This year’s alumni tailgate event marked an exciting departure from past years during the College of Nursing’s annual Alumni Reunion Weekend on Sept. 26.
For the first time, the tailgate was held in the Reitz Union Game Room, giving alumni and their families more ways to connect and have fun. Pool tables, a bowling alley, video games and other entertainment provided a lively backdrop as alumni gathered before the Florida Gators defeated the Ole Miss Rebels in The Swamp.
The change of venue added a welcome element to a tradition that has typically been held in academic buildings.
And judging by the response, the change was well received. A record 264 attendees registered for the event.
“This has been the College’s biggest tailgate so far,” said Shakira Henderson, DNP, MS, MPH, MBA, IBCLC, RNC-NIC, dean, chief administrative officer and Linda Harman Aiken Chair of the UF College of Nursing, as well as system chief nurse executive and associate vice president for nursing education, practice and research for UF Health.
Henderson also used the gathering to highlight the year of milestones for the college, including its 70th anniversary, the 10th anniversary of the Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing program at the Jacksonville campus and 25 years of patient care at the UF Health Archer Family Health Care clinic. In addition, she shared the recent U.S. News & World Report college rankings, in which the College of Nursing’s BSN program climbed from No. 40 to No. 12, and retained its spot as No.1 in Florida for the sixth year in a row.
“I am super excited,” Henderson said, before asking the crowd to celebrate the college’s impressive 28 spot climb in the ranking.
But the tailgate was less about rankings and milestones than it was about the people who have kept the College of Nursing connected across generations.
For Myra Crosby and Kathy Kleinfelter, that connection extended to the dance floor. The longtime College of Nursing alumni had just finished participating in a line dance with other tailgate attendees when they stopped to talk about the reunion.
“This venue is excellent,” Crosby said. “I think that’s why they had the biggest turnout. There’s so much for families to do. It’s awesome.”
Kleinfelter, a 1972 graduate who earned her master’s degree from the college in 1979, has been returning to the college’s alumni events for years. She and Crosby said the new venue made it easier for people of different generations to find something to enjoy.
“It lends itself to having a good time,” Kleinfelter said.
That spirit of connection is part of what has kept the two returning to the College of Nursing over the years.
“I think part of it is we’re nurses,” Kleinfelter said, “and that’s different maybe than some other professions in what we do. It’s a community.”
The college’s growing efforts to stay connected with alumni have also helped keep those relationships alive.
Crosby and Kleinfelter remembered early efforts by faculty and alumni volunteers to organize alumni groups and reunions. Over time, the college became more involved, establishing stronger alumni programming and communication.
Today, alumni can follow the college through its newsletters, The Gator Nurse magazine and its social media presence, making it easier for former students to keep up with the college even after leaving Gainesville.
“At least for me personally, I can check in and see what is going on,” Crosby said. “I like that.”
Saturday’s tailgate closed with Henderson leading the traditional Gator Chomp and Crosby and Kleinfelter were right there with fresh enthusiasm more than 50 years after graduation.
