Twenty-five students learned Monday that their portraits will be joining UF’s Hall of Fame in the Reitz Union.
New inductees for the Hall of Fame, which honors notable student leaders, include the current Black Student Union president, the Asian American Student Union president and the current Student Body vice president.
At least 12 inductees, about half, are members of Florida Blue Key, a UF honor society comprised of students with long careers in Student Government and other student organizations.
Kevin Doan, a 21-year-old UF real estate graduate student and former Student Body vice president, said he was shaking when he found out he received the award.
“It’s kind of like a thank you from the university, and it makes it seem worth it,” Doan said.
A committee of nine UF faculty members and students chose the final recipients from a pool of 87 applicants, said Myra Morgan, the committee chairperson and director of external relations for student affairs.
Five of the nine members of the committee have been inducted into the Hall of Fame, including Will Atkins, the interim executive director of Multicultural & Diversity Affairs, and John Hooker, the development officer for the Institute of Food and Agriculture Sciences.
Morgan said the committee looked at the differences applicants have made in the organizations they got involved with.
“One of the things we ask is for people to put what they accomplished, not just a running list of organizations they belong to,” she said.
Contact Romy Ellenbogen at rellenbogen@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter at @romyellenbogen
