The UF Gospel …
According to President Albert A. Murphree.
In 1912, the University of Florida’s first president preached to new students that his school was the finest bible college in the land. The Southland that is.
((( “From The Beginning” )))
tuesday
September 24, 1912
Vol.1 No.1
Strive for higher levels in moral and Christian character, and do not surrender to low and insidious temptations.“
— Albert A. Murphree
“This year, the enrollment will doubtless reach four hundred, if not four hundred and fifty.
This extraordinary increase is due to the ‘loyal’ support of the old students, each of whom has been an agent for his alma mater and a propagandist of the standards and ideals of the University of Florida.”
By The Alligator Staff
To the students, president Murphree spoke words of welcome and of good counsel. He reminded the young men that “The Institution” (UF) stood for “wholesome” athletics and all forms of “decent” student activities, and he encouraged them to involve themselves in any of the “proper” student enterprises. UF had to offer.
“Do not forget for one moment that you are here primarily for study, for the mastery of the curriculum.”
Murphree urged every student to join the Y.M.C.A., to observe the “rule” regarding church attendance on Sunday, and to yield himself to the more wholesome influences of the church and Christian organizations … to strive for higher levels in moral and Christian character, and do not surrender to low and insidious temptations.
friday
october 31, 1980
vol 74 no 30
“Temptation Eyes”
In 1912, UF president Albert A. Murphree’s opening address to new students was filled with fire and brimstone, and warned of the Devil’s “low and insidious” temptation.
((( Murphree’s Nightmare )))
alligator file
THE HALLOWEEN BALL — When UF president Albert A. Murphree counseled the 400 young (white) men who had entered the university class of 1912, not to give into “low and insidious temptation.” I’m thinking Murphree, a turn-of-the-20th-Century, Southern Baptist preacher couldn’t have imagined what became UF’s infamous Halloween Ball. GO HERE.
Football, Almighty — The University of Florida’s first president, Albert A. Murphree was a Southern Baptist preacher who loved Gator football almost as much as he loved Jesus. He authored many of The Alligator’s front page stories published in the years of his presidency. Most of what he wrote for The Alligator echoed his opening speech, focusing on UF’s highest academic standard, and as it has been since, a fanatic love of the Gators.
al diaz
Always a topic of University of Florida and The Florida Alligator discussion, Football played a defining role in the college-town culture of Gainesville. For more than a century, Saturday afternoons were time for the most important spectacle in UF sport. More people than lived in the all of Gainesville crowd into Florida Field to watch their beloved Gators kick gridiron ass, or as president Murphree said in 1912, “display their athletic prowess.”
The events attracted much media attention, and that included The Alligator’s staff of photographers, evident in Al Diaz’ 1981 picture of a triumphant UF coach Charlie Pell being carried off Florida Field after the Gators one can see Alligator photographers (Kevin Kolczynski [top left with cap], Bill Wax [bottom left with glasses], and Tom Burton [bottom right, squeezed between the big smile and the Florida Highway Patrol corporal], “working” the chaotic scene, like so many other Saturday afternoons at UF. On this day, it was Al Diaz, another Alligator staff photographer, who got the shot.
The Incredible Pulp
The story of how The Florida Alligator fought the law and won its independence. by David Klein
Vol.1 No.1
The Independent Florida Alligator
1973-1983
[1912]
Insurrection Day
October 6, 1971
Independence Day
February 1, 1973
alligator
Murphree’s Opening Message (alt.)
WELCOME TO GAINESVILLE
A small college town in North Florida, more sophisticated than its size.
100 THINGS TO DO (IN GAINESVILLE)
FOOTBALL ALMIGHTY
GATOR GROWL (HOMECOMING)
Gainesville Green (“I’d like to fertilize her buds”)
TOM PETTY (Coming Home)
HALLOWEEN BALL
CONVENIENCE (Is In The Eye of The Beholder)
MUSIC (The Sound of Higher Education)
PREACHERS (On The Green)
MOVIES (Pop Culture of The Day)
ALLIGATOR WRITERS/EDITORS
ALLIGATOR PHOTOGRAPHERS
OPINION (Letters To The Editor)
Naked Launch (Pretty As A Florida Picture)
Diamond Teeth Mary (Singing In The Devil’s Choir)
IN THE BEGINNING (Vol.1 No.1)
florida history (1912-1983)
NEW STUDENT EDITION 1981
COLLEGE LIFE (WELCOME TO GAINESVILLE)
THE DAILY SCROLL (LOCAL NEWS)
ORANGE & BLUE WORSHIP
FOOLS IN LOVE
GAINESVILLE AFTER DARK
MIDNIGHT LIGHTNING (MOONLIGHT TURTLES)
GATOR COUNTRY
SHOTS IN THE DARK (GOD GUNS & GATORS)
LOCAL NEWS
WAKING UP IS HARD TO DO
SPRING IS IN THE AIR
I’LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS