ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The University of Florida is ending its “gator bait” cheer at football games and other sports events because of its racial connotations, the school's president announced Thursday in a letter making several other similar changes on campus.
Florida president Kent Fuchs said in a letter to the university's faculty, students and staff that the cheer has a “horrific historic racist imagery” involving African American people, especially children, being used as bait for alligators.
“Accordingly, university athletics and the Gator Band will discontinue the use of the cheer," Fuchs wrote.
The university's sports teams in the Southeastern Conference are nicknamed the Gators, for the ubiquitous Florida reptile.