The University of Florida Alumni Association of Greater Washington D.C. in 2004

CHAPTER MISSION STATEMENT:

• (a) to advance and promote the general welfare and interests of the University of Florida as an educational institution,
• (b) to promote and foster the excellence and stature of the University of Florida, and
• (c) to foster a spirit of loyalty, unity and cooperation among graduates, former students and friends of the University of Florida.

RECENT HISTORY & 2004 OVERVIEW:

Our all-volunteer organization (a.k.a. the DC Gator Club®) encompasses Washington, D.C., its nearby suburbs in Northern Virginia and Maryland, and Baltimore. There are over 7,000 University of Florida alumni households within these jurisdictions, including almost 1,200 current dues paying UFAA member households. The Chapter dates back over 20 years. The Chapter is managed by an annually elected Board of Directors consisting of five officers and ten members according to UFAA’s by-laws.

Since 2001, the Chapter has been expanding its 1990’s make-up of 200-300 alumni living in Alexandria and Arlington, Virginia. Since then, it has continued to move toward the goal of becoming a professionally oriented, national alumni chapter on a par with the local national alumni chapters of Harvard, Yale, the University of Virginia, etc. Implementing the strategy for reaching this goal includes expanding the number of ways we serve the interests of UF and its local alumni base. This includes working closely with UFAA in Gainesville and using their national alumni contact data base to communicate local social, academic, professional and networking opportunities to all the reachable UF alumni in our jurisdiction, including a regular electronic newsletter for the almost 1,200 UFAA members here. A few examples of actions to implement our 21st century strategy:

• In 2001 we established a comprehensive business committee structure distinct from the social committees, and began a business-like approach to organization & operations.
• In 2001 we began providing a list federal websites with summer internship opportunities to the UF Provost’s Office for the benefit of UF students
• In 2002, we have established and began funding a frequently updated, professionally maintained website (www.dcgators.com) and newsletter as central elements of our overall communications strategy.
• In 2002 we expanded our social activities with other DC based university alumni associations from the state of Florida as well as supporting the annual Fall SEC Kickoff.
• In 2002 our long-standing flag-football team won the local SEC league championship.
• In August 2002 we relocated our central Gator football watching location to a much more spacious, UF friendly environment at Joe Theismann’s Restaurant convenient to the King Street Metro in Old Town Alexandria. It is owned by a Gator alumna’s parents.
• In April 2003, we held our first annual charity golf tournament for the benefit of the Special Operations Warrior Foundation in Tampa, Florida. (They provide college scholarships for the children of U.S. Special Forces who lose their lives in combat or training. Currently, there are over 70 such cases in the state of Florida alone).
• In the Spring of 2003 we organized fielded a Gator Club Softball team to compete in the local SEC division of the DC area collegiate alumni league. It will continue in 2004.
• In May 2003 we held our first Speaker Event when the youngest U.S. Congressman, UF graduate Adam Putnam, addressed a group of local alumni on Capitol Hill on the past and potential future impact of UF in the Nation’s Capital.
• In July 2003, UFAA expanded our jurisdiction to Baltimore & Baltimore County
• In July 2003 we held our 1st electronic election.
• In August 2003, we hosted the 1st ever visit by a UF Athletic Director, Jeremy Foley. This was attended by 75 alumni, families, and friends at Joe Theismann’s Alexandria.
• On Sept. 9, 2003 the chapter participated in the quadrennial observance of “State of Florida Day” at the Washington National Cathedral as part of our observance of UF’s Sesquicentennial Celebration. This was covered in UF TODAY, UFAA’s magazine.
• In October 2003, we hosted a Capitol Hill reception and Speaker Event with former Gator football players Noah Brindise, now of the Washington Redskins organization, and Travis Taylor, now a Baltimore Ravens’ player.
• In October 2003, 50 DC Alumni traveled to Columbia, SC to watch the GATOR football team play against the University of South Carolina.
• In November 2003, we hosted Dean Hines of the Journalism School for a State of the College address to local alumni. In that event, we also hosted a speech from St Petersburg Times editor Mike Foley.
• In December 2003, as we have done for the past 3 years, we held a Holiday party to benefit the USMC Toys for Tots organization
• In 2004, we expanded our long-standing summer intern scholarship program for UF students. (Annually, the Washington D.C. Metro area accounts for about half of the summer internships in the entire United States.)
• In January 2004 the Flag Football Team won the regular season cup of the Capital Alumni Network Championship
• In Jan. 2004, UFAA named us Outstanding Out-of-State UFAA Chapter for 2002-3.
• In March 2004, we held our 1st annual theater night outing in Annapolis MD.
• In March 2004, we hosted our second annual meeting with local high school students (and their parents) who plan to attend UF in the Fall of 2004.
• In June 2004, our 2nd annual golf tournament will be held on Thursday the 10th at Ft. Belvoir, Virginia, again in conjunction with SOWF.

LOCAL UF ALUMNI WHO ARE MEMBERS OF CONGRESS: 9

1. Michael Bilirakis (R-FL 9th), J.D. ’63
2. Corinne Brown (D-FL-3rd), Ed.S. ‘74
3. Ander Crenshaw (R-FL-4th), J.D. ‘69
4. Jim Davis (D-FL-11th), J.D., ‘82
5. John Mica (R-FL 7th), B.A. ‘67
6. 6. Jeff Miller (R-FL-1st), B.A. ’84
7. Adam Putnam (R-FL-12th), B.S. ‘95
8. Robert Wexler (D-FL-19th), B.A. ‘82
9. Senator Bob Graham (D-FL), B.A. ’59

• Of 27 members in the Florida delegation to the 108th Congress, 1/3 are UF graduates
• No other State but Florida has this large a fraction (and number of members) of its Congressional delegation made up of graduates from a single university.
• UF has more graduates by far in its state Congressional delegation than any other U.S. university has in any Congressional delegation.
• Some of these members are in key positions. For example, Senator Bob Graham is the ranking minority member of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
• Senator Graham was also the first UF graduate to run for President of the United States.

SOME CURRENT AND FORMER BOARD MEMBERS:

• COL Charles Dorman, USMC, is Chief Judge, U.S. Navy-Marine Corps, Court of Criminal Appeals (Board Member); UF degrees: B.A. ’70, J.D. ‘73
• Lt. Cmdr Jeff Plummer is Aide to the Surgeon General of the US Navy; UF: B.A.’87
• Joe Hernandez is the CEO at Innovative Biosensors, a local biotech firm located in Maryland; UF: B.S. ’96, M.S. ’98, MBA ’98.
• Juan Vitali is on the Research Faculty at Georgia Tech Research Institute in Rosslyn, VA and is also a Business Development Director there; B.S. ’84, M.E. ’87, Ph.D. ’92.
• Pam Valenzuela, Owner/President of Ascent Management in Alexandria: B.S. ‘76

SIGNIFICANT UF ACADEMIC & RESEARCH FACTS:

• Academically, UF is now ranked #15 (tied with Penn State) among the 162 national public universities accredited to grant Ph.D.’s, according to the 2004 U.S. News & World Report’s annual peer assessment pool of university presidents and provosts.
• That places UF within the academic top 10% of the 162 national public universities.
• Within the South, only five other public universities are ranked slightly higher than UF.
• That same poll ranks UF # 46 (tied with 5 others) among the 248 national public and private universities that grant Ph.D.’s.
• That places UF within the academic top 20% of the 248 national public and private universities.
• In 1985, UF became a member of the Association of American Universities, the prestigious higher-education organization comprised of the top 63 public and private institutions in North America that set and maintain standards for university research and education.
• UF’s Honors Residential College at Hume Hall is the first honors residential college in the U.S. designed and constructed specifically for honors students.
• In the past four decades, more Presidents of the American Bar Association have come from the UF College of Law than any other U.S. Law School.
• The UF Tax Law Program continues to be ranked #2 in the U.S.
• In 2000, UF was 13th among all universities in the number of U.S. Patents awarded.
• UF consistently ranks among the top 10 U.S. universities in product licensing.
• The UF is home to the McKnight Brain Institute, the highest resolution Magnetic Resonance Imaging machine on earth.
• The UF Physics Department’s Microkelvin Research Laboratory generates the coldest temperatures on earth.
• UF is the world’s largest citrus research center
• In 2003, NASA awarded a UF-led consortium of seven universities a $ 15 million grant to develop a reusable space launch vehicle
• UF faculty attracted more than $ 458 million in research and training grants in 2002-3.

OTHER UF STATISTICS:

• UF ranks second among public universities in the U.S. for the number of National Merit Scholars enrolled.
• UF ranks fifth among all U.S. colleges and universities in number of National Merit Scholars enrolled.
• In 2002, UF ranked first among public institutions in attracting National Achievement Scholars.
• UF admitted 941 international baccalaureate students for the 2002-3 academic year, more than any other university in the world.
• In 2002, UF had the fourth largest student enrollment of all U.S. universities.
• In 2002, UF had more than 48,000 students from all 50 states and 100 foreign countries.
• In 2001, UF ranked among the top 10 among the public members of the American Association of Universities for the number of Fulbright Awards.
• In 2000-1, UF ranked 3rd in number of degrees awarded to African American students.
• In 2000-1, UF ranked 5th among AAU public universities in the number of Ph.D.’s awarded to Latino students.
• UF’s 2002 incoming class had an average 3.92 GPA and a 1300 (out of 1600) SAT score.
• UF’s freshman retention rate of 93% is among the highest in the U.S.
• In 2002, for the sixth time, UF swept the overall men’s and women’s SEC All-Sports Trophy.
• With its 3rd place finish in the 2001-2 Sears Directors’ Cup rankings, UF ranked among the nation’s top 10 athletic departments for 19 straight years.
• The 226,000 UF alumni live in all 50 states and in 130 of the 191 other countries.

SOURCES:

1. U.S. News and World Report’s 2004 Edition “America’s Best Colleges”.
2. UF Website: www.ufl.edu – Office of the Provost: Division of Institutional Research