Despite his inexperience driving a golf cart, UF President Kent Fuchs happily chauffeured dozens of students around campus Monday morning in his Gator-themed ride.
“I couldn’t even figure out how to get it going until someone came over to show me,” he said.
Dressed in a suit and a blue conductor hat, Fuchs drove the cart back and forth between Turlington Plaza, the J. Wayne Reitz Union and other campus locations like the Plaza of the Americas, where Fuchs treated about eight students to Starbucks, he said. Cardboard signs on the cart advertised “free rides.”
Fuchs said he initially planned on posting a video to welcome students back to campus but decided to do something in real-time.
While driving around for about two hours, Fuchs asked students UF trivia –– like how many presidents it has had –– and what they did over break. He said responses varied from sleeping to visiting Japan.
“I think some people are riding even though they don’t need to go anywhere,” he said. “They’re just hopping on just to get a free ride. We’re having a lot of fun.”
While visiting Gainesville for her birthday, Alexa Murzyn, a UF audiology alumna, and her parents stopped to take a picture with Fuchs.
Murzyn graduated in 2011 with a doctorate but said she came into town from Atlanta to see the basketball game and visit friends. Though she doesn’t attend UF anymore, she said she keeps up with the school and is familiar with Fuchs.
Murzyn said she never saw former UF president Bernie Machen around campus, so she was surprised to see Fuchs standing outside of Reitz Union.
“I think it’s wonderful that he’s connecting with the students and having more of a public presence on campus,” the 35-year-old said.
Contact Romy Ellenbogen at rellenbogen@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter at @romyellenbogen.
UF President Kent Fuchs poses with students in front of his Gator-themed golf cart. He drove students back and forth between campus locations on the first day of classes.
