Florida Blue Key is a prestigious student organization at the University of Florida that was founded on November 1, 1923, by a group of student leaders, under the recommendation of Albert Murphree, The current school President at the time. The university brought together these students to recognize leadership and promote service on campus, and they turned out to do that and much more across the state of Florida.
Blue Key's most notable early duties were planning and executing the homecoming on campus, starting reportedly as early as 1923. Dad's Day, a time for parents to visit and spend some time on campus with their children, as well as many other campus wide events. With excitement and buzz building around this organization it wouldn't be long before the Florida Blue Key had been copied and modeled after at different universities around the country.
In the 1930s, Florida Blue Key declined to be associated with any national organization due to disagreements over the proposed bylaws, which they believed took too much control from the students hands with unreasonable standards, such as the requirement of a 2.5 GPA. The Florida group believed the organization was not an academic one but, rather, a leadership and service group, and fought for the stance that C's get degrees (2.0GPA) to be eligible for membership. (No clue on what the current requirements are set at this was just one reason why they chose to stay an independent organization)
The University of Florida was the state's only institution of higher learning where a white male could continue his education at the time, and if there's anything about politics and Florida is that they both attract white guys at an alarmingly high rate. For a large portion of recent history in Florida if there was someone college-educated, in a position of power, they most likely attended the University of Florida, and student leaders at the university would likely remain in Florida and assume roles within the state's professional, political, governmental, businesses, and more. The networking of those students with each other, and with other alumni of the institution, provided a powerful force and unique opportunity to have such a strong influence on the University of Florida as well as the State itself.
Florida Blue Key also has a history of involvement in shady politics on and off campus as seems to be a trend with many of these organizations. The Tampa Bay Times had written that "Campus politics in Gainesville have long been controlled by a powerful few with the help of a voting block made up of social sororities and fraternities." Mirroring much of The Machines model from Alabama (blog can be found of my page as well covering that). The influence from this organization reaches so deep within the state it's been reported on multiple occasion that the door to politics in Florida is opened with the "Blue Key".
One of the more notable controversies with the organization was I n 1995, Florida Blue Key was sued by graduate student Charles Grapski, who claimed that some of the organization's members had accused him of being a child molested in order to make him lose the student government election so the group could continue their stronghold on campus politics. Florida Blue Key was found guilty of defamation of character and conspiracy to defame, and held liable for a final payment of an $85,000 settlements
Despite this controversy, Florida Blue Key remains a powerful force in Florida politics. Its members continue to hold key positions in government and politics, and the organization is widely regarded as one of the most influential student groups in the state.
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