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Florida Blue Key is a student honor society at the University of Florida. It is often written and referred to by the initialism "FBK." The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university located in Gainesville, Florida. ...
Acronyms and initialisms are abbreviations formed from the initial letter or letters of words, such as NATO and XHTML, and are pronounced in a way that is distinct from the full pronunciation of what the letters stand for. ...
Started at the university in 1923, it quickly spawned chapters across the United States, before the other chapters acrimoniously split with the original Florida chapter in the early 1930s. {{year nav|1939 1923 (MCMXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ...
The 1930s (years from 1930–1939) were described as an abrupt shift to more radical and conservative lifestyles, as countries were struggling to find a solution to the Great Depression, also known in Europe as the World Depression. ...
Today, it remains the most powerful and politically active of all present and former Blue Key chapters, but has lost most of its power in the state of Florida. Prior to the 1980s, nearly all of Florida's famous politicians and business leaders became members of Florida Blue Key during their college years. The increased migration and two-party political system has somewhat weakened FBK members outside of Gainesville, although the organization still retains several spheres of influence in the state capitol. According to a 1997 lawsuit by Charles Grapski, Florida Blue Key maintains iron fist control over campus and local politics in Gainesville.
History
University of Florida President A. A. 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. Albert Alexander Murphree (April 29, 1870-December 20, 1927) was the third president of Florida State College (1897-1909) (later renamed Florida State University) and the second president of the University of Florida (1909-1927) and was briefly promoted as a Democratic candidate for President of the United States in...
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. A students union, student government, or student council is a student organization present at many colleges and universities, often with its own building on the campus, dedicated to social and organizational activities of the student body. ...
The terms fraternity and sorority (from the Latin words and , meaning brother and sister respectively) may be used to describe many social and charitable organizations, for example the Lions Club, Epsilon Sigma Alpha, Delta Sigma Phi, Rotary International, Optimist International, Ordo Templi Orientis or the Shriners. ...
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 has claimed FBK had grown too powerful and political, and was blackballed. Probably some of both stories are true, but both sides agree the split was bitter. Regardless, FBK owns the copyright and trademark to the name "Blue Key" and still licenses the national chapters' use of "Blue Key." Year 1932 (MCMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link will take you to a full 1932 calendar). ...
1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar). ...
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 current version of the article or section reads like an advertisement. ...
A cheerleader is flipped upside-down during a pep rally routine before a football game. ...
William Henry Bill Cosby, Jr. ...
Dane Jeffrey Cook (born March 18, 1972) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. ...
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. Main article: Secondary education High school is a name used in some parts of the world, and particularly in North America, to describe the last segment of compulsory education. ...
Other responsibilities include organizing UF's Legal Day, lobbying in Tallahassee for UF, and various community debates regarding issues of Florida and UF.
Famous alumni Two concepts make it difficult to create a definitive list of prominent FBK alumni. First, the organization prides itself on its secrecy, and in fact does not publish lists of its alumni except to members. On the other hand, FBK liberally grants honorary membership to famous and influential Floridians, even if their connection with the university is tenuous or nonexistent.
A short list of alumni include:
Founding alumni of FBK played significant roles in the "Pork Chop Gang," a coalition of about 20 conservative, rural lawmakers from North Florida who dominated state politics from the 1930s through the late 1960s. Gov. ...
Lawton Chiles in an official picture taken during his first term as governor of Florida. ...
Daniel Robert Graham (born November 9, 1936) is an American politician. ...
Ben Hill Griffin, Jr. ...
Connie Mack III Cornelius Alexander McGillicuddy III (born October 29, 1940 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), known as Connie Mack for short, is a former Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1983 to 1989 and of the United States Senate from 1989 to 2001, all from Florida. ...
Ira William Bill McCollum, Jr. ...
Steven Orr Spurrier (born April 20, 1945 in Miami Beach, Florida) is a former American football player and current the head coach of the University of South Carolina football team. ...
For other people named Bill Nelson, see Bill Nelson (disambiguation). ...
One notable omission from the FBK membership rolls is current Florida governor Jeb Bush. It has been widely reported that Bush, a University of Texas grad, has not been offered admission to this uniquely Floridian organization. John Ellis Jeb Bush (born February 11, 1953), a Republican, is the forty-third and current Governor of Florida. ...
The University of Texas System comprises fifteen educational institutions in Texas, of which nine are general academic universities, and six are health institutions. ...
Florida Blue Key also remains a popular and prestigious student organization for current students, both Greeks and non-Greeks, who have distinguished themselves in the service of the school or its students.
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 fraternity of Yale University. The Machine, the former Alpha Rho chapter of Theta Nu Epsilon at the University of Alabama, is a select coalition of traditionally-white fraternities and sororities which formed a secret society with enormous influence over student politics. ...
The University of Alabama (also known as Alabama, UA or colloquially as Bama) is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA. Founded in 1831, UA is the flagship campus of the University of Alabama System. ...
Emblem of the Skull and Bones society The Order of Skull and Bones is a secret society based at Yale University, in New Haven, Connecticut. ...
“Yale†redirects here. ...
Although the university opened its doors to women in 1947 and to black students in 1958, FBK admitted strictly 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.
According to rumors, Florida Blue Key secretly works with white greeks and cultural organizations to control strategic positions in Student Government and membership in FBK.
FBK's power weakened significantly during the 1990s, 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 successful, though not invincible, in UF politics to this day, thanks mainly to their ability to mobilize votes within the FBK machine.
Grapski lawsuit In 1995, Florida Blue Key was sued by graduate student Charles Grapski, who claimed that the some of the organization's members had run a slanderous campaign against his candidacy for student body president. 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
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. Libel redirects here. ...
In the criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more natural persons to break the law at some time in the future, and, in some cases, with at least one overt act in furtherance of that agreement. ...
See also // This list contains what are commonly regarded as notable secret societies at colleges and universities. ...
External links - Florida Blue Key
- UF Homecoming
- Gator Growl
- Blue Key Debate
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