News - The Independent Florida Alligator

Students have the chance to decide who will fill 50 seats in the student senate representing various colleges, in addition to executive positions like student body president during the Spring 2025 Student Government elections. Voting will take place Tuesday and Wednesday.

NEWS | CAMPUS STUDENT GOVERNMENT

Live updates: UF students vote in Student Government elections

By Alligator Staff report | Feb. 26

Vision, Change and Watch Party spent the beginning of the Spring semester unspooling their plans to rebuild DEI initiatives on campus, remedy food insecurity and affordable housing issues and reform elections to ensure transparency and accountability. Now, students have the chance to decide who will fill 50 seats in the student senate representing various colleges, in addition to executive positions like student body president.

Student government elections are right around the corner, so here’s the latest on when and where you can vote for your campus representatives.

NEWS | CAMPUS STUDENT GOVERNMENT

A voter’s guide to UF’s Spring 2025 Student Government elections

By Michael Angee | Feb. 25

On Tuesday and Wednesday, students will vote on Student Body President, vice president, treasurer and 50 student senators representing academic colleges. Election results are announced late Wednesday.

Withheld Aid, Withheld Education: Santa Fe Students Struggle as Financial Aid Delays Force Unenrollment

NEWS | SFC

Santa Fe College students experience financial aid delays, again

By Shaine Davison | Feb. 25

Santa Fe College has yet to disburse more than one-third of its financial aid for the Spring semester, leaving some students in economic limbo and others still waiting on their aid from last Fall.

UF halts non-academic Living Learning Communities, affecting underrepresented student spaces.

NEWS | CAMPUS STUDENT LIFE

UF pauses non-academic Living Learning Communities in campus housing

By Pristine Thai | Feb. 24

UF indefinitely paused all activities in six non-academic Living Learning Communities Feb. 17, just days after the Trump administration’s Office for Civil Rights banned the consideration of race in any decisions made by academic institutions nationwide.

CASA de Maryland, an immigration advocacy and assistance organization, holds a rally in Lafayette Park, across from the White House in Washington, Monday, Jan. 8, 2018, in reaction to the announcement regarding Temporary Protective Status for people from El Salvador. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

NEWS | CAMPUS STUDENT LIFE

UF Venezuelan students face an uncertain future amid TPS changes

By Amanda Roman | Feb. 21

For Venezuelan students at the University of Florida, the uncertainty surrounding Temporary Protected Status is a heavy burden, bringing deep emotional challenges as they grapple with what lies ahead.

The most recently drawn election map for UF’s senate races conglomerated all off-campus districts into a single 37-seat super district, leading to accusations of gerrymandering.

NEWS | CAMPUS

UF stands to lose tens of millions in medical research funding under Trump administration order

By Pristine Thai | Feb. 19

UF could lose tens of millions of dollars in research funding this year if a change to the National Institutes of Health's grant distribution policy survives a wave of legal challenges.

The Vision Party prioritizes student mental health and food insecurity, the Change Party focuses on graduate housing and expanding 24/7 access to Marston Science Library, and the Watch Party emphasizes fair elections.

NEWS | CAMPUS STUDENT GOVERNMENT

Student Government election platforms hone in on mental health, DEI and fair elections

Feb. 17

With student government elections approaching on Feb. 25 and 26, Change, Vision and Watch Party officials have spent the month of February rolling out their platforms on social media and spreading the word across campus.

A University of Florida-themed collage titled "A CLAS Love Story" celebrates connections formed within the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. The design features a corkboard background with pinned photographs, a campus map, and UF branding. On the left, a framed image shows a smiling couple, with the man wearing glasses and a beige blazer and the woman holding a plate of powdered beignets. On the right, another framed photo features a couple dressed as Star Wars characters alongside a child in costume, set against a backdrop of palm trees. A pink map of UF’s campus highlights the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, while additional elements, including a UF CLAS sign, a heart sticker, and small images of campus.

NEWS | CAMPUS

Sweethearts in the Swamp: UF professors’ love stories

By Sofia Meyers | Feb. 14

UF professors shared their romantic journeys leading them into the Swamp. Gainesville became a loving home for these couples.

McNair Bostick (left), Luca Bostick-Valero (center) and Carmen Valero-Aracama (right) pictured at their home in University Village South.

NEWS | CAMPUS

Graduate student memorial in jeopardy ahead of University Village South demolition

By Shaine Davison | Feb. 12

As the demolitions of Maguire Village and University Village South loom, UF graduate students are rallying to save the once-bustling communities. But for former UVS resident Carmen Valero-Aracama, the demolitions pose an additional loss: a memorial of her husband.

NEWS | CAMPUS BREAKING NEWS

UF responds to audit findings on former President Ben Sasse’s spending

By Alligator Staff report | Feb. 11

In a response to the Florida Auditor General’s recently released findings on former UF President Ben Sasse identifying overall unnecessary spending, the university defended itself with a seven-page memo.

UF's changes to IA in the middle of the application cycle leaves many upset.

NEWS | CAMPUS

UF’s Innovation Academy faces “bait and switch” backlash after sudden program change

By Grace McClung | Feb. 11

In the middle of the academy’s most recent admissions cycles, UF abruptly removed First Fall as an option. The move has left prospective students and their parents feeling duped.

A dark cloud looms over Gainesville as flu season approaches once more. But this time, nobody is safe from being infected.

NEWS | CAMPUS STUDENT LIFE

UF sees worst flu outbreak in a decade

By Sofia Meyers | Feb. 11

Over 200 UF students fell victim to an influx of flu diagnoses from last month amid a record-breaking cold weather spike last month, which forced people to stay indoors and made conditions optimal for the flu to spread.

Bart Knowles was sworn in as UPD chief Monday, Feb. 10, 2025. Photo by Antonio LaManna

NEWS | CAMPUS

Bart Knowles sworn in as UPD chief, pledges to prioritize recruitment and retention

By Grace McClung | Feb. 10

Bart Knowles was sworn in as UF Police Department chief Monday morning. Knowles has served as interim chief since June after his predecessor, Linda Stump-Kurnick, was promoted to a position in central administration.

The state of Florida is reviewing all general education courses to make sure they align with new standards.

NEWS | CAMPUS

Why are politicians purging ‘identity politics’ from UF’s general education curriculum?

By Zoey Thomas and Garrett Shanley | Feb. 10

The Board of Governors, a majority of which are appointees of Gov. Ron DeSantis, voting month to purge UF’s general education catalog from more than 1,200 courses to just under 300.

NEWS | CAMPUS STUDENT LIFE

From California to Florida: UF students feel the heat of wildfires from afar

By Amanda Roman | Feb. 7

While the Eaton and Palisades fires in Los Angeles County occurred more than 2,400 miles away from Gainesville, their impacts have been felt by students at the University of Florida.

NEWS | CAMPUS BREAKING NEWS

UF ceases DEI and accessibility funding

By Vivienne Serret | Feb. 5

All diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility activities required of federal funding in grants will cease at UF, according to an email sent by the university’s Vice President for Research, David Norton.

New Board of Governors regulations could give DeSantis more influence over UF’s presidential search, allowing the board to appoint a member to the search committee and requiring all finalists to get BoG approval.

NEWS | CAMPUS UF ADMINISTRATION

DeSantis said he’d stay out of UF’s next presidential search. His appointees won’t.

By Grace McClung | Feb. 4

Gov. Ron DeSantis has said he won’t get involved in UF’s presidential search. But under a recent rule, the state university system’s Board of Governors, seven of whom are DeSantis appointees, must approve UF’s presidential finalists before they’re publicly announced.

NEWS | CAMPUS UF ADMINISTRATION

State audit finds overall unnecessary spending under former UF President Ben Sasse

By Garrett Shanley | Feb. 3

A preliminary report from the Florida Auditor General found UF failed to prevent former President Ben Sasse from leveraging his executive privileges to inappropriately spend university funds.

Helga Melmed spoke at the Chabad UF Center Monday, Jan. 27, 2025. Photo courtesy of Lexi Szafranski, Chabad UF.

NEWS | CAMPUS

‘All we were was a number’: Auschwitz survivor speaks at UF Chabad on Holocaust Remembrance Day

By Shaine Davison | Jan. 29

Helga Melmed, a 97-year-old Holocaust survivor, captivated more than 400 University of Florida students and Gainesville community members at the Chabad UF Student Center Monday evening with her powerful testimony of survival, resilience and love amidst captivity in Auschwitz and two other German camps.

It is unclear which programs will be affected by the directive, but public speculation suggests most universities, nonprofits and local governments stand affected

NEWS | CAMPUS BREAKING NEWS

UF issues guidance on Trump administration’s federal funding freeze

By Grace McClung and Vivienne Serret | Jan. 29

UF is urging its faculty and staff to continue with business as usual after the Trump administration announced a temporary pause on all federal financial assistance, which includes billions of dollars in federal grants and loans for universities nationwide.