University of Florida

The University of Florida is a public university and land-grant institution located in Gainesville, Florida. It is the fourth-largest university in the United States, with over 48,000 students; it also has the eighth-largest budget (nearly $1.9 billion per year) and was ranked 1st in the state and 50th overall by US News and World Report among US national universities in 2006. UF is sometimes referred to as a Public Ivy.

Noted as the place where Gatorade was created, UF ranks first among public institutions and second among all institutions in the number of National Merit Scholar students enrolled. UF is the alma mater for more members of the U.S. Congress than any other public university[1]; currently nine alumni serve in the House or Senate.

Contents 1 History 2 Historic Sites 3 Academics 4 Athletics 5 Alumni 6 See also 7 References 8 External links 8.1 Athletics

History

Image:Uftower20031025.jpg The June 5, 1905 Buckman Act created the current University of Florida by removing funding for existing educational institutions, including the University of Florida at Lake City (formerly Florida Agricultural College), their nearby rival, the East Florida Seminary in Gainesville, the St. Petersburg Normal and Industrial School at St. Petersburg and the South Florida Military College at Bartow consolidating them under state control as the University of the State of Florida. On July 6, the state legislature selected Gainesville for a new university campus. Andrew Sledd from the University of Florida at Lake City became the first president, while architect William A. Edwards designed the first campus buildings in the collegiate gothic style. Classes began on September 26, 1906. In 1909 the name was shortened to the University of Florida.

1905 was considered the university's official founding date until 1935, when the date was retroactively changed to 1853 by state officials at the instigation of UF's third president John J. Tigert. 1853 was the founding date of the East Florida Seminary in Ocala, an institution which briefly closed during the Civil War and reopened in Gainesville, having been moved by an act of the Legislature in 1866.

The Buckman Act established the University of Florida as the only public school in Florida for white males. In 1947, UF began allowing women to enroll. Admission of African-American students began in 1958.

Shands Hospital at UF first opened in 1958 along with the medical school. Rapid campus expansion began in the 1950s and continues to the present. In 1985, UF's status as a major research institution was confirmed by its admission to the prestigious Association of American Universities.

The alligator was chosen as the school mascot in 1911. The school colors, blue and orange, are thought to have come from both the Blue and Gold of the University of Florida at Lake City and the Orange and Black of East Florida Seminary at Gainesville. [2]

Historic Sites

Image:Albert A Murphree statue by Masculatron.jpg The University of Florida Campus Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. The district includes 19 buildings, eleven of which had been added to the register previously. Two buildings outside the historic district, the old WRUF radio station (now the university police station) and the old P. K. Yonge Laboratory School (now Norman Hall), are also listed on the register.

Additionally, a former East Florida Seminary residence building, Epworth Hall, is listed on the register. Epworth Hall is now part of the First United Methodist Church of Gainesville.

Academics

UF is divided into twenty-one colleges, which offer over 100 undergraduate majors and an equally wide array of 200 graduate degrees, including the only dentistry and veterinary medicine programs in the state. The centerpiece of the journalism programs at UF is WUFT, which consists of both a PBS television station and an NPR radio station. The commercial radio station, WRUF AM850, is also one of the oldest stations in the state.

The acceptance rate at UF has trended downward as the applicant pool has become more competitive. In 2005, the average incoming freshman had a GPA of 4.0, an SAT score of 1300, and an ACT composite of 29. Undergraduate tuition is around $100 per credit-hour for Florida residents, and $520 per credit-hour for out-of-state students, with a typical load of 30 credits per year.

The university is 13th among all universities - public and private - in the number of U.S. Patents awarded in 2000.

Athletics

Main article: Florida Gators

Image:Dsg UF Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Inside 20050507.jpgThe school's sports teams are called the Florida Gators and compete in the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference of the NCAA's Division I-A. Florida dedicates about $44 million per year to its sports teams and facilities. For the sixth time, UF swept the overall men's and women's Southeastern Conference All-Sports Trophy in 2002. With its third-place finish in the 2001-02 Sears Directors' Cup rankings, Florida has ranked among the nation's top 10 athletic departments for 19 straight years.

The Gator football team became a commanding force in college football when Steve Spurrier became head coach in the 1990s. Spurrier quickly built the Gators into the dominant team in the SEC, winning a string of conference championships. In 1996, the Gators, led by Spurrier and quarterback Danny Wuerffel, won their first national championship. In January 2001, Spurrier left the Gators to coach the NFL's Washington Redskins. He was replaced by Ron Zook, who , in October 2004, was fired in the middle of his third season but remained coach for the rest of the regular season. In December 2004, Urban Meyer, previously the coach of the Utah Utes, replaced Zook as the head football coach. While the team is no longer at the same level of dominance it enjoyed under Spurrier, it still consistently posts exceptional seasons. Traditional football rivals include the Seminoles of Florida State University, the Hurricanes of the University of Miami, the Bulldogs of the University of Georgia, and since the early 1990's the Volunteers of the University of Tennessee. The Gators' home stadium is Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, also known as "Florida Field" or "The Swamp".

The UF men's basketball squad has also come to prominence in recent years. They won their first Southeastern Conference Tournament title in 2005, beating the University of Kentucky. They are currently coached by Billy Donovan, who has been the head coach of the Gators since 1996, and is credited with bringing acclaim to the program. Florida's primary men's basketball rival is traditional SEC basketball superpower Kentucky.

Since 1968, 118 Gator student-athletes have represented 27 countries in ten Olympiads and laid claim to 76 medals, including 39 golds.

Alumni

For more details on this topic, see Category:University of Florida alumni.

The University of Florida has more of its graduates in the United States Congress than any other university or college in the country - currently nine alumni serve in the House or Senate. In the last four decades, more presidents of the American Bar Association have come from the Levin College of Law than any other U.S. law school.

Emmitt Smith - Former NFL Star

See also

• The Independent Florida Alligator
• Florida Blue Key
• Gatorade
• Fredric G. Levin College of Law

References

• University of Florida Alumni Association of Greater Washington DC
• University of Florida Facts. University of Florida website. Accessed January 6, 2004.
• Teague, Edward H. Historic Sites Guide. George A. Smathers Libraries website. February 2, 2000. Accessed April 30, 2005.

External links

• University of Florida official Web site
• Gatorpedia, student-run wiki
• Ray Washington, "Racism, Hubris And The Founding Of The University of Florida", Tampa Tribune, July 17, 2005

Athletics

• Official Athletic Dept. Site
• Gator Country coverage
• Gainesville Sun coverage
• Independent Florida Alligator coverage
• We Are the Boys

Southeastern Conference:   Eastern Division: Florida | Georgia | Kentucky | South Carolina | Tennessee | Vanderbilt   Western Division: Alabama | Arkansas | Auburn | LSU | Mississippi | Mississippi State

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State University System of Florida: Florida A&M University | Florida Atlantic University | Florida Gulf Coast University | Florida International University | Florida State University | New College of Florida | University of Central Florida | University of Florida | University of North Florida | University of South Florida | University of West Florida

de:University of Florida ja:フロリダ大学 simple:University of Florida