Standing Up for the Orange & Blue

Gators once again rallied to support the University of Florida during its fifth annual 24-hour Stand Up & Holler: Gator Nation Giving Day, setting a school record for most gifts in a single day, 28,661. Those investments made on Feb. 16 from thousands of alumni, students, faculty, staff members and others will fund scholarships, enhance academic programs and boost outreach projects across campus and beyond.

Stand Up & Holler is a significant contributor to UF’s national ranking as a Top 5 public university. Alumni giving is one of the metrics U.S. News & World Report uses to calculate its annual list. UF’s annual giving day is among the most successful in academia and has created the opportunity for all Gators to invest in the university.

“The love our alumni, faculty, staff, students and friends have for this university is one of the reasons there really is no limit to what this university can be,” said Brian Danforth, the UF Alumni Association’s executive director. “The Gator Nation is extraordinary. You won’t find another institution in all of academia with a more passionate base, or one that has more potential, than the University of Florida.”

Gators from every U.S. state and 14 other countries from as far away as Afghanistan, Singapore and Australia participated in this year’s Stand Up and Holler campaign, giving a combined $22.63 million. Among this year’s highlights are:

• The College of Journalism and Communications received 4,328 gifts — the most of all individual colleges, while the $8.4 million raised by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences was the single largest amount. Other big winners among colleges were Engineering (1,431 gifts, $595,609 raised); Design, Construction and Planning (570, $1.4 million) and Medicine (235, $1.2 million). Outside of academics, UF Athletics brought in the most gifts (3,857, for $5.3 million).
• 78 Gator Clubs and 14 alumni association affiliate groups combined for 3,987 gifts and almost $143,000. The Gator Band Alumni Association’s 760 gifts for $46,241 were the most of all clubs and affiliates.
• While Floridians contributed far and away the most gifts (9,121), other top states were Georgia (398), Texas (379), Tennessee (213), California (181) and North Carolina (178).

“Gators are incredible, it’s that simple. Just when you start thinking Stand Up & Holler can’t top what we’ve done in the past, the Gator Nation rises up and does even more,” Danforth said. “There are no words, except ‘thank you.’ Our university is stronger and our future brighter because of the Gators who responded so generously to the call for support.”

UF’s annual giving day is named Stand Up & Holler as a tribute to the beloved Gator football game cheer made famous by George Edmondson Jr., better known to fans as “Mr. Two Bits.” Edmondson’s iconic orange-and-blue striped necktie is used as a symbol to promote the campaign, with replicas as long as 30 feet strategically placed throughout the UF campus.

The next Stand Up and Holler: Gator Nation Giving Day is tentatively scheduled for February 2024.