Following the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor a little over a year ago and one day before Juneteenth, University of Florida President Kent Fuchs announced 15 anti-racism goals UF would pursue to create a more equitable campus.
Spread across three categories of education, history and representation, the 15 covered both short-term and long-term goals for students, workers and the university as a whole. They can be found online at statements.ufl.edu.
Some, like eliminating the Gator Bait cheer at sports events and bringing more diverse speakers and artists to campus, saw change quickly. But others, like improving recruitment and retention of Black students and faculty and reviewing UF s honorary namings and system, have a long way to go.
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The Miami Herald on marking three years since the mass shooting at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School:
The massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018 forced Florida to change in fundamental ways. The state grudgingly passed gun-control legislation, reversing decades of gun-lobby influence in a matter of weeks. The agonized eloquence of students from the school built a protest movement that spread across the country and led to a nationwide March for Our Lives school walkout. A reassessment of school safety finally brought action on long-simmering issues, including mental health and armed campus security.
Now, three years after the Valentine’s Day assault that killed 17 people and injured 17 more, it’s apparent that the attack in our community continues to shape the national dialogue on both gun violence and social justice. On the anniversary of this tragedy, as we struggle to find light in the darkness, we can honor the dead by highlighting that prog