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article <\/p>\n article <\/p>\n
NASHVILLE, TN – MARCH 11: A fan of the Florida Gators holds up a sign that reads “Gator Bait” against the LSU Tigers during the semifinals on day 3 of the SEC Men’s Basketball Conference Tournament March 11, 2006 at the Gaylord Entertainment Center i <\/p>\n
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The University of Florida brought back its “gator bait” cheer Saturday night during its season-opening football game against Florida Atlantic University.\u00a0<\/p>\n
University of Florida Tradition <\/p>\n
What we know:<\/p>\n
It returned to the Swamp early in the first quarter against Florida Atlantic \u2014 and was welcomed with a raucous reception. It was far from a surprise because clips of Florida\u2019s band practicing the accompanying tune were shared on social media this week.<\/p>\n
University President Stuart Bell hinted at bringing back the tradition in June, stating that traditions matter to the campus community.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Stadium crowds gave the chant a loud reception, following social media clips recorded earlier in the week that showed the campus band practicing the musical cue.<\/p>\n
Gator Bait History <\/p>\n
What we don’t know:<\/p>\n
Officials have not confirmed if any anti-racism groups or campus student organizations plan to protest the cheer’s return.\u00a0<\/p>\n
School leaders have not stated whether any modifications were made to the chant’s official arrangement or presentation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Previous Campus Decisions <\/p>\n
The backstory:<\/p>\n
Former President Kent Fuchs banned the chant in June 2020 due to \u2018horrific historic racist imagery\u2019 tied to the phrase<\/a>. Anti-Black artwork from the late 1800s and early 1900s depicted alligator hunters using Black babies as bait.\u00a0<\/p>\n The initial 2020 decision occurred during nationwide racial reckonings after police murdered George Floyd in Minneapolis.<\/p>\n Many Florida fans met Fuchs\u2019 decree with disdain, arguing the cheer was a tradition and never performed with any racist intentions.<\/p>\n Separate from the cheer, Florida eliminated all diversity, equity and inclusion positions in 2024 following a state rule banning such programs, directing $5 million in annual funds into faculty recruitment.<\/p>\n The Source: The information in this story was gathered from the Associated Press, who reported on the game details and historical background of the cheer, as well as official university statements.\u00a0<\/p>\n Florida<\/a>University of Florida Gators<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"article NASHVILLE, TN – MARCH 11: A fan of the Florida Gators holds up a sign that reads…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":396764,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[47,28,56,30,29,1538,115,628],"class_list":["post-396763","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-fl","tag-florida","tag-florida-football","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-ncaa-football","tag-news","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396763","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=396763"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396763\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/396764"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=396763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=396763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=396763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}