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Sunday, March 22, 2026

Opinion

Florida Alligator
Opinion

As you change throughout college, stay true to yourself

College is a time for exploration and self-discovery. Hardly any of us will leave UF as the same person we were when we got here. Letting the experiences you have in college lead to change and growth is a normal and healthy thing to do during this time. What isn’t healthy or normal, however, is letting the people around you dictate how you change and how you grow.


Florida Alligator
Opinion

Greek life is for some people but if it’s not for you, that’s OK

With the beginning of another school year comes something that is a mystery to most and dreaded by many: fraternity and sorority recruitment. As of last Wednesday, sorority recruitment at UF has come to a close. For many women on campus, the last week has been filled with makeup, dresses, heels, small talk and long hours. Girls from all over the country — and world — come to UF to visit each sorority house and find their homes and future sisterhoods through a process that could accurately be described as grueling and rather unpleasant.


Florida Alligator
Opinion

Ignorance is not always bliss when it comes to news

Over the summer, a lot of UF students had the luxury of living in a bubble. Some students spent the past three months in the woods as camp counselors. A few used their time off from classes to travel abroad to where they had little-to-no access to the internet. Others went on mission trips, worked at time-consuming internships or just spent their days sleeping for long periods of time. Basically, a lot of Gators were fortunate enough to be gleefully unaware of a lot of the chaos happening around them over the past few months.


Florida Alligator
Opinion

We need to start shopping with a purpose

Welcome back to the swamp, Gators! I hope everyone has been having a fabulous summer, after all, I already know all the Florida residents have been having a warm one. However, now that we are all back in action and ready to go, it's time to get serious. Let's talk about the planet, and how to make it better.


Florida Alligator
Opinion

Writing can give you the power to be anything and do anything

On Aug. 7 my little brother and I had to trek across London from one airport to another, accompanied by two large suitcases, phones that did not work outside of the country and the exhaustion of a day of traveling. Due to general miscommunication, we were separated from the rest of our family, whose flights were out of Heathrow Airport the next day. Ours was out of Gatwick Airport (which has no direct Tube line, mind you).


Florida Alligator
Opinion

Open your mind to a unified America

President Donald Trump’s address Monday evening was alarming and infuriating to many Americans for a number of reasons. Somewhere in between the incoherent babbling and deplorable attempts at defending himself and his actions, the president announced that not only does he plan on keeping troops in Afghanistan, but he wants to send more.


Florida Alligator
Opinion

College is hard — good friends make it easier

I don’t mean to get sappy or sentimental right off the bat, but today marks the first day of my last year of college, so maybe I can’t help it. Although it may sound cliche, I realize with each new semester how much, however slight, I’ve changed from the last, and I try to recognize what I want to do differently each time around. Indeed, senior year seems to lend that idea even more gravity.


Florida Alligator
Opinion

Our promise to our readers

Well, here we are. It’s the start of another Fall semester. Freshmen are moving in, our graduate friends are gone, and the world is changing. The Alligator isn’t immune to that.


UF coach Jim McElwain watches on during UF's Orange and Blue Debut on April 7, 2017, at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
Sports

Column: Think you know who the Gators’ starting QB should be? Think again.

Anyone who listens to Jim McElwain answer one question knows he is not a straightforward man. He rambles. He swerves. He changes topics like a figure skater changing direction. For example, here’s what he said when asked about how challenging the team’s quarterback competition must be given that two weeks from the team’s season opener, it’s still a three-man race:



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