastern Conference titles, produced 135 All-Americans coming into the 2006 season, 35 NFL first round draft choices and two Heisman Trophy winners.

Willie Shands, a future State Senator, and the name-sake of Shands Hospital in Gainesville, played for the 1908 team. The Gators earned nation wide recognition in the 1920s with several fantastic finishes and wins. Florida originally competed in the Southern Conference, and in 1928, won the Football National Scoring Title with a 8-1 record.[39] in 1933, President John J. Tigert joined with several other Southern Conference presidents to form the new Southeastern Conference(SEC), which Tigert would eventually lead as commissioner. The 1930s and 1940's were not nearly as kind to the Gators. UF did have quite a few stars including All-American, Fergie Ferguson, in 1941, who would die from wounds suffered in World War II.

Bob Woodruff entered UF into a kinder era, taking UF back to respectability in the 1950s. Florida's first post-season game was a 14-13 victory over Tulsa in the 1952 Gator Bowl, played in Jacksonville, Fla.. UF ended up going 6-4 against the University of Georgia in the decade, and 8 winning seasons. Coach Ray Graves brought UF unprecedented success in the 1960s. The Gators had 9 winning seasons and went to 5 bowl games, racking up the winningest decade in Florida history until the 1990s. The first major bowl appearance by UF was a 20-18 loss to the Missouri Tigers in the 1965 Sugar Bowl. Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Steve Spurrier led the Gators to a 9-2 record in 1966 and a 27-12 victory over Georgia Tech in that year's Orange Bowl. Super Sophs John Reaves and Carlos Alvarez led UF to a 9-2 record and a Gator Bowl win in 1969.[39]

The 1970s were a time of promise and disappointment for UF. The Gators attended four bowl games under new coach and former QB Doug Dickey, who left the head coaching job at the University of Tennessee for his alma mater, but could never quite get Florida their first SEC title. In 1979, Coach Charley Pell took over at UF and created a feared program in the SEC. The Gators finished #6 in the nation in 1983 and had one of the best defenses in the nation, led by Defensive Player of the Year, Wilbur Marshall. UF then had consecutive top 10 finishes and claimed first place in the SEC standings in 1984 and 1985. The 1984 title was stripped by the SEC for NCAA sanctions.[39] Emmitt Smith highlighted the Gators run in the late 1980s, setting the all-time UF rushing mark in 1989.

In 1990, Steve Spurrier returned to UF, this time as head coach, and led UF to another first place finish in the SEC, but again UF was denied a league title due to probation. Florida's first ever official SEC football championship came in 1991 during a 10-2 campaign. Spurrier quickly built the Gators into the dominant team in the SEC, winning a string of conference championships in 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, and 2000. The Gators, led by Spurrier and quarterback Danny Wuerffel, won their first national championship in 1996 with a 52-20 victory over arch-rival Florida State in the Sugar Bowl, after losing the regular season finale to FSU. Wuerffel would also claim UF's second Heisman Trophy.

Florida is one of only three schools ever to win 10 games for six straight seasons (1993-98) and one of only three ever to win at least nine games for 12 straight years (1990-2001). It is one of only six major college schools ever to win 100 games during a decade (102-22-1 in 1990s). UF also claimed the most SEC wins by any school in a decade at 73 and is considered a dynasty by the NCAA from 1990 to 2001. [40]

In January 2002, Spurrier left the Gators to coach the NFL's Washington Redskins, after having won six SEC titles in his 11 year tenure. He was replaced by Ron Zook who, in October 2004, was fired in the middle of his third season but remained coach for the rest of the regular season. In December 2004, Urban Meyer, previously the coach of the Utah Utes, replaced Zook as the head football coach.

Traditional football rivals include the Hurricanes of the University of Miami, the Bulldogs of the University of Georgia in the annual The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party in Jacksonville, Florida, and since the early 1990s, the Volunteers of the University of Tennessee. The University of South Carolina has also become a "rival" since the hiring of Steve Spurrier as their head coach. The University of Florida and the Florida State University play for the Governor's Cup and began their series in 1958, nearly ten years after FSU became a coeducational university. The Gators currently lead the matchup 30-19-2 including three consecutive wins over the past three seasons.

The Gators' home stadium is Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at Florida Field, one of the largest and loudest football stadiums in the country. Florida Field was opened in 1930 and has been expanded several times to now hold over 90,000. The stadium is popularly known as "The Swamp," and was given the nickname by Steve Spurrier in the early 1990s, who quipped that "only the Gators get out alive." The Sporting News named Florida as the top college crowd in the nation and gave Florida Field the honor of the nation's loudest stadium. [41] In 2007, Sports Illustrated ranked Ben Hill Griffin Stadium as the third best college venue in the nation, and was the first overall for college football.[42]

Celebrating 100 years of Florida football, the Gators finished the 2006 regular season with a record of 12-1, capturing the SEC Championship with a 38-28 victory over Arkansas at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia. Florida moved to second place in the Bowl Championship Series rankings and convincingly defeated the number one ranked Ohio State University Buckeyes 41-14 for the BCS National Championship on January 8, 2007, in Glendale, Arizona. Starting quarterback Chris Leak was awarded the honor of being the game's Most Valuable Player. It was the Gators' second consensus national championship, and made UF the first school ever to hold the Division I men's basketball title and the BCS football title at the same time.

Basketball

O'Connell Center as seen from Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
Main article: Florida Gators men's basketball

The UF men's basketball squad has also come to prominence in recent years. They went to the Final Four in 1994 under coach Lon Kruger. Since 1996, they have been coached by Billy Donovan, who is credited with bringing national acclaim to the program. Donovan returned the Gators to the Final Four in 2000, and into the NCAA Championship game, where they lost to Michigan State. They won their first Southeastern Conference Tournament title in 2005, beating the University of Kentucky, their primary basketball rival. After repeating as SEC tournament champs in 2006, the Gators went on to win the first basketball National Championship in the history of the state of Florida, defeating the UCLA Bruins 73-57 on April 3, 2006, at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana. Joakim Noah was named MVP of the tournament.

The men's basketball team plays home games in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center, popularly nicknamed the "O-Dome". The O'Connell Center was also nicknamed the "House of Horrors" in 1999 by ESPN Magazine, due to its reputation as one of the most intimidating venues in the country for opposing teams.[43] This 12,000-seat multi-purpose arena is located directly adjacent to the "The Swamp", Florida's football stadium, and has served in its capacity since opening in 1980. The student section of the O-Dome has been dubbed the "Rowdy Reptiles".

The Florida Gators routed the Arkansas Razorbacks 77-56 on March 11, 2007 to win the SEC tournament title for the third consecutive year. Florida joined Kentucky and Alabama as the only schools to have won three consecutive SEC Tournaments.

Florida defeated Ohio State 84-75 on April 2, 2007 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia to win the national championship for the second consecutive year; the first team to repeat since Duke in 1991-1992. The team became the first in history to win back-to-back championships with the same returning starting lineup. It is also worth noting that the 2007 football and men's basketball championships both came at the expense of the same school, Ohio State, and also defeated the Arkansas Razorbacks for the SEC championship in both football and basketball in the same academic year, neither of which had happened before. They also became the first school to hold both the football and basketball championships at the same time (defeating Ohio State in 2007 & defeating UCLA in 2006) and in the same school year.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to University of Florida.

Template:University of Florida Broadcasting

References

  1. ^ "About UF." University of Florida.
  2. ^ "University of Florida History 1853-1905." University of Florida.
  3. ^ "UF Ranks Number One in Public Universities' Enrollment of National Merit and National Achievement Scholars." University of Florida.
  4. ^ "Why is the University of Florida a World-Class Institution?" University of Florida Admissions Packet 2007.
  5. ^ "The history of Gatorade." Gatorade.
  6. ^ "Top U.S. Universities"
  7. ^ Greene, Howard R. & Greene, Matthew W. (2001). The Public Ivies : America’s Flagship Public Universities (1st ed.). New York: Cliff Street Books. ISBN 0-06-093459-X
  8. ^ "Academic Ranking of World Universities." Institute of Higher Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. 2007.
  9. ^ "The Washington Monthly College Rankings". Retrieved 2006-08-11.
  10. ^ "Top 25 Hottest Schools"
  11. ^ "University of Florida Athletics." University of Florida.
  12. ^ "The Age Change." St. Petersburg Times.
  13. ^ "Kingsbury Papers", Smathers Library.
  14. ^ "UF Early History", University of Florida.
  15. ^ "The Heritage Collection.", Alachua Library.
  16. ^ "UF Timeline", University of Florida.
  17. ^ "Buckman Hall Quick Facts." Department of Housing, University of Florida.
  18. ^ a b "History of the State University System (SUS)", Capitol Center.
  19. ^ "University of Florida History 1906-1927." University of Florida. August 18, 2005. August 9, 2006.
  20. ^ "The NCAA News"
  21. ^ "FSU History", Florida State University.
  22. ^ "Florida State History", Florida State University.
  23. ^ "Public Universities Chase Excellence, at Price." New York Times.
  24. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 2007 Gator Football Media Guide, pp.18-20
  25. ^ 2007 University of Florida Undergraduate Admissions Profile
  26. ^ a b Scott, Anna (2007-07-22), "More find their University of Florida dreams dashed", Herald Tribune, retrieved 2007-09-16 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  27. ^ "Tuition Hike." St. Petersburg Times.
  28. ^ Farrell, Elizabeth (2007-04-03), "UF's abolishes Early Decision Admissions", Chronicle of Higher Education, retrieved 2007-09-16 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  29. ^ Elderkin, John, "CLAS Student Named Rhodes Scholar", CLASnotes, 14 (3), retrieved 2007-09-16 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  30. ^ a b "New study: UF contributes nearly $6 billion to Florida economy" (Press release). 2007-05-14. Retrieved 2007-09-16. {{cite press release}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |source= ignored (help)
  31. ^ "UF receives record $583 million in research funding" (Press release). 2007-08-23. Retrieved 2007-09-16. {{cite press release}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |source= ignored (help)
  32. ^ University of Florida Academics University of Florida. April 10, 2006. August 9, 2006.
  33. ^ "Bernie's salary could be better spent" The Independent Florida Alligator Online.
  34. ^ US News Medical School Ranking for 2007
  35. ^ "Christian Fraternity Rush" Independent Florida Alligator.
  36. ^ "Christian Fraternity" Independent Florida Alligator.
  37. ^ "Epworth Hall." Alachua County Library District Heritage Collection. 2002. August 9, 2006.
  38. ^ The Independent Alligator article
  39. ^ a b c 2007 Gator Football Media Guide, pp.124-127
  40. ^ "Florida Football History"
  41. ^ "The Swamp"
  42. ^ SI 2007 college sports venue review
  43. ^ "Facilities @ Gatorzone" Gatorzone.com

Athletics

Maps

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History

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