OPINION

Callous COVID response part of pattern from UF president

Michael Hill
Guest columnist
Graduate students and professors protest the University of Florida administration for not requiring masks on the steps of Tigert Hall in Gainesville on Aug. 20.

University of Florida President Kent Fuchs once again has shown the community of Gainesville and the student body that he is only out for himself. His callous COVID response is not new. It is a result of weak leadership.  

Fuchs would rather keep his position than protect the student body or the Gainesville community. His actions speak louder than his words. Real educators like Alachua County Public Schools Superintendent Carlee Simon and most of our teachers are doing everything they can to make sure their students and themselves are safe.

Fuchs only cares about his image and the image of the university. Even at the risk of removal, he should have still implemented a mask mandate because it is the right thing to do.

Whether it is every aspect of football games, the lack of equity or his response to COVID-19, the people of this community including the student body should expect nothing more from him or his administration. Whenever the local government advances good, sound policy like a tree canopy master plan, Fuchs decides to do the exact opposite.

He doesn’t work with local government to make life easier for the people of this town. The university's lack of understanding of equity and equality has not changed much since the days of Black Tuesday and segregation.

This is the same president who decided to destroy conservation lands in our community known as McCarty Woods. Even if it was not his decision, he was silent. Silence can be violence. He knows this community is environmentally conscious and decided to not speak up.

Instead of working with the community, he is out for himself. He should resign from his post.  

Michael Hill is a history major with a planning minor at UF.

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