Two months ago, Renee Gork was known to the sports world as the woman who wore the wrong hat to work and found herself out of a job.
Now, she’s found a job that will allow her to show her true colors: orange and blue.
Gork, a UF graduate, was fired in August from her position as a radio host for KAKS in Arkansas after attending a news conference with Arkansas head football coach Bobby Petrino while wearing a UF hat. But on Monday she was hired to work on WRUF Sports Radio 850 in Gainesville.
“This is territory that is very familiar to me,” said Gork. “I always was a Gator.”
She will be starting her new position Thursday, serving alongside Steve Russell on “Sportscene,” which airs weekdays from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. She will also help students with an interest in broadcasting get involved with internships.
Gork, who referred to the incident as a “wardrobe malfunction,” said she grabbed the hat without looking to cover her head from the rain outside.
The hat drew immediate attention from Petrino, who commented on it after fielding a question from Gork.
“And that will be the last question I answer with that hat on,” Petrino said.
She admits that while wearing the hat to a press conference sponsored by a rival school may have not been the best judgment call, she believes it is possible for her to be objective while also being a sports fan.
She said that the experience taught her the importance of being careful with what she does and says in her work.
“Obviously I won’t be wearing any Razorback gear out,” she said.
Randy Wright, the executive director of the division of multimedia properties at UF, who reached out to Gork following her firing, said that he has no reservations about hiring her, pointing out her ties to the university and the quality of her work.
“I don’t think it was that hard [of a decision]; she’s a Gator through and through,” Wright said.
“Renee made a mistake, but we know the quality of her character and the quality of her work.”
Wright, who called Gork’s firing from the Arkansas station “silly,” said the timing of Gork’s hire is appropriate, especially this week.
“What better idea than to bring a Gator home for homecoming?” he said.
Although Gork said she wasn’t sure about the exact format she will be following on her first broadcast Thursday, she expressed excitement about the prospect of covering Gators and SEC football.
“We’ll be rolling with the punches,” she said.
