News

On February 16th, 2023, students, faculty, staff and alumni across the world showed their support for the college, breaking records on UF’s Stand Up & Holler: Gator Nation Giving Day. Over 24 hours, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences received 1,152 gifts, more than doubling last year’s total of 551. The college raised the highest amount in contributions while also ranking third among individual UF colleges in the total number of gifts.

The funds will support diverse initiatives throughout the college, including awards for graduate students, field trips, guest speakers and events, and improvements to study spaces and classrooms.

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences also celebrated several successful challenges this year, with special gifts unlocked after a certain number of contributions to specific areas. CLAS featured three challenges, all surpassed, giving additional support to the Biology Graduate Student Support Fund, the Chemistry Tomorrow Fund, and the Department of Geological Sciences Anniversary fund.

Amy Martinelli, associate director at the Dial Center for Written and Oral Communication, was excited to see an outpouring of support for UF Speech and Debate.

“Our ability to travel with students to competitions has been severely limited over the last few years,” said Martinelli. “In the future, we would like to see our travel funding resolved through robust donations from alums and others who are interested in helping students participate in speech and debate.”

Many of those gifts will help Speech and Debate students travel for two major tournaments this year; one held in Santa Ana, California, the other in Boise, Idaho.

“It was a wonderful feeling to see so many names — familiar, unfamiliar, and anonymous — who contributed to our goals,” Martinelli said.

Of the CLAS units actively involved in Giving Day, the Department of Geography ended the day with the most gifts. Department Chair Jane Southworth was proud of her team for creating an engaging campaign, resulting in 136 contributions.

“Honestly, we were completely shocked at the support! We had a lot of fun with our campaign and did not take ourselves too seriously,” she said.

This was the first year the Department of Astronomy participated in Giving Day. Elizabeth Lada, professor and chair of the department, said it was a resounding success. The department raised $5,000 — they plan to use every cent as efficiently as possible, according to Lada.

“I was really touched when I saw how many alumni and friends of our department donated, and I feel very fortunate that so many people would help us reach our goals,” Lada said.

CLAS Dean’s Leadership Council member and retired Colonel Anna Morris (Political Science ’90) expressed gratitude for the funds raised. “I am humbled by the extraordinary show of support from my fellow CLAS Gators,” she said. “These gifts will have an immediate and lasting impact on the campus community, expanding the possibilities for students to find and pursue their passions.”