Campus Services & Culture: Campus Life

Museums and Galleries

The Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art has a permanent collection of more than 6,000 original works including paintings, sculptures, prints, ceramics, photographs, and cultural objects. Among the artistic traditions represented are those of the Americas, Asia, Africa, Europe and the South Pacific Islands. The museum also features a variety of changing exhibitions, and a full range of educational programs. Help is available for faculty who want to use the museum collections as part of course offerings. Admission is free. Museum membership provides additional benefits and discounts on merchandise, programs, and classes.

The Florida Museum of Natural History is Florida's state museum of natural history, dedicated to understanding and preserving biological diversity and cultural heritage. With more than 25 million specimens of amphibians, birds, butterflies, fish, mammals, mollusks, reptiles, vertebrate and invertebrate fossils, recent and fossil plants and associated databases and libraries, the Florida Museum is the largest natural history museum in the Southeast. Admission is free. Museum membership provides additional benefits and discounts, including admission to associated science and children's museums worldwide.

The School of Art and Art History supports three campus galleries:  University Gallery, Focus Gallery, and Grinter Gallery.

"the gallery" in the J. Wayne Reitz Union features artwork by UF students, faculty, staff, and alumni.

Music and Concerts

University of Florida Performing Arts hosts a variety of musical and theatrical events in three venues. The Curtis M. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts attracts world-class symphony orchestras, Broadway plays, opera and large-scale ballet performances to its 1,800 seat facility. The University Auditorium includes a concert stage, seating for 867 and is suitable for musical concerts, special lectures, convocations and less technically demanding dance concerts and pageants. It is one of several university buildings included in the National Register of Historic Places. The Baughman Center is a small facility (seating capacity of 96) for silent meditation, public performances, weddings, memorial services, honorary society acknowledgments, and related types of activities.

UF's landmark Century Tower houses a cast-bell carillon, one of only four such instruments in Florida. Concerts are played on football and Commencement Saturdays and during other campus festive days, and fifteen-minute concerts are played most weekdays.

Student Government Productions sponsors performances by touring artists in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. Check the calendars of special events for upcoming concerts and dates.

Radio and Television

UF's College of Journalism and Communications Media Properties includes seven broadcast stations, allows students from throughout the college to gain experience in a competitive broadcast marketplace. More than 300 students work in news, sports, production, management, web design, promotions and advertising for the stations each semester.

Florida’s 5, WUFT-TV

WUFT signed on the air November 10, 1958 with a mission to provide educational broadcasting to the University of Florida and other schools within the broadcast area. In the late ’50s and early ’60s programming emphasis at WUFT was on instructional broadcasts. With the addition of award-winning, locally produced programming such as the student-produced WUFT-TV5 News and other content, today WUFT-TV emphasizes prime-time programming from PBS, along with Hollywood classic films.  Its 7 a.m. – 5 p.m. day-time emphasis is on educational programming featuring children’s shows.   In 2012, WUFT-TV’s evening newscast was named the number one student produced television newscast in America.

WRUF-TV

WRUF-TV6 is a digital television station broadcasting on DTV channel 10.1 in full HD to the Gainesville area market on Cox Cable Channel 6.  With 100 percent locally originated programming produced by students in the College of Journalism and Communications, WRUF-TV6 has quickly become a market leader for in-depth weather information and Gator sports.  In addition, the College’s students provide news briefs throughout the day, giving listeners a variety of news, weather, entertainment and sports programming.

ESPN 850, WRUF-AM

Gainesville’s first local radio station and one of the oldest in Florida, WRUF-AM,  serves 13 counties as ESPN 850 with seven hours of locally-hosted sports talk shows featuring Steve Russell, Larry Vettel and the Cheap Seats, a student hosted show. The top-rated sports station in the market, ESPN 850 also features Gator sports. WRUF-AM  went on the air in 1928 and celebrated its 80th anniversary in 2008.   ESPN provides College students with an opportunity to be a part of UF’s heritage radio station producing short and long-form sportscasts, sports talk, production and social media.

Country 1037 the Gator, WRUF-FM

WRUF-FM, Country 1037 the Gator, is the highly-rated 100,000 watt WRUF-FM, sister commercial station to ESPN 850. The Gator programs a contemporary country format targeting adults 25-54 and the station consistently ranks in the top five of all stations in the Gainesville/Ocala radio market.  The Gator also is the home to the Florida Gators, providing football, men’s basketball and baseball to more than 16 counties in north Florida.  College students are regularly involved in the station through an in-depth radio programming and management course taught by the station’s management.  The course features extensive work in programming, music scheduling, traffic, promotions and more.

Florida’s 89.1 WUFT-FM & WJUF-FM

WUFT-FM and its repeater station, WJUF-FM, provide 24/7 news and talk to a large section of north central Florida.  WUFT-FM is a 100,000 watt public radio station serving 16 counties in North Central Florida, while WJUF-FM is a 20,000 watt repeater station that serves the residents of Citrus, Hernando and Pasco counties. Signing on in September 1981, WUFT quickly garnered a reputation as one of the top public radio stations in the country. Broadcasting on 89.1 in stereo from studios located in the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications, WUFT-FM presents a 24/7 news/talk service. The College also provides opportunities for students in Spanish language programming on WUFT Ahora, a WUFT HD station that features news and public affairs including Spanish language newscasts produced by the College’s students.  more »

Radio Reading Service

This service went on-air in June of 1992. It regularly broadcasts selections from books and newspapers to blind and visually impaired persons. The service offers more than 50 hours a week of readings from local and regional newspapers, books and magazines to keep listeners in touch with their communities and the world. Readings are broadcast to listeners via a special radio receiver. These receivers are loaned free to listeners deemed eligible by a medical professional.

Religious Life

The Campus Multi-Faith Cooperative (CMC) is organized to provide a network through which campus ministers can work together while allowing for the individual autonomy of each member. Membership in the CMC is open to professional or to specific, designated leaders of religious organizations ministering to the University of Florida. The CMC also welcomes university personnel who share the concerns of campus ministry. The CMC then seeks to share and act on issues of concern to the religious and university communities in ways which individual members could not do alone. The professional joins the CMC as an individual, and actions of the CMC do not represent official positions of the churches, judicatories, or fellowships of the members.

Theatre and Dance

The H.P. Constans Theatre, adjacent to the Reitz Union, houses a 420-seat proscenium theatre, and Stage Two, a black box theatre with approximately 40 seats. The Constans Theatre is home to the Florida Players, the student production program of the Department of Theatre and Dance.

The Curtis M. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts attracts world-class symphony orchestras, Broadway plays, opera and large-scale ballet performances to its 1,800 seat facility. The Phillips Center also hosts UF Department of Theatre and Dance productions as well as local ballet performances.

Tickets for events at the Constans Theatre, Phillips Center, O'Connell Center & various other campus venues are sold at the University Box Office.

Sports and Recreational Facilities

The University Athletic Association, Inc., is responsible for the intercollegiate athletics program at the University of Florida. UF fields teams in 18 sports: men's baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, swimming & diving, tennis, and track; and women's basketball, cross country, golf, gymnastics, soccer, softball, swimming & diving, tennis, track and volleyball. Schedules and ticket information are available from the Gator Ticket Office.

The University of Florida Golf Course is available for use by faculty, staff, students, and alumni. The 18-hole course was completely renovated in 2001. Memberships are available.

Lake Wauburg North and South are outdoor recreation and park facilities owned and operated by the University of Florida. Located approximately 8 miles south of campus on US 441, Lake Wauburg facilities offer UF students, faculty, and staff a place to relax and have fun with friends and family. Many activities are available including boating, volleyball, a ropes course, and a climbing wall. Admission and activities are free with a Gator 1 Card. Large University groups may reserve the indoor Gator Lodge and open pavilions for picnics, parties, or meetings.

The Department of Recreational Sports offers experiences that enrich the lives of University of Florida students through excellence in facilities, fitness, sport, adventure and play.Rec Sports is committed to fostering leaders, encouraging life-long healthy lifestyles and developing meaningful relationships.

The Stephen C. O'Connell Center houses an Olympic-sized swimming pool, dance studio, gymnastics studio, martial arts room, free style weight room, Nautilus center, track, badminton, volleyball courts, and practice basketball court in and around the perimeter of the 12,000 seat main arena. University of Florida students, faculty, staff, and their spouses are invited to use the facilities of the O'Connell Center with a valid Gator 1 Card.

The Reitz Union Game Room is your on-campus recreation facility, located on the Ground Floor of the Reitz Union. We have 16 bowling lanes, 17 pool (billiard) tables, one Snooker table, two foosball tables, air hockey table, and video games.