A pedestrian on UF's Stadium Road Friday afternoon may have mistaken the swarm of freshmen for a new military branch.
But instead of Army fatigues, most of them sported flip-flops and shorts.
About 6,000 new Gators gathered in the O'Connell Center for New Student Convocation and Navigating the Swamp, an event that hasn't been held in years and has never been held for the entire incoming class, according to Dean of Students Office spokeswoman Ann Ho Becks.
The event, which lasted about three hours, featured speeches from UF President Bernie Machen and Luis Alberto Urrea, author of the current Common Reading Program book, "The Devil's Highway."
The morning kicked off with the convocation portion, during which students took part in a pinning ceremony to symbolize their welcoming into the university. Freshman business major Sophie Perez was pinned on stage, and the rest of the students pinned those around them.
After the convocation, the mass broke into groups by college for about two hours, and faculty led discussions on the Common Reading Program book and on how to succeed in different programs.
According to Becks, the event received positive feedback, and UF plans to continue the event in the future.
"We wanted to have a kickoff event to really welcome the students," Becks said.
