About 10 people sat in the back of Reitz Union Room 282 Tuesday night holding signs with messages like “Reitz wouldn’t want me here” and “Reitz was a bigot. Stop defending him.”
They attended the Student Senate meeting in support of a referendum that asks students if they want to rename the Reitz Union after Virgil Hawkins, an African-American man who was denied entrance to UF in 1949. Last week, the UF Supreme Court passed an amended version of the referendum, which will appear on the October Student Government ballot.
Dave Schneider, a former UF student, visited from Tallahassee to support the referendum. He came with the Dream Defenders, an organization inspired by the values of Martin Luther King Jr.
Schneider said the referendum question means more than a new student union name. He said the issue is about students living in post-racial America.
“This country is only great because we have people constantly challenging to make it better,” Schneider said.
Ford Dwyer, the author of the referendum, told the Senate about Dan Harmeling, a 70-year-old man who attended UF during J. Wayne Reitz’ presidency.
Ford said Harmeling and his twin brother Jim Harmeling were both targeted by Reitz for their civil rights activism in the 60s, leading to Jim Harmeling’s eventual suicide.
Student Body President Tj Villamil also discussed the Reitz Union expansion at the meeting. He said students can give input regarding the new design from noon to 1:30 p.m. Monday and Tuesday on the first floor of the Reitz Union.
“I’m really excited to know we are going to be at the forefront of student unions,” Villamil said.
Contact Samantha Shavell at sshavell@alligator.org.
Student Body President Tj Villamil holds an iPad with an image of Christian Aguilar, an 18-year-old missing UF student, at the Student Senate meeting Tuesday night.
