Some New Year’s resolutions for UF

We are now officially in 2019. With the coming of the new year, many people make New Year’s resolutions for things they want to improve on. However, it doesn’t just have to be individuals who make New Year’s resolutions. For my first column of both the new year and the new semester, I’d like to offer some New Year’s resolutions for UF:

Race and diversity on campus: UF has long struggled to expand opportunities for minorities on campus and to make everyone feel included. Only 7 percent of UF’s student body is African American. For comparison, 8.3 percent of Florida State University’s student body is black, while the number is 11 percent for the University of Central Florida. Even beyond the numbers, major media outlets like the Tampa Bay Times have discussed the isolation and separation felt by many black students at UF, and when a marshal at last May’s graduation forcibly moved students along the stage, the perception that black students were being singled out for manhandling raised the possibility that the incident was racially motivated. While UF and student body president Ian Green have launched the Bridges Minority Outreach Program to help underrepresented students prepare for and visit UF, this university can do more, such as expanding the African American Studies program, hiring more black faculty and naming buildings and other structures after prominent African Americans at UF (such as Virgil Hawkins, whose battle to enroll at UF’s College of Law led to a court order desegregating UF).

Free speech: Issues of free speech on campus have also been contentious. The most notable example is when notorious white nationalist Richard Spencer spoke at the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in October of 2017, before being drowned out by protestors in the audience. What followed was a new state law governing free speech on campus. However, as I discussed in a previous column, this law also made the university liable to lawsuits if protestors “materially disrupted” a scheduled speech, which disincentivized the university to bring in potentially controversial speakers for fear of protests and subsequent lawsuits from the speakers. And given that less than a month ago the UF chapter of Young Americans for Freedom filed a lawsuit against the university alleging that UF has infringed on their free speech rights by denying them funds to bring in speakers, it seems the consequences of this new policy are becoming apparent. In the new year, UF should do more lobbying of the Florida Legislature to craft a new college free speech law, one that balances free speech, public safety, and the rights of protesters and counter-protesters. Until then, UF needs to set an example, allowing students of all political orientations to speak out and have their views represented, while also managing any protests so they don’t run afoul of the law.

Greater focus on mental health: Just like individuals often make resolutions to focus on their mental health, so too should UF. The UF Counseling and Wellness Center, while providing invaluable services, is sadly underfunded, with reports of wait lists sometimes a whole semester long. Outside help is available, but it could be out of reach for some students due to transportation issues, and frankly, the university has an obligation to help all its students instead of dumping them on the community (which also has to deal with plenty of non-student residents in need of mental health care). The obvious answer would be for the university to fund the Counseling and Wellness Center more so they can hire more counselors or maybe even open an additional location. While I would fully support that, I think the issue goes deeper. UF should also team up with campus organizations like Stronger Than Stigma and Out of the Darkness to inform people about mental health, and to lessen the stigma around it. Above all, mental health needs to be a bigger priority, both among students and administration.

While these aren’t the only areas UF can improve in, these are probably the biggest and most consequential. As we head into 2019, it is my hope that UF can navigate these issues to create a healthier, freer, and more diverse student community.

Jason Zappulla is a UF history junior. His column appears on Mondays.