Friday night I received text messages from several friends and students at UF regarding a DUI featured on the front page of the Alligator. Kristen Gillis, an avid supporter of my personal campaign against drunken driving and a friend of mine, made a mistake, a big one. I was worried, personally hurt, and pretty heartbroken.
Two things to take from this: Anyone can be a drunken driver, and anyone can be his or her victim; don’t drink and drive, ever. Second, if posting names in the Alligator is intended to be a deterrent for others against drunken driving then every single student who drives drunk should have his or her name listed on the front page. That’s not an attack against the Alligator. Rather, that’s a personal shove at you, my fellow students.
Hundreds of students at UF have made and will make the same mistake Gillis made on Thursday; trust me, I learned that the hard way when my car was hit head-on by another student driving drunk in 2006. One thing UF does not have enough of, however, is amazing people like Gillis. She makes mistakes, but I know she is much better at making people smile.
Don’t want to have your name listed on front page? Then how about everyone sticks to making people smile.
