Celebrating 100 Years of UF Commencements
2006 Commencement
From 14 to 14,000
Nine of the 14 members of the Class of 1906.
The spring 2006 graduation ceremonies mark 100 years of University of Florida commencements. On May 30, 1906, members of the first graduating class of UF received their diplomas. Only 14 diplomas were bestowed that day. This year, more than 14,000 will join them as UF graduates.
The university traces its origins to the establishment of the East Florida Seminary in 1853. The seminary was the first of seven state schools created by the State of Florida until the passage of the Buckman Act of 1905. The Buckman Act abolished the old structure of higher education and created a new state university system that included what are now the University of Florida, Florida State University and Florida A & M University.
All of the undergraduates in UF’s Class of 1906 had been students of one of the schools abolished by the Buckman Act. Since the university’s Gainesville campus was still under construction, classes and the graduation ceremony for the academic year 1905-1906 were held on the campus of the former Florida Agricultural College in Lake City. The occasion was bittersweet for those who had spent their college years on the old campus.
Among the 14 members of the Class of 1906 were three who received the
master’s degree. One of the graduate students was Wilbur Leonidas
Floyd, a former instructor at the East Florida Seminary who later became
assistant dean of the College of Agriculture. Also counted in the Class
of 1906 were three “normal” students, participants in Florida’s
nascent teacher education program.
The Class of 1906 left an enduring legacy for future generations of Florida
students. As a body, the class founded the UF Alumni Association and elected
from its ranks W.A. Munsell of Green Cove Springs as the association’s
first president. Today, the alumni association has more than 55,000 members.
—Carl Van Ness
University Historian
Alma Mater
by Milton Yeats
Florida, Our Alma Mater,
Thy glorious name we praise.
All thy loyal sons and daughters
A joyous song shall raise.
Where palm and pine are blowing,
Where southern seas are flowing,
Shine forth thy noble Gothic walls,
Thy lovely vine clad halls.
‘Neath the orange and blue victorious,
Our love shall never fail.
There’s no other name so glorious,
All hail, Florida, hail!
