A general view of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at night during a game between Florida and Florida Atlantic. Matt Pendleton / Imagn Images
Sept. 6, 2026 4:27 pm EDT Updated
Florida reinstated its “Gator Bait” chant during Saturday’s season opener, returning a complicated phrase with history rooted in football triumphs and racist imagery to Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
Its on-field origin dates back decades. Star defensive back Lawrence Wright famously yelled, “If you ain’t a Gator, you must be Gator bait!” during a celebration of his team’s 1996 national championship. Fans chanted it for years inside The Swamp after being cued up by the marching band.
But its off-field origin is dark. Stories — real or not — circulated in the 19th and early 20th centuries of White people using Black children as bait while hunting in Florida’s swamps. Postcards, prints and trinkets from the Jim Crow era depicted the idea.
The history came under renewed focus in 2020 after the murder of George Floyd. The nationwide racial reckoning led Florida to review the chant and ultimately end it.
The university’s administration has changed since then. The president who oversaw its end, Kent Fuchs, stepped down in 2023, and Florida has since had four presidents (including a second, interim stint by Fuchs), as politics have shifted.
Last year, Florida trustees approved the hiring of Michigan president Santa Ono, but the board that oversees all of the state’s universities and colleges rejected him. His previous diversity, equity and inclusion policies were a significant reason why.
This summer, Florida approved Stuart Bell as its new president. During the hiring process, he vowed not to “bring DEI or any type of ‘woke’ back” to Florida. Bell was involved in athletics when he was the president at Alabama; DeVonta Smith even mentioned him in his Heisman Trophy speech. During a radio interview this summer, Bell acknowledged the importance of the cheer to Florida fans and said he hoped to have conversations about it.
Sep 6, 2026
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