Editing University of Florida (section)

=== Growth, mascots, and establishment of colleges ===
[[File:1912Gators.jpg|thumb|An early [[Florida Gators football]] practice in 1912]]
[[File:Historic Layout University of Florida.jpg|right|thumb|The University of Florida campus in 1906, looking southwest]]
[[File:Dsg_UF_Albert_A_Murphree_Statue_20050507.jpg|right|thumb|Statue of [[Albert Murphree]], the second president of the university]]

Florida State College for Women president [[Albert Murphree]] was named UF's second president before the 1909–1910 academic year, which was also when the school's name was simplified from the "University of the State of Florida" to the "University of Florida". Murphree oversaw a reorganization of the university that included the establishment of several colleges, beginning with colleges of [[University of Florida Levin College of Law|law]], [[University of Florida College of Engineering|engineering]], and [[University of Florida College of Liberal Arts and Sciences|liberal arts and sciences]] by 1910. Murphree was also instrumental in the founding of the [[Florida Blue Key]] leadership society and in building total enrollment from under 200 to over 2000. He is the only University of Florida president honored with a statue on campus.

The [[alligator]] became the school's informal [[mascot]] when a local vendor designed and sold [[Pennant (sports)|school pennants]] imprinted with the animal, which is very common in lakes in and around Gainesville and throughout the state. The 'gator was a popular choice, and the university's sports teams had officially adopted the nickname by 1911. The school colors of orange and blue were also officially established in 1911, though the reasons for the choice are unclear. The most likely rationale was that they are a combination of the colors of the university's two largest predecessor institutions, as the East Florida Seminary used orange and black while Florida Agricultural College used blue and white.<ref>University of Florida, History, [http://www.ufl.edu/history/1906.html University of Florida History 1906-1927] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101231184043/http://www.ufl.edu/history/1906.html |date=December 31, 2010 }}. Retrieved April 18, 2012.</ref> The older schools' colors may have been an homage to early Scottish and Ulster-Scots Presbyterian settlers of north central Florida, whose ancestors were originally from Northern Ireland and the [[Scottish Lowlands]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Ulster and North America: Transatlantic Perspectives on the Scotch-Irish |last=Wood |first=Curtis |publisher=University of Alabama Press |year=1997 |location=Tuscaloosa, Alabama}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Biohistory of Alachua County, Florida |last=William Zettler |first=Francis |publisher=Pineapple Press Inc Press |year=2015 |location=Sarasota, Florida |pages=64, 79}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Ulster to America: The Scots-Irish Migration Experience, 1680–1830 |last=Hofstra |first=Warren R. |publisher=Univ. of Tennessee Press |year=2011 |location=Knoxville, Tennessee |pages=140, 153}}</ref>

In 1924, the Florida Legislature mandated women of a "mature age" (at least twenty-one years old) who had completed sixty semester hours from a "reputable educational institution" be allowed to enroll during regular semesters at the University of Florida in programs that were unavailable at Florida State College for Women. Before this, only the summer semester was coeducational, to accommodate women teachers who wanted to further their education during the summer break.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/aspring/All%20courses/UF%20courses/Women%20UF/Holbrook%20et%20al.doc |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080528040000/http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/aspring/All%20courses/UF%20courses/Women%20UF/Holbrook%20et%20al.doc |url-status=dead |title=University of Florida: College of Liberal Arts and Sciences-Notable Women at UF |archivedate=May 28, 2008}}</ref> [[Lassie Goodbread-Black]] from Lake City became the first woman to enroll at the University of Florida, in the College of Agriculture in 1925.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ufl.edu/history/1906.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101231184043/http://www.ufl.edu/history/1906.html |url-status=dead |title=University of Florida website: History-1925 » First Woman Enrolls |archive-date=December 31, 2010}}</ref>

Murphree died in 1928 and [[John J. Tigert]] was named UF's third president. Early in his tenure, Tigert helped organize the semi-independent [[University of Florida Athletic Association|University Athletic Association]] to plan the construction of [[Florida Field]] and operate the school's athletic programs. Disgusted by the under-the-table payments being made by universities to athletes, Tigert established the grant-in-aid [[athletic scholarship]] program in the early 1930s, which was the genesis of the modern athletic scholarship plan used by the [[National Collegiate Athletic Association]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://web1.ncaa.org/web_video/NCAANewsArchive/1970/19701215.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090327041639/http://web1.ncaa.org/web_video/NCAANewsArchive/1970/19701215.pdf |url-status=dead |title=The NCAA News |archive-date=March 27, 2009}}</ref>
Inventor and educator [[Blake R. Van Leer]] was hired as Dean to launch new engineering departments and scholarships. Van Leer also managed all applications for federal funding, chaired the Advanced Planning Committee per Tigert's request. These efforts included consulting for the Florida Emergency Relief Administration throughout the 1930s.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83016244/1932-10-24/ed-1/seq-1/#date1=1902&index=2&rows=20&words=Blake+Leer+Van&searchType=basic&sequence=0&state=&date2=1933&proxtext=blake+van+leer&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1 |title=The Key West citizen. &#91;volume&#93; (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, October 24, 1932, Image 1 |date=October 24, 1932 |access-date=August 25, 2021 |archive-date=August 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210825203655/https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83016244/1932-10-24/ed-1/seq-1/#date1=1902&index=2&rows=20&words=Blake+Leer+Van&searchType=basic&sequence=0&state=&date2=1933&proxtext=blake+van+leer&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83016244/1934-09-10/ed-1/seq-1/#date1=1777&sort=relevance&rows=20&words=Leer+Van&searchType=basic&sequence=0&index=2&state=&date2=1963&proxtext=van+leer&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=11 |title=The Key West citizen. &#91;volume&#93; (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, September 10, 1934, Image 1 |date=September 10, 1934 |access-date=August 25, 2021 |archive-date=August 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210825195443/https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83016244/1934-09-10/ed-1/seq-1/#date1=1777&sort=relevance&rows=20&words=Leer+Van&searchType=basic&sequence=0&index=2&state=&date2=1963&proxtext=van+leer&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=11 |url-status=live }}</ref>