The Independent Florida Alligator - Sponsored Rivals

Sponsored Rivals

Since Stephen C. O'Connell stepped down as UF president in 1973, several rivals to The Alligator have set up shop. Most of these publications were started or actively encouraged by the university Student Government.

One notable contender was Campus Leader, a monthly alternative newspaper started in 1983. Sponsored by Student Government and edited by W.H. "Butch" Oxendine, Jr., it lasted somewhat less than a year as a direct competitor. Losing his sponsorship, Oxendine changed the magazine's focus, limiting it to students and education and renaming it Florida Leader. The paper printed until 2006.

Another rival was The Orange and Blue, a twice-weekly newspaper in operation from August 1999 to July 2002. The Orange and Blue was similar in format to and was started by the publishers of, FSView, a student newspaper at Florida State University in Tallahassee that won a long-running battle with a rival FSU newspaper, the Florida Flambeau.

In 2000, confusion with a university publication also called The Orange and Blue led the newspaper to change its name to The Gator Times. Although Student Government leaders quickly supported the new paper, the Times did not survive. (The name Gator Times is also used by the administration as the title of its email newsletter and in promotional material).

In recent years, Student Government has started readership programs with larger commercial newspapers such as The New York Times and USA Today. The Gainesville Sun, the local city newspaper owned by The New York Times Company, also made an agreement with the university for a similar program in June 2005. To seal the agreement, the Sun started its own campus edition called the Campus Sun, ostensibly to compete with The Alligator.