With ties to its origins dating back to 1853, the University of Florida is a combination of four schools that were united in 1905. It is one of the largest schools in the South Eastern Conference enrolling close to 52,000 students and has nearly 5,100 staff members. It is a land grant, sea grant, and space grant university that sits upon 2,000 acres of land in Gainesville. The Florida Gators are a big competitor in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I and has claimed 241 individual national championships and 27 team national championships! Known as a "Public Ivy" school, they are ranked nineteenth in the nation for public universities. It is clear that at the University of Florida, students are expected to live up to the high standards and reputation that the school has set for itself.

In 1853, the oldest of all the schools that the university is connected to, East Florida Seminary was started in Ocala, and was the first to be state supported. Like many other schools of its time, the Seminary had to close during the American Civil War, but when it reopened it was property of the State of Florida and had been moved to Gainesville. Another school that it is connected to is the Florida Agricultural College. It was started in 1884 in Lake City and in 1903 the name was changed to University of Florida, but for only two years. In 1905, the state passed the Buckman Act in order to consolidate all of the institutions that were publicly supported. These schools were the University of Florida at Lake City, the East Florida Seminary, the St. Petersburg Normal and Industrial School, and the South Florida Military College. The four were combined to form the University of the State of Florida and the main campus was decided to be in Gainesville. On September 6, 1906, classes were started with only 102 students. In 1909, the name was officially set to the University of Florida.

The three colleges on the campus in 1906 were the College of Agricultural and Life Science, the Rinker School of Builiding Construction, and the College of Education. Within the next ten years, the Levin College of Law, the College of Engineering, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and, the College of Journalism and Communications were added to the university. Before the 1950's, the school added to their campus the College of Pharmacy, the College of Design Construction and Planning, the Warrington College of Business, the P.K. Yonge Research School, and the College of Health and Human Performance. The 1950's, 60's, and 70's, brought about ten more schools which are, the J. Hillis Miller Health Science Center, the College of Medicine, the College of Nursing, the College of Public Health and Health Professions, the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, the College of Dentistry, the College of Fine Arts, the College of Veterinary Medicine, the Division of Continuing Education, and the Fisher School of Accounting. In the last twenty-five years, only two schools have been added, the International Center in 1991and the Graham Center for Public Service in 2006.

At the University of Florida about 15% of the student population are involved in Greek Life. There are twenty-six fraternities and sixteen sororities. Some of the fraternities on campus date back to 1884 before the school even existed!! There are also twelve cultural organizations, which are part of the Multicultural Greek Council. There are nine African American fraternities and sororities and four Christian Greek organizations. The Christian Organizations consist of two fraternities, Beta Upsilon Chi and Kappa Phi Epsilon, and two sororities, Sigma Phi Lambda and Theta Alpha. A chapter of the Order of Omega is also located on campus. With all of these Greek organizations on campus, there are enough parties, mixers, fraternity and sorority events, semi formals and formals to keep lots of students busy! Make sure to check out SidelineSweetie.com before you decide on your next outfit for the Greek Life event. We have all types of game day dresses, tops, tunics, and accessories to make your look exactly how you want it! SidelineSweetie.com will not disappoint, you will look GREAT!

So, what about a dress or outfit to wear to the football game on Saturday? With a team like the Florida Gators, you KNOW you will be there to have fun and cheer them on! Do you want to wear the traditional Orange and Blue or do you want to mix it up a bit and throw in some other colors? Whatever your choice, we have it at SidelineSweetie.com. With the hot weather in Gainesville, and sitting outside cheering on your Gators, make sure you pick a game day dress or top that is comfortable yet fashionable for the football game! Did you know that the Gators have been playing football since 1906 and since then has played in thirty-seven bowl games and has won eight SEC championships and three national championships? Did you also know that out of all the football players, 3 have been Heisman Trophy winners, 35 have been first round draft choices in the NFL, and 135 have been All Americans? YES! They are serious about some football! The Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, also known as the Swamp, is one of the largest stadiums that normally has a capacity of 90,000 fans, players, and coaches at each football game. The "Swamp" has been the home to the gators since 1930. The stadium has been said to be the loudest in the nation, which gives a great advantage to the Gators, but is not so good for their opponents! The mascots are Albert and Alberta the Alligators and you can find them down on the field each game day! Most notable alumni of the times is Tim Tebow, who was a Heisman Trophy winner, lead the team to the third national championship, and went on to be the quarterback for the Denver Broncos. He is now the quarterback for the New York Jets. Tim Tebow is constantly criticized for his morals and values, but you can clearly see that he lives up to the school motto: "The welfare of the state depends upon the morals of its citizens." We know they are proud of Tim Tebow and all their outstanding athletes and students!