History of the UF Division of Student Affairs | Page 31

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memorial on the SW 34th Street graffiti wall was created by students in 1990
and is diligently protected and repainted by today’s students. Under President
Lombardi’s and Sandeen’s leadership in cooperation with strong leadership
from Santa Fe College and the Gainesville/Alachua County community, UF
and its host community survived a crisis that threatened the safety, stability,
and future economic success of the whole community. Sandeen credited the
strength of the Student Affairs staff, the cooperation of multiple agencies, open
communications, and UF administrators’ availability to the media and other
publics with the successful recovery of the community. This success included
established yet flexible crisis protocols including provisions for handling the
media, rumor control, sensitivity to the needs of victims, communication with
victims and families, and follow-up assessment of crisis protocols by staff.
The spree of murders stopped. Most of the thousands of students who fled the
UF campus in panic returned to continue their education as the communitywide task force with assistance from federal agencies continued the police
investigation. A community seeks and needs closure to a crisis or tragedy,
and justice is sought in the memory of victims. Often closure and justice are
not forthcoming. Nine long months passed before Danny Rolling was publicly
named as a suspect in the Gainesville Student Murders and jailed. Rolling pled
guilty in 1994 during jury selection for his trial and was sentenced to death.
Rolling was executed in 2006, sixteen years after the murders. The Gainesville
Student Murders had closure and justice, the UF and Gainesville community
grew stronger, but a loss of innocence was felt in the community.

SW 34th Street Wall Memorial to the victims of the 1990 Gainesville Student Murders
Photo Credit: UF Archives Digital Collection

I ntr od uction