April 18, 1971: About 400 students gather on the Plaza of the Americas to symbolically bury the living UF President Stephen C. O’Connell.
The demonstration was in reaction to the arrest of 67 black students a few days earlier as they protested at the president’s office and demanded his immediate resignation in the face of what they believed to be a racist and problematic university power structure.
The students then march to his house to present his wife with a wreath of lilies.
April 18, 1979: In the face of financial uncertainty the University Athletic Association votes to drop wrestling and women’s volleyball.
Dropping the programs will save the university $130,000, and all athletic scholarships for those involved will be discontinued. It’s estimated 75 percent of the athletes will transfer to other school because of the cuts. The women’s team will return in 1984.
April 20, 1982: A public relations class breaks a Guinness Book World Record by building a leather wallet that was 3 feet by 5 feet with the intent of presenting it to President Reagan.
“We want Gov. [Bob] Graham to bring the wallet with him to Washington when he tries to get federal funds for the state of Florida,” said UF student Richard Widick, a member of the class attempting the project.
