*This article does not represent the views of Her Campus FSU
Courtesy: Twitter
“I think there has to be a school where people who can’t get into Florida can go to college. And so that’s why we have Florida State.” Every proud FSU student past and present has heard these infamous words in the past week that were spoken by Republican candidate Marco Rubio in a radio interview in Iowa.
The never-ending UF-FSU rivalry is no secret and it’s not uncommon for students of each school to show their pride by poking at the other school. (Any “Too sexy to be a Gator” shirt owners, anyone?) However, this rivalry is mainly a fun, good-natured rivalry. Or, at least it should be. Rubio’s comment isn’t any different than what a proud UF student would say. So why did it elicit such outrage from FSU students?
It’s different when any student makes a comment like Rubio’s compared to when a public figure like a Republican candidate makes a comment like this. He’s in the public eye and everything he says is taken much more seriously than just any common student or alumni. In addition, the way he showed his school pride—which there’s nothing wrong with that— was very poorly executed. Plenty of students get into both schools but choose the school that’s ultimately the best fit for them at the end of the day. Setting aside all school pride biases, no one school can be considered better than the other because they’re both wonderful schools with vastly different atmospheres that fit different people. Rubio wasn’t simply stating, “UF is better than FSU” in a bout of school pride, but a lot of people understood it as him invalidating the capabilities and intelligence of all FSU students. Each school has its strengths and weaknesses and the students choose which school has the strengths they wish to pursue.
To every angry Seminole’s pleasure, FSU President John Thrasher responded to Rubio’s comment by saying, “He’s a nice kid. I’m sure he’s frustrated by his low standing in the polls, which I believe could be a reflection of where he got his education.” It’s definitely a blow to not only Rubio, but also to UF itself.
Rubio did tweet soon after stating that he was referring to the football rivalry between FSU and UF and that it was all in good fun. However, the execution of his comment clearly did not sit well with the Seminoles.
Courtesy: Twitter
Obviously, some people took the exchange very seriously and considered it as a personal blow and the main reason to dislike him, while others took it as merely a joke and part of the good-natured FSU vs. UF rivalry. No matter how seriously you feel about his comment, there’s definitely one thing that we can all agree on: FSU is absolutely not for the UF rejects.
So, no, Marco Rubio, we don’t secretly wish we were Gators.