Well, the university had to become co-educational first. For the year in a row–Let the Gator Growl!” Since Gator Growl is a homecoming activity, that means there was a crowning of a homecoming queen? You know how “Saturday Night Live” doesn’t officially start until the cast looks in the camera and says, “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!”? In the Gator Growls I attended in the 1990s, it was a signal that the show had officially begun when the Albert the Alligator mascot (whose gruff and rumbling “voice” was pumped in through the public address speakers) would be in the spotlight and announce: “Alumni! Faculty! Students! And special guests. “Let the Gator Growl” became the show’s catch phrase. Allegedly, one unnamed student became so frustrated at the lack of progress that he blurted, “Just let the Gator growl!” So not just “Gator Growl” as a title was coined, that expression stuck. Legend has it that Florida Blue Key members met in 1932 to come up with a new title for the homecoming festivities, as it had outgrown its “Dad’s Day” origins of the 1920s. What’s with the expression “Let the Gator Growl”? There’s a fairly sprawling Wikipedia page about its history and notable alumni. You can find out more of their story at their website, fbk.org. The student honorary society known as Florida Blue Key was founded in 1923, and it’s been running Gator Growl since 1932. Gator Growl was run by University of Florida students? And even as cool a guy as he’s been to me, I find it even cooler that “University Historian” isn’t just a description of what he does, “University Historian” is his gosh-darn job title.īottom line: When there’s any dispute or disagreement about UF homecoming lore, I defer to Carl Van Ness. You can read an authoritative encapsulation of the “hotly debated” history of Gator Growl and homecoming at the University of Florida by University Historian Carl Van Ness, “More Than 100 Years of ‘Welcome Home’: Homecoming traditions have come and gone (Synchronized swimmers? Bring your weight in firewood?), but since 1916, Gator spirit has always won the day.”Ĭarl Van Ness is an awesome guy and has been so helpful to my research. That’s when the homecoming pep rally was held at the football stadium known as Florida Field, and there were marching bands and cheerleaders and baton twirlers and student comedy skits that poked fun at campus life and state politics, but most important of all, fireworks. While UF had homecoming traditions as far back as 1916, the title of Gator Growl was coined and adopted in 1932. “Gator Growl” was, and always will be, the annual college football pep rally at the University of Florida.
A few years later on a radio show, he was asked, “What’s the biggest crowd you did comedy for?” What was Gator Growl? In 2002, he was the feature act ahead of now-disgraced headliner Bill Cosby. What’s it like to do stand-up comedy in front of 70,000 people? In its heyday, Gator Growl crowds could range from 50,000 to 60,000 to as many as 72,000 or 75,000 people. Yes, and here’s what happened at “Gator Growl”: It was the annual homecoming pep rally that took place on the Friday night before the Saturday afternoon pep rally. Let me get this straight – the University of Florida once had a tradition where stand-up comedians would do their act in front of up to 75,000 people in the football stadium?
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