High Ropes Course to Open at Lake Wauburg

UF and the Department of Recreational Sports announced in October that they plan to add a High Ropes and Elements Challenge Course to the activities that are offered at Lake Wauburg's South Shore.  

Located in Micanopy, several miles south of UF's main campus, Lake Wauburg is a retreat for students and provides facilities for outdoor recreation, team training, and personal improvement.  The North Shore features aquatic activities including sailing, swimming, canoeing, paddle boarding, water skiing, and wake boarding.  The South Shore is primarily used for team training exercises.

I have personally been to a number of team training days at Lake Wauburg and am always impressed with the offerings that are available.  The new High Ropes and Elements Challenge Course will expand the breadth of offerings at the South Shore and will benefit students and faculty, as well as groups that are not affiliated with UF.  You can find more information about RecSports's Outdoor Team Challenge Course HERE!

No. 2 Gators take on No. 1 Sooners today in Gymnastics meet

I mentioned on Wednesday that spring sports are making a big splash here at UF.  Starting at 7:00 tonight, the reigning NCAA champions, Florida Gymnastics will take on No.1 Oklahoma in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.  Both teams enter tonight's meet after weekend wins.  Oklahoma has put up impressive wins over Georgia, Arizona, and Iowa State.  The Gators, in their most recent meet against Georgia put up two impressive back to back 10's when Bridget Sloan and Kytra Hunter took the floor in the final round.

Gymnastics is on the road to making Gainesville Title Town for the second year in a row!  I'm sure this meet won't disappoint and encourage you to check it out.  As an added incentive, the first 1,000 fans will receive light up blue shakers to use when cheering on the team.  Go Gators!

Florida Basketball: FANTASTIC!

Photo: Gatorzone.com

For those of you that haven't been "Living Life in the Dome" this year, the UF Men's Basketball team is heating up.  Just this weekend, out Gators beat Tennessee 67-41.  This win marks the 8th straight W this season and puts our home win streak at 26 games!  Florida Basketball is ranked No. 3 in the AP poll.  The next Men's Basketball game is tomorrow at 7:00.  The game will be played in Starkville, MS, but you can watch it on ESPN 2.

Florida Basketball isn't the only sport that's pulling top-10 rankings.  Florida Gymnastics is ranked No. 2 nationally, Men's Swimming and Diving is also No. 2, and Women's Swimming and Diving is currently ranked at No. 8.  Spring Sports are proving that It's Great to be a Florida Gator.  #TitleTown

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Distinguished Professor Lecture and Lunch on the Lawn

Professor Leslie Paul Thiele, professor of political theory and Director of Sustainability Studies, will present a lecture on "Fostering a Culture of Responsible Creativity" today at 4:00 in the Presidents Ballroom at Emerson Alumni Hall.  Professor Thiele studies the intersection of political philosophy, the natural sciences and sustainability.  He has many published articles and several books. His lecture will examine the responsibilities of citizenship and opportunities for leadership in our rapidly changing world.  This lecture is sponsored by the Faculty Senate, and is part of the "2014 UF Faculty Senate-sponsord Distinguished Professor Lectures" series.  Refreshments will be provided.

Tomorrow (Tuesday) marks my first Lunch on the Lawn of the semester.  We will be serving Chick-Fil-A from 12:30-2:00 pm in the Reitz Union Breezeway (outside near the RedBoxes and Wells Fargo).  I'm looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow and can't wait to discuss everything that SG has planned for this semester!

Design Your Reitz: Choose the Furniture for the New Reitz Union

Happy Friday!  I hope everyone has been enjoying this abbreviated week and is looking forward to the weekend.  I want to give a quick update on the Reitz Union construction project.  For those of you that don't come to the Reitz on a regular basis, construction is well underway, and the builders have made a lot of progress.

The new Reitz will be student space through and through.  The team that is overseeing this project wants to gather as much student input as possible.  The first floor of the Reitz has a seating area set up with 17 different seating options to chose from.  You can vote for the option you like most at www.makeitreitz.com/vote  I have my favorite seating options, now it's time for you to pick yours.  Act quickly, because today is the last day to vote.

Go Gators!

UF Mobile Blue Light Application is Available!

One of the biggest priorities of this university - above research and education - is campus safety.  It is our responsibility and our duty to students and their families, as well as faculty and staff, to ensure that the University of Florida is a safe place to study, work, play and live.

Today marks a great achievement in our efforts to ensure that the University of Florida is a safe place.  After many committee meetings, interviews, sales pitches, and beta tests, the TapShield app was selected and is now ready for use on campus.  

This app pairs mobile GPS technology with existing campus safety infrastructure, and allows students to summon help anywhere on campus. TapShield is the only application that features one touch emergency alert, two-way messaging between users and dispatch, a timer option designed to provide security while walking home or going for a run, and yank technology, which signals an emergency by yanking headphones from the device.  

Students can download the TapShield app by visiting TapShield.com on a mobile device or searching for "TapShield" in the iOS app store or the Android Marketplace.

Senate President Cory Yeffet wrote a Letter to the Editor about TapShield that ran in today's Alligator.  Check it out HERE!

Remembering Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Yesterday marked a day of observance in honor of one of the most notable figures in our nation's history.  What we appreciate most about Dr. King are the principles for which he stood and his unrelenting pursuit of justice and equality for all.

Students from UF and Santa Fe chose to honor Dr. King by participating in the Martin Luther King Day of Service, which took place on Monday, January 20th.  Student Government, the UF Gospel Choir, and IRHA are some of the organizations that made up the nearly 300 participants in yesterday's event.  

Students cataloged their service with tweets and photos using #UFGivesBack  In Dr. King's memory, let us continue to work so "little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

Nearly 300 volunteers met at the Reitz Union at 7:30AM on Monday morning.