Xin Lin’s day came to a screeching halt Tuesday morning when he saw the sign.
“Free Donuts,” it read.
The fifth-year UF industrial engineering student made a beeline for Newell Hall. He would never pass up a free donut, he said.
Lin, 23, was met with not only boxes and boxes of Krispy Kreme glazed donuts but also newly appointed Dean of Students Heather White.
For two hours, White chatted with students and handed out 200 donuts on the first floor of Newell Hall for the first monthly “Donuts with the Dean.” Campus Diplomats and U Matter, We Care also tabled at the event and handed out stickers, bags, pens and small, squishy gators. The event was meant to help White get to know the student body and make her position more visible, she said.
“It was just a very informal way of saying ‘Hello’ and ‘Good luck with the new semester,’” White said.
White served as interim Dean of Students since July and began her permanent role this month, according to Alligator archives. She has made students a priority by launching “Donuts with the Dean,” moving “Dine with the Dean” — a program where students can eat lunch with White — out of the Dean of Students office and into places like residence halls and the Reitz Union.
“I’m not really thinking about the past, I’m just thinking more about the future and focusing that way,” she said.
Contact Jessica Giles at jgiles@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter at @jessica_giles_.
Christina Sedaros, a UF statistics freshman, talks with Dr. Heather White, the Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students, at the Donuts with the Dean event in Newell Hall on Tuesday. Sedaros said she goes to Newell every day.
