History

National History

The University of Florida Alumni Association was organized and chartered in 1906 by the first group of graduates from the Gainesville campus. Today, alumni on record total nearly 350,000. We have alumni in every state and in more than 100 foreign countries.

The Alumni Association is responsible for a network of nearly 100 Gator Clubs® in Florida, across the U.S. and internationally. These clubs are composed of alumni and friends who represent UF in their communities. They hold a wide variety of programs and events in support of the university. The Alumni Association is also actively involved with the recruitment of superior students to attend the University and with financial assistance programs in the form of scholarships sponsored by the Gator Clubs®. In addition, we host outreach programs that bring faculty and administrators on the road to carry the University's message to alumni and friends.

Reunion programs are organized and conducted by the Alumni Association and have been successful in bringing alumni back to Gainesville, with activities that are designed to involve returning graduates with campus life. We host the Grand Guard reunion, which honors 50 year graduates of UF, and the Silver Society, which recognizes 25 year grads. In addition to these reunions, several annual events are held each year including Back to College, Spring Weekend and our Gator Nation Tailgate party before each football game.

Specific groups have been organized to represent the needs of special interests on the campus, including the Association of Black Alumni and the Association of Hispanic Alumni. In addition, Student Membership in the Alumni Association was developed to create networking opportunities between current students and alumni. With more than 11,500 members, this group offers career networking, social events and special programming. The Florida Cicerones, who are UF’s campus ambassadors, are also members of this group. These students, specially selected to represent the University, lead tours and host events across UF’s campus.

Portland Gator Club History

The Portland Gator Club® was founded in 1995, with the original meeting taking place at the Ram's Head Pub. As we continued to grow, we began seeking larger venues to accommodate us. Our viewing party locations have changed over the years, but we recently moved back to Grand Central Bowl in central SE Portland.

As a group, we are always looking for ways to give back to the community and participate every year as part of International Gator Day. The first year was spent pulling blackberry branches away from the trail along Willamette Park between the Sellwood Bridge and the boat launch. For many years now we have volunteered at the Oregon Food Bank, helping to provide meals for needy families. 

There are over 1500 Gators in the Portland/Vancouver/Salem area, with a number of them  being members of the Alumni  Association. We enjoy getting together for Gator events throughout the year and hope you will join us!

 
Recognized in 2006-2007 with the Outstanding Gator Club Out-of-State Award!

Past Presidents

1995-1996 Eric Specht
 1996-1997 Dave Adelman
 1997-1998 Bill Collins
 1998-2000 Pam Field
 2000-2002 Dan McDermott
 2002-2004 Charles Logue
 2004-2006 Tiffany Chidester
 2006-2008 Kim Christmas
 2008-2010 David Uslan
 2010-2012 Jose Gamero
 2012-2017 Mary Peters