That one day a week when an entire campus rejoices — from students and alumni to residents and fans, the university becomes alive on football Saturdays. While I believe athletics should not dominate an entire campus and that academics should remain the primary focus, football provides an extraordinary outlet for uniting people from all backgrounds.
Each week, there is a certain buzz in the air. The excitement on campus about our beloved Gators serves as an overwhelmingly positive presence. In light of a bitter election season, in which presidential politics have divided us about the future course of our nation, for many it has been football, not politics or religion, that has kept UF united and proud. In such uncertain times, these attributes are so scarce. It appears that college campuses like UF effectively unite people with distinct backgrounds and beliefs. We all can learn something from this. By focusing on what unites us and our common goals, we can truly make a difference.
This focus essentially came alive Saturday. Whether it is rational to camp out overnight to appear on national TV, I do not know. However, actions such as camping out for ESPN College GameDay do, in fact, demonstrate that excitement and pride for a common entity and foster a unique type of creativity that we can use to create solutions to our issues.
The wide array of posters captured an immense sense of creativity and an overall awareness of culture, social norms and trends. From posters stating “Spurrier Uses Instagram,” to “Muschamp Style,” these creative and innovative works demonstrate that we all possess the imagination and originality necessary to develop solutions to unique problems and to analyze social norms. If our elected officials employed this sense of creativity in making policy, we would have developed simple yet efficient solutions to our complex problems. No College GameDay poster depicts this fact more than the one that pictured a South Carolina cheerleader holding a sign for the Gamecocks. The caption, of course, said, “Your parents must be so proud.” According to the creator of this masterpiece, the idea was “surprisingly creative and just came to me.” Preferring to remain anonymous, this creative force hopes to use his newly found skill to make an impact by assisting in advertising for various campus organizations, including “Gators for Romney.” The witty, yet perverse nature of these posters shows us that each and every one of us has the critical thinking skills needed to make an array of impacts.
With respect to the presidential election, the polls remain tied. Media projections of the Electoral College show that it is President Obama’s race to lose. However, another push in Gov. Romney’s favor could potentially put him into the White House. Debate season has come and gone. Undecided voters should promptly make up their minds. Politically speaking, our country seems exceedingly polarized.
Quite frankly, the unique sense of humor present in these signs for College GameDay make us all smile. In an era of such economic uncertainty, the presence of football on campus has provided an entire city with a sense of hope and improved prospects for the future.
Presidential politics have divided us. Such a bitter, grueling and tenuous campaign has seemed to widen divisions within the public. Such controversy fails to demonstrate the creative skill and originality that we all share.
The least likely of things — fan signs — tell us that if we can spend the time to create such witty and clever machinations for a TV show, we can surely apply these skills to create a meaningful impact to make a difference in the community. After all, if we do this, our parents will be so proud.
Matthew Schnur is an economics freshman at UF. His column appears on Wednesdays. You can contact him via opinions@alligator.org.
