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MONDAY, MAY 12, 2025
VOLUME 119 - ISSUE 30 Not officially associated with the University of Florida
Published by Campus Communications, Inc. of Gainesville, Florida
Students and faculty react to UF presidential finalist STUDENTS AND FACULTY AT UNIVERSITY FLORIDA AND UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN HAVE MIXED REACTIONS TO UF PRESIDENTIAL FINALISTS
By Maria Avlonitis Alligator Staff Writer
On May 4, UF announced Santa J. Ono, the former University of Michigan president, was the sole finalist in the search for its 14th president. The announcement was met with a mix of emotions: optimism, concern and shock.
Jordan Klucharich // Alligator Staff
Santa J. Ono speaks to the crowd at a public forum held at Emerson Hall on Tuesday, May 6, 2025.
UF announces drastic summer changes to RTS, community says ‘No’ UF PLANS TO CUT MORE THAN A DOZEN RTS ROUTES
By Mallory Schumann Alligator Staff Wrtier
A crowd of protesters gathered outside Rawlings Hall late afternoon on May 8, chanting slogans like, “UF admin hear us now, save our routes or we shut it down.” The protest gathered in light of proposed “alignment changes” to routes 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 13, 17, 20, 23, 33, 37 and 43. UF had previously announced RTS funding would be cut in half beginning July 1. Routes 16, 21, 28, 34, 35, 38, 46, 118, 122 and 127 will no longer be in service. Other routes will be merged, such as route 12, one of the most used routes by students living off-campus, and route 35, which will no longer travel to Butler Plaza. All the buses will run on weekdays from 6:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. All routes, besides 126, will run Saturdays from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sundays 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Route 126 will run from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekends. Union support During the pre-rally meeting at Rawlings Hall,
SPORTS/SPECIAL/CUTOUT
Todd contract Story Golden description finish with comma, Golden becomes second highest-paid pg# SEC coach. Read more on pg. 12
members of United Campus Workers, UF’s United Faculty of Florida and Graduate Assistants United spoke about how the decisions will affect RTS drivers and the community. Marilyn Wende, a UF United Faculty of Florida member, said RTS workers already lack adequate support and funding. “We are already overworked,” Wende said. “We’re already underpaid, and we’re not receiving the respect we deserve.” Her voice was accompanied by supportive honking from passing buses and cars. Other speakers argued route cuts will impact low-income neighborhoods, unhoused populations and disabled individuals who rely on public transport. With signage such as “Respect RTS Workers” and “Public Transit is a Human Right,” the rally continued peacefully until 5:30 p.m. The GTEC Meeting Once the clock hit 6 p.m., the joint-committee meeting between UF and RTS opened to a tense crowd. There were no available seats, so most elected to stand in the doorway of the small conference room.
SEE RTS, PAGE 4 New pope
Catholic students react to Pope Leo XIV, pg. 5
The Avenue: Met Gala
Writers discuss iconic looks, pg. ##
University of Michigan students weigh in Nicholas Love, a 22-year-old U-M psychology alumnus who graduated just a few weeks ago, said the announcement was a surprise to him. “I don't think a lot of people knew that he was leaving,” Love said. “I thought it was definitely weird that he did it a couple days after graduation to get up outta here.” Love said he was especially surprised by Ono’s leave because U-M’s Board of Regents had extended his contract until 2032 in October. The contract included a base salary increase to $1.3 million per year. The announcement also shocked Siddharth Desai, a 20-year-old U-M neuroscience senior, because of how short Ono’s 3-year presidency was. Desai said he liked Ono as a president initially but didn’t think his time at U-M ended strongly. UF students prepare for Ono “I think as more and more of these stressors came in, and he had to make the big decisions, he kind of bent to the will of the university rather than siding with the students,” Desai said. To Theo Jaffee, a 20-year-old UF computer science senior, the announcement came as good news. He said he likes what he has learned about Ono through personal research, and Jaffee thinks he has a well-balanced background of STEM, humanities and academia.
Before his time at U-M, Ono was president of the University of British Columbia and the University of Cincinnati. He was elected to the National Academy of Medicine and serves on the American Council of Education. UF held a series of public forums in Emerson Hall on May 6 for students, staff and faculty to meet Ono and ask questions on several topics. The forums came two weeks after classes ended and two days after the last day of commencement. About 75 students attended the student forum. The university may have held the public forums after the semester ended to avoid protesting, Jaffee said, which he said he witnessed during Ben Sasse’s public forum. “[Sasse] had a forum just like that, which I went to, and there were protestors everywhere, and a lot of people were very pissed,” he said. Jaffee wasn’t in town during the forums, but he said he would have attended the student forum. He said he feels that Ono seems like a great choice for president. Katherine Canev, a 20-yearold UF biochemistry junior, said she felt disappointed by the announcement’s timing. She couldn’t attend the forums because she had already left campus for the summer. “At the end of the day, we are all a part of this university,” Canev said. “We deserve to participate in this process.” She was also disappointed in Ono as a candidate because of his past presidencies, she said. Ono pushed back against a strike by U-M graduate students, instructors and graduate assistants in 2023. The strikers eventually agreed to a new three-year contract with the administration. The Higher Learning Commission, which accredits U.S. universities, announced an investigation into U-M’s conduct during the strike. Ono faced backlash for his actions toward pro-Palestine protests. 40 protesters were arrested in a protest staged
SEE ONO, PAGE 3
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