Gator Day in D.C. to welcome President Sasse and highlight UF’s national leadership 

With more than 6,500 alumni in the Washington metropolitan area, the University of Florida (UF) hosts its annual community-building Gator Day in D.C. for current and past Gators alike. But this year’s event will be particularly momentous.

On June 13 and 14, crowds will welcome the arrival of UF President Ben Sasse, as he highlights his commitment to artificial intelligence (AI) and other groundbreaking developments across the UF curriculum.

“I’m thrilled to visit with our D.C. Gators this summer,” President Sasse said. “UF is making such an incredible impact nationally and globally, and I look forward to sharing more insights about how we’re leading the way. I’m also excited to be back in the D.C. area with my former colleagues and friends.”

The aim of the yearly Gator Day gathering is to unite supporters and stakeholders around the latest developments at UF, as well as engage with federal agency leaders and Florida congressional offices about campus issues. President Sasse, who started at UF in February, is certainly no stranger to the D.C. area, having served as a Nebraska senator from 2015 to early 2023.

“This year for Gator Day, we’re really excited to focus on updating officials about our UF Health expansions, student support, and our AI-applied research and curriculum,” said Sarah Mathias, UF’s assistant vice president of federal relations.

On the first day of the event, UF supporters will gather for an evening reception to introduce President Sasse to the Gator Nation and celebrate UF’s continued rise as higher education leader. On day two, UF’s leadership team will talk with elected representatives and national leaders.

Building strong partnerships with government organizations continues to be a priority for UF, considering awards from federal agencies to the university totaled $672.2 million last fiscal year. And the collective discussions during Gator Day gatherings will center around some of UF’s recent highlights:

• UF is the first university in the country to implement “AI-across-the-curriculum,” integrating AI teaching and learning across academic disciplines, and developing a model that can be replicated throughout educational institutions at all levels.
• With support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), UF is developing new tools that test hazardous winds on a variety of artificial landscapes inside the lab’s wind tunnel to help better understand how storms impact cities and towns.
• With a grant from NSF, UF launched GeoSPACE – an accessible field camp that is opening geosciences (the least diverse STEM field) to people who might not fit the mold of the mountain-scaling explorers conquering the wilderness.
• In partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, the UF Center for Arts in Medicine and the Veterans Administration are piloting a program on social prescribing, which connects patients with arts and cultural activities as part of their healing.
• UF will lead a $25 million, 16-university team in nuclear forensics, which identifies and tracks nuclear materials to support global safety, funded by the S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration.
• Scientists from UF and the University of Illinois will lead the $20-million NSF-funded AI Institute for Inclusive Intelligent Technologies for Education, developing artificial intelligence tools to support K-12 STEM education. 
• Leveraging an NSF grant, researchers created UF’s SaferPlaces Lab to investigate smart streetscapes that reduce crime. 

“There is so much to celebrate about UF this year,” Mathias said. “And our greater D.C. area alumni and friends are ready to show their Gator pride and ‘swamp’ the nation’s capital on Gator Day.”