The University of Central Florida Pulse collection, 2016-2022, documents the University of Central Florida's response to the shooting at Pulse nightclub on June 12, 2016. It chiefly consists of event programs, flyers, and brochures, artwork from the Resilience: Remembering Pulse exhibit at the UCF Art Gallery, messages and items gifted to UCF from other universities, and other memorabilia of the candlelight vigil and other events held in remembrance of the victims. UCF Special Collections & University Archives staff collected items that were left on the UCF seal in the Student Union Rotunda, including votive candleholders, stuffed animals, ribbons, bracelets, illustrations, and flags. Messages of support from whiteboard displays were also collected. This collection demonstrates how the UCF community expressed support for the victims and families of the Pulse shooting and the LGBTQ+ community, and memorialized two Pulse victims who were UCF students, Christopher Andrew "Drew" Leinonen and Juan Ramon Guerrero. Most items in the collection are from 2016 through 2017. On June 12, 2016, Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida was the scene of the deadliest mass shooting by a single gunman in U.S. history at the time. Forty-nine people were killed, including two members of the University of Central Florida (UCF) community, student Juan Ramon Guerrero and alumnus Christopher Andrew "Drew" Leinonen. On June 14, 2016, UCF held a candlelight vigil in honor of the Pulse shooting victims and created a memorial on the UCF Pegasus seal in the Student Union Rotunda. In July 2016, the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity and UCF Greek Council held the Orlando Strong 5K run at the UCF reflection pond to raise funds for the Pulse employees impacted by the shooting. In 2017, UCF continued to pay tribute to the victims and their families with a remembrance ceremony titled "UCF Remembers...6.12.16." A blood drive was held on campus, in addition to an art exhibition at the UCF Art Gallery titled Resilience: Remembering Pulse. Artists Michael Pilato and Yuriy Karabash created a mural memorializing Juan Ramon Guerrero and Drew Leinonen outside the Student Union. In 2018, in addition to the "UCF Remembers" event, the UCF Libraries held an exhibit to highlight the LGBTQ+ community with materials from this collection along with books, articles, a movie, and other materials written about or by LGBTQ+ members. The university and its community continue to remember Pulse through an annual vigil called UCF Remembers, hosted by LGBTQ+ Services, and through a blood drive held annually on campus.
