UF ALUMNI MAGAZINE LAUDS SEGREGATIONIST, HOMOPHOBE AMONG STANDOUTS

There will be a number of Floridians who will be upset to know that the University of Florida's alumni magazine UF Today, in naming 81 standout alumni in it's current edition, includes a former state senator and governor whose legacy includes being an advocate of segregation and forming a legislative committee to stamp out homosexuality at Florida colleges.

According to this story written by Amy Reinink of the Gainesville Sun, alums and gay rights groups are slamming UF Today for including Charley Johns among it's standouts.

Johns, who was born in Starke, was serving as Senate President in 1953 when he became governor upon the death of then-chief executive Daniel Thomas McCarty. He eventually lost a special election held two years later to complete McCarty's term. He was lauded by the magazine for his efforts during his public career to reform the state's prison system and ending tolls on state highways.

His legacy was tainted primarily due to what became known as the Johns Committee, officially known at the time as the Florida Legislative Investigation Committee, which existed from 1956 to it's disbanding in 1964.

The eight member joint legislative panel originally targeted the NAACP and desegregationists and their supporters, often labeling them as Communists or Socialists. After a legal challenge, the committee changed it's focus to what it deemed a homosexual threat on Florida's college campuses. It used a variety of tactics including survellience, interrogation, and threats to get information on gays in the public education system. By 1963 the committee had credited itself with the dismissal of 39 professors and the revocation of 71 teaching certificates, along with the expulsion of about 50 UF students. It eventually issued a report known as the "Purple Pamphlet" because of the colour of it's cover --- officially it was titled "Homosexuality and Citizenship In Florida".

Johns died in 1990 at the age of 84.

To learn more about the Johns Committee and it's legacy, check out this Web site.

Chris Brazda, spokesman for the UF Foundation and UF Alumni Association, said the magazine article acknowledged among those on the list every Florida governor who attended the University of Florida. Johns only attended the Gainesville school for just over two months, enrolling on September 17, 1953 and withdrawing November 23.

The UF Today piece, entitled "Gators You Should Know", provides only one or two sentences on each of the 81 alums without providing any detail on the individuals. The mention of Johns does acknowledge that he was a leader of the so-called "Pork Chop Gang", a group of 20 conservative legislators who supported segregation.