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$2 million gift fuels new fellowships at UF Law and UF College of Journalism

The University of Florida announced a $2 million commitment from UF alumni Linda and Ken McGurn to establish the McGurn Fellowship Program for Media Integrity and the Fight Against Disinformation.

The gift will fund fellowships at the UF College of Journalism and Communications, the Levin College of Law and the Consortium on Trust in Media and Technology, a multidisciplinary initiative launched in 2019 to understand the dynamics that have undermined the trustworthiness of content and information disseminated via technology. Both colleges will appoint scholars and practicing journalists and lawyers to serve as McGurn Fellows for various lengths of time.

“The spread of false information and increasing distrust of credible news organizations is a scourge that is polarizing our nation and endangering our ability to survive as a democracy,” said Linda McGurn. “Ken and I are thrilled to be able to support the Levin College of Law, College of Journalism and Communications and the Consortium on Trust in Media and Technology in their efforts to combat this perilous trend.” The McGurns are principals in McGurn Management Company based in Gainesville.

The fellows will work with students and faculty to: Develop ways to educate the public about disinformation and the technology that contributes to its spread; regulate disinformation within the confines of the First Amendment; and support reporting and decision-making rooted in evidence and facts. McGurn Fellows will offer courses, conduct workshops, make campus-wide presentations, or develop white papers and policy proposals designed for national distribution, among other activities.

“The generosity of Linda and Ken McGurn will position the University of Florida as a leader in efforts to strengthen our democracy and the rule of law through accurate reporting that rebuilds our capacity for reasoned debate,” said Laura A. Rosenbury, Dean and Levin, Mabie, & Levin Professor at the Levin College of Law. “The Levin College of Law is excited to partner with the College of Journalism and Communications in this critical task.”

“We are very grateful to the McGurns for supporting UF’s efforts to address the continued spread of misinformation and disinformation, which is undermining media credibility,” said Diane McFarlin, the recently retired Dean of the College of Journalism and Communications. “This support will be particularly helpful to the Consortium on Trust in Media and Technology, which is focused on research and development to restore the trustworthiness of vital information that is disseminated through technology.”

Published: January 25th, 2021

Category: News

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The Florida Constitutional Law Endowment in memory of Justice Ben F. Overton was created by Judge Karen Miller in 2013. This fund supports lectures and presentations by Justices of the Florida Supreme Court at the Fredric G. Levin College of Law.

HISTORY

Justice Overton, who earned his B.S. in 1951 and his Juris Doctor in 1952 from the University of Florida, was the first merit appointment to the Florida Supreme Court. Throughout his career he was active in legal education and served as an Adjunct Professor at the Levin College of Law through December 2012, the month of his death. Although he resided at Oak Hammock at the University of Florida, a continuing care retirement community developed in cooperation with UF, he also considered the Florida Supreme Court “home.” Among the high points of his later years was hosting Justices of the Florida Supreme Court in Gainesville and taking his class to Tallahassee to hear oral arguments at the Florida Supreme Court.
Judge Miller, who earned her B.S. cum laude from New York University in 1974 and her Juris Doctor from New York Law School in 1977, served as Chief Administrative Law Judge of the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs, New York City’s business regulatory agency, before she retired to Oak Hammock at the University of Florida. Having accompanied Justice Overton on his excursions to Tallahassee and joined him in welcoming guests to Oak Hammock at the University of Florida, she created the endowment in memory of Justice Overton to ensure that the Levin College of Law continues to have the funding necessary to continue and enhance the interaction between its students and the Florida Supreme Court.

 

Judge Miller remembered the event that motivated the endowment.

 

Prior to a dinner at the home of Dean Robert Jerry and Lisa Jerry shortly after Justice Overton’s death, Justice Barbara Pariente and I were discussing a suitable memorial. Justice Pariente, who had been Justice Overton’s colleague on the Florida Supreme Court and who understood the importance to him of the interaction between his students and the Court, suggested the outline of what has become the Overton lectures. Dean Jerry, who has since retired, as has Dean Emeritus Jon Mills, who assumed responsibility for implementing the Overton lectures, were very supportive from the beginning. Since Dean Mills’ retirement, Professor Timothy McClendon, who assisted both Justice Overton and Dean Mills teaching Florida Constitutional Law and who co-authored the recent Florida Constitutional Law casebook, has continued the Overton lectures with the support of Interim Dean Merritt McAlister and CGR director, Professor Danaya Wright.

Justice Overton was a devoted jurist, educator, and ethical leader of the Florida legal profession. The Overton Lecture Series brings Florida Supreme Court Justices to the University of Florida, Levin College of Law, and serves to introduce students to the inner workings of the Court. CGR and the students of the College of Law extend our deepest gratitude to Judge Karen Miller for making the Overton Lectures possible in perpetuity.

You can watch an interview for the Florida Historical Society by Mary Adkins, professor emeritus of the UF Levin College of Law, with Justice Overton here.

Justice Overton was also interviewed for the Samuel Proctor Oral History Project and a transcript of his interview is available at the Smathers Library, and here.
Justice Overton sat on the Constitution Revision Commission of 1977-78 that proposed a right to privacy in the Florida Constitution. Although it failed as part of the Constitution Revision Commission recommendations, it passed in 1980 when proposed by the legislature. The bill was co-sponsored by our very own Jon Mills. The privacy provision prevailed by greater than 60%. Justice Overton then wrote a concurrence in a critical reproductive rights case in 1989 affirming that the privacy provision of the Florida Constitution included the right to obtain an abortion. That decision was overruled in Planned Parenthood of SW and Central Florida v. Florida. You can read about the role of Justice Overton, Jon Mills – director emeritus of CGR, and the history of the 1989 case here.