OPINION
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COLUMNS
My love letter to the Alligator
By Aidan Bush | Aug. 5It’s hard to distill just how life-changing the Alligator has been these past two years.
Opinion
OPINION
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COLUMNS
Leaving the heart of journalism after two years
By Alyssa Britton-Harr | Aug. 5As I take the next step in my journalism career, I will never forget the people and the place that took a chance on me as a young journalist. The Alligator was a huge part of my first two years at college. I spent every semester, including the summers, covering sports I am passionate about and improving my journalistic skills. I still remember the day my first article about the UF golf team was published, and it was a moment that I will cherish forever because it further ignited my love for storytelling. As a freshman who knew little about journalism, The Alligator welcomed me with open arms and inspired me to become a better writer.
OPINION
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COLUMNS
Chance and comic misunderstanding: My journey at the Alligator
By Diego Perdomo | Aug. 5I joined the Alligator believing I wanted to be better than it.
OPINION
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COLUMNS
Passing down the pen and paper
By Valentina Sandoval | Aug. 5I used to say my goal in life was to leave a legacy. If death came knocking at my door, I wanted to be able to say people would remember me fondly for the things I did.
OPINION
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EDITORIALS
Our interwoven legacy/Nuestro legado entretejido
By Alligator Editorial Board | July 29Like an intricately woven quilt, the key to any community is honoring and highlighting the shared experiences that bind us together despite our differences in background. The Alligator always seeks to create equitable, accessible coverage of the UF and Gainesville communities, stitching together well-loved and worn traditions with the issues facing us today.
OPINION
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COLUMNS
Preventing the well of well-run organizing from running dry
By Cassie Urbenz | July 22Hinting upon this idea last time as I spoke of how intersectionality can help us in the fight against burnout, bringing new members into the fold of leadership is more important than ever. As I, and a plethora of other organizers scramble to help build new leadership, I can’t help but think of the path I took to my current place and how to acclimate others to the difficult job of navigating activism in Florida.
OPINION
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COLUMNS
J.D. Vance: The Forgotten Man
By Abraham Hilu | July 22In 1886, William Graham Sumner, a renaissance man of the social sciences, formerly taught at Yale, produced a work named, “The Forgotten Man.” This piece gave insight into how the American government was moving toward aiding large corporations and concurrently leaving the middle class behind.
OPINION
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COLUMNS
‘Dark Brandon’ delusions: Biden’s narcissism places his feelings over country
By Rey Arcenas | July 15“Dark Brandon is coming back,” President Biden told one voter earlier this month. Dark Brandon, to review, is the internet meme that satirizes the president’s low energy persona by depicting him as a laser-eyed figure cloaked in darkness obliterating malarkey. Its inversion of reality is the punchline. Biden, too, has increasingly inverted reality as he desperately clings to his party’s nomination after a devastating debate performance.
OPINION
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COLUMNS
Mom crossed the border, so I crossed out my dreams
By Vivienne Serret | July 15As a first-generation Latina, iIt’s been up to me to be the glue that puts back the pieces of shattered dreams that once belonged to the 19-year-old version of my mother — a burden placed on me the second I was born.
OPINION
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COLUMNS
Intersectionality as a solution to activism burnout
By Cassie Urbenz | July 8As you become more entrenched in activism at UF and in Gainesville, you quickly begin to see familiar faces. It can be rewarding, but sometimes it can feel like you are the only ones organizing, and it gets rough when you need to plan action and get a LOT of things done in a short amount of time… all on top of your schoolwork, job and personal life.
OPINION
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COLUMNS
Presidential debate: calamities or promise
By Abraham Hilu | July 8The presidential debate June 27 presented a clearer picture of what both candidates have in mind for policies in the United States. A general concluding theme is President Joe Biden is mentally compromised, while former President Donald Trump arguably performed one of his best presidential debates. People from both parties realize Biden doesn’t have the strength to continue the most demanding job in the country.
OPINION
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COLUMNS
It’s Joever: Biden is old, unpopular and should not be running for President
By Rey Arcenas | July 1I tuned into the first Presidential debate of the election season with alcohol in hand. My friends sat around the couch, watching the live political spectacle alongside 51 million other viewers. Drinks ran dry as both candidates made gaffe after gaffe. While former President Trump lied about abortion “even after birth” and denounced Biden as a “bad Palestinian,” our current President’s age became painfully visible as he struggled to form coherent answers to Trump’s rhetoric. Even when silent, Biden unnervingly stared off into space, looking visibly confused.
OPINION
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COLUMNS
Recognizing queer student activists at the frontlines of struggle
By Rey Arcenas | July 1I co-organized my first protest the spring of my freshman year, opposing House Bill 1557 or the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. During our march through Gainesville, dozens of community members swelled the crowd while others heckled us with homophobic slurs.
OPINION
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COLUMNS
Leave it to the professionals: The trend of legislative attacks on higher education in Florida
By Cassie Urbenz | July 1Almost a year ago on July 1, the Florida Legislature passed Senate Bill 256 — a bill specifically intended to limit the power of unions in the state. The challenge that the Florida Legislature forced upon us has developed in several ways. While we have seen a growing community stand behind our unions, we have also seen an escalation of attacks on the groups we have a responsibility to protect.
OPINION
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COLUMNS
‘Inside the closet,’ and what it means to survive in silence
July 1Staying in the closet can feel almost like an act of complicity. Is there a way I could change my family members' minds if I were more open and proud? Am I doing other people like me a disservice by not being out? But surviving as a community isn’t always about large actions, protests and demonstrations. For some of us, the biggest step forward in the fight for queer acceptance is to simply survive. To reach a point of success where we aren’t dependent on those who hate us.
OPINION
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COLUMNS
Climate change in Florida: a state of emergency or a state of no urgency?
By Ace Mclain | July 1Gov. Ron DeSantis recently issued a state of emergency for multiple South Florida counties in response to the devastating rains and flash flooding. Yet less than a month ago, DeSantis signed a bill that sought to expand natural gas infrastructure, putting concerns about climate change on the back burner.
OPINION
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COLUMNS
Donald Trump: Grievance or rightful justice?
By Abraham Hilu | June 10CORRECTION: This column has been updated to state the case's prosecutor was Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and state that former President Donald Trump was found guilty on all 34 counts. The columnist originally wrote that New York Attorney General Letitia James was the plaintiff and did not reference the guilty sentencing. The Alligator corrected the column incorrectly by identifying Alvin Bragg as the Manhattan Defense Attorney and the plaintiff of the case.
OPINION
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COLUMNS
From indictments to disconnect: The polarizing effects of Trump and Biden
By Max Rappoport | June 10The upcoming Summer Olympics in Paris, France have been forced to take a backseat as news cycles begin to focus their content on the presidential race between Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
OPINION
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COLUMNS
Student journalist: Writing about other people’s trauma when I’m still processing my own
By Vivienne Serret | June 5To all my student journalists: If you find yourself hyper-focused on climbing to the top and leaving everyone behind to fend for themselves, it’s time to put the pen down and ask yourself to remember why you started doing this in the first place.
OPINION
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COLUMNS
Lavender, scared: The need for the Lavender LLC
By Rey Arcenas | June 3At the Lavender LLC, I formed life-long friendships and found a welcoming community that helped me grow into myself.
