After 10 years and tons of free midnight breakfasts, GatorNights is still going strong.
Florida’s weekly late-night program celebrated its 10-year anniversary Friday in the Reitz Union with many of its usual festivities, plus a little added flair.
This week’s installment featured funnel cakes, candy apples and four birthday cakes. There were also carnival games, balloon animals, a screening of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” and guest appearances from Albert, Alberta and UF President Bernie Machen.
“This program is one of the really positive things that’s been done and shows what the university is and what it can be all about,” Machen said.
He emphasized the program’s ability to provide students a fun, unifying experience without the use of alcohol.
In the wake of recent tragedies and with the majority of UF students being under 21, Machen suggests GatorNights to them.
“To them I offer GatorNights as a wonderful example of how you can have a wonderful time with your peers and friends without an alcohol component to that experience,” Machen said.
A pair of GatorNights alums, Jamal Sowell and Britney Swink, followed Machen at the podium and echoed his sentiments.
Swink said her time working with the program helped her develop relationships with hundreds of “regulars,” people she became close with despite seeing them only on a weekly basis.
Sowell said he never missed a Friday at GatorNights in his four years at UF, saying he wasn’t a big fan of clubs, drinking and the whole downtown scene.
“I’ve seen the world, but, regardless of what I did, I always remembered GatorNights,” Sowell said. “GatorNights does have a place in my heart.”
