Students had one mission in mind Tuesday as they lined up on the Reitz Union North Lawn: to get a free Nike T-shirt.
Nike gave away about 15 T-shirts with the slogan “Finish the Mission” to students who stopped by their trailer from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The slogan describes the Gators football team’s goal of winning another national championship and highlights UF’s goal of academic excellence in the classroom, said KeJuan Wilkins, a Nike spokesman.
The T-shirt giveaway was part of Nike’s efforts to promote the new Gators football uniforms the team will wear at Saturday’s game against Florida State University.
Wilkins said the lightweight, durable uniforms and the helmets with the sleek, slanted F reflect the speed of the Gators football team.
However, he said the result of the game depends on the players.
“It’s ultimately up to them how they perform,” Wilkins said. “This just gives them another platform to elevate their play.”
Jason Jarnagin, a junior aerospace engineering major, browsed through the Nike shirt stands set up near the locker containing the uniform. He said the new uniforms represent the transition from one senior class to the next.
“Having a new uniform is a way of showing we’re changing, going from one era to another,” Jarnagin said.
Some students had more than football on their minds when they stopped by the Nike trailer.
UF Amnesty International, a human rights organization, passed out fliers asking students to “Finish the Mission of ending sweatshop labor.”
José Roberto Soto, one of the volunteers, said the group advocated for UF and Nike to adopt the standards of the Workers Rights Consortium in their contract. These standards would ensure that Nike products sold at UF are produced by sweatshop-free labor.
“We see that the current contract is not living up to the UF values,” Soto said.
Former Gator James Smith models the new Nike Pro Combat uniform at a news conference in the O’Connell Center, the Gators wore the uniforms in a 2009 game against Florida State.
