History of the UF Division of Student Affairs | Page 30

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various locations to Criser Hall and connected with the Dean of Students Office
and the Counseling Center located in Peabody Hall. From 2010-2015 Peabody
Hall housed the Dean of Students Office, a satellite office for the Counseling
and Wellness Center, Off Campus Life, Multicultural and Diversity Affairs, and
the Center for Leadership and Service. When the expansion and renovation of
the Reitz Union was completed in Fall 2015, another shift of Student Affairs
departments occurred. GatorWell Health Promotion Services moved from the
Counseling and Wellness Center to the Reitz Union. The Center for Leadership
and Service and the Multicultural and Diversity Affairs offices moved from
Peabody Hall to the Reitz Union. The Institutes of Black Culture and of HispanicLatino Cultures (La Casita) continue to provide services at their neighboring
University Avenue locations.
President John Lombardi arrived at UF Spring 1990. In late August, five college
students — Sonja Larson, UF student from Deerfield Beach, FL; Christina Powell,
UF student from Jacksonville, FL; Christa Hoyt, Santa Fe College student from
Archer, FL; Manny Taboada, UF student from Carol City, FL; and Tracy Paules, UF
student from Miami, FL — were brutally murdered in off campus housing facilities
within one to two miles of the UF campus over the period of about one week.
These murders were dubbed the Gainesville Student Murders by the national
media that descended in droves to campus and stayed for weeks. Students and
parents panicked. Thousands of students fled Gainesville for the safety of home
in fear that another Ted Bundy serial murder situation was developing. The
entire Gainesville community responded to the tragedy by offering immediate
aid and support services to students and parents and by establishing strong
communications including rumor control. Classes were cancelled for several
days with no academic penalty. In this pre-cell phone era, phone banks on trailers
offering free long distance were placed on campus. Students were encouraged
to call home as often as needed. Free counseling was offered community-wide,
and free short-term alternative campus housing was offered through church
communities in sanctuaries and in homes of church members and on campus.
Housing staff prepared 300 spaces in residence hall lounges and “relaxed”
guest/visitation policies for off campus students seeking safety in numbers with
friends in campus housing. Memorial services were held for Sonja, Christina,
Christa, Manny, and Tracy. Formal memorials were established on campus near
Library East and in the center divide of SW 34th Street near campus. An informal

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