Florida Blue Key
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Formation | 1923 |
|---|---|
| Type | Honor Society |
| Headquarters | Gainesville, Florida |
| Location |  United States |
| Website | Official website |
Florida Blue Key is a student honor and service society at the University of Florida. It is often written and referred to by the initialism "FBK," and has some initiation rituals that resemble a secret society[citation needed].
This organization was started at the University of Florida in 1923 under the presidency of Albert Murphree. Blue Key quickly spawned chapters across the United States, before the other chapters split with the original Florida chapter in the early 1930s. Their original charge was to plan a special weekend celebration for the university.
Today, the organization remains the powerful and politically active founding Blue Key chapter. Prior to the 1970s, a significant amount of Florida's famous politicians and business leaders became members of Florida Blue Key during their collegiate years and followed that network for much of their careers. However with an increased migration North, such as some of Florida's talented students attending Ivy League universities, and two-party political system has somewhat weakened FBK members outside of Gainesville, although the organization still retains major spheres of influence with the Florida Legislature. According to a 1997 lawsuit by Charles Grapski, Florida Blue Key maintains tight control over the Student Government.
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[edit] History
University of Florida President Albert Murphree believed the University should have a "Dad's Day," when students would invite their fathers to visit and learn about the university with their sons. Murphree appointed Dr. B.C. Riley, a dean of the university, to suggest the project to students.
Riley brought together some of the titular leaders of the Student Body who, under his guidance, planned a Dad's Day in the Fall with the key event being a football game. The event was successful and continued another year, with the name being changed to Homecoming. The organization quickly became so popular that Blue Key spread to colleges and universities across the country.
Initially, membership in the organization was ex-officio; a student automatically belonged to the organization if he held one of the major student organization positions on campus. This includes leadership roles in organizations such as student government and fraternities.
[edit] Separation with national chapters
FBK and Blue Key parted ways for good sometime between 1932 and 1935. FBK claims its members refused to join the national organization; National Blue Key had qualms with Florida Blue Key and their charter was revoked[citation needed]. The dispute was a clear indication that FBK did not intend to serve as a passive honor for University of Florida students, but rather as an active force in shaping the events of the University, Gainesville, and the State of Florida.
[edit] Current responsibilities
The organization continues to sponsor and organize the University of Florida's annual Homecoming celebration, which has grown to encompass dozens of events and community activities throughout the fall semester.
One of these events, Gator Growl, is billed as the largest student-run pep rally in the world; as many as an estimated 75,000 people have attended the event in past years. Gator Growl, nicknamed "Growl" by most students, usually features comedians such as Bill Cosby and Dane Cook in addition to the school rallies, but occasionally a top-tier musical act headlines the show. The first Gator Growl occurred in 1932, and has been a tradition at the University of Florida for over 80 years.
The Blue Key Speech & Debate Tournament, sponsored by FBK since the early 1980s, is one of the largest and most prestigious high school speech & debate tournaments in the country.
Other responsibilities include organizing UF's Legal Day, sponsoring the Miss University of Florida pageant, lobbying in Tallahassee for the university, and various community debates regarding issues of Florida and UF.
[edit] Famous alumni
A short list of alumni include:
| Alumni | Notability |
|---|---|
| Reubin O'Donovan Askew | Former Governor of Florida and United States Trade Representative |
| Dean Cannon | Current member of the Florida House of Representatives |
| Lawton Chiles | Former Florida Governor and U.S. Senator |
| Bob Graham | Former Governor of Florida, U.S. Senator, and Founder of the Bob Graham Center for Public Service |
| Ben Hill Griffin | Citrus magnate, State legislator, and Benefactor for Ben Hill Griffin Stadium |
| Edward L. Jennings | Former member of the Florida House of Representatives |
| Connie Mack III | Former U.S. Senator and U.S. Congressman |
| Bill McCollum | Former U.S. Representative and currently Florida Attorney General |
| Steve Spurrier | Former championship-winning coach for the Florida Gators and current head football coach for the University of South Carolina |
| Bill Nelson | Current U.S. Senator, Former U.S. Representative, and NASA Astronaut |
[edit] Controversies
Florida Blue Key's control of politics has been compared to The Machine at the University of Alabama and sometimes even the Skull and Bones secret society of Yale University. FBK's in-state rival is located at Florida State University and is named the Burning Spear Society.
Although the university opened its doors to women in 1925 and to black students in 1958, FBK admitted primarily just white males until the early 1970s. The growing threat of lawsuits and increased national and state pressure caused the organization to change its policies. Today, FBK is fully integrated and is building a strong history of including persons of different gender and race.[1]
FBK's power has weakened since the 1970s, because many more non-Greek students attended UF than in years past, and also after a lawsuit (see below) uncovered many secrets of the organization's legal and illegal involvement in campus politics. However, Greek chapters remain dominant in campus politics to this day, thanks mainly to their ability to mobilize votes within the FBK machine. The organization also maintains a steady flow of members from positions in the campus organization to places of prominent influence in Tallahassee and Washington.
[edit] Grapski lawsuit
In 1995, Florida Blue Key was sued by graduate student Charles Grapski, who claimed that some of the organization's members had run a slanderous campaign against his candidacy for student body president.
In his complaint, Grapski charged that several members of FBK conspired to alter Grapski's criminal record and post it around campus, containing a false charge of child molestation. One of the alleged conspirators, John McGovern, later became student body president himself.
Two years later, FBK was found guilty of defamation of character and conspiracy to defame, and held liable for damages of $250,000. Grapski and FBK eventually settled for $85,000, and FBK has since claimed no liability; McGovern was eventually ordered to pay about $80,000.
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