O'Connell and Reitz, both former university presidents, were "practical segregationists" who "relied on tokenism, empty promises, and slow movement to stall the integration of the University of Florida's student body and faculty," according to a 2011 article published in the academic journal
Florida Historical Quarterly. Nevertheless, two of the university's most prominent buildings — the Reitz Union and the O'Connell Center arena — continue to display their names.
J. Wayne Reitz became the university's president in 1955, one year after the landmark
Brown v.
Board of Education decision that deemed racial segregation in schools unconstitutional. Nevertheless, according to the
Florida Historical Quarterly article by Jessica Clawson, Reitz did not prioritize integration at UF until 1962, when he quietly admitted seven Black undergraduate students.