STATEWIDE — The University of Florida will no longer allow athletes and its band to use the "Gator Bait" cheer, part of a larger campus initiative to eliminate symbols with links to racist histories and to open a dialog about equality and injustice. 

The cheer is often used by students and athletes at football games and other athletic events.

UF President Kent Fuchs included banning the "Gator Bait" cheer in a larger statement posted Thursday on the university's website called "Another Step Toward Positive Change Against Racism."

"While I know of no evidence of racism associated with our 'Gator Bait' cheer at UF sporting events, there is horrific historic racist imagery associated with the phrase. Accordingly University Athletics and the Gator Band will discontinue the use of the cheer," Fuchs wrote.

The phrase "gator bait" is potentially linked to historical stories about black children being used as bait for alligator hunters, written about in scores of turn-of-the-century publications, according to a 2016 story by The Undefeated.

The university president's decision to retire the cheer wasn't embraced by many longtime UF fans — including the UF football player who The Gainesville Sun reports is most famously linked to the phrase.

In 1996, after a victory over rival Florida State University, Lawrence Wright said, "If you ain’t a Gator, ya Gator bait, baby."

About the ban, Wright said, “I’m not going for it,” he told The Gainesville Sun. “I created something for us. It’s a college football thing. It’s not a racist thing, It’s about us, the Gator Nation. And I’m black."

A change.org petition calling for the university to keep the cheer was quickly gaining signatures Thursday.

"The university admits that there is no racism, but is canceling it anyways. We need to keep our traditions and demand that UF honor them," the petition's description says.

Among other campus initiatives Fuchs listed to raise awareness of racial injustices and the black experience:

• Requiring students, faculty and staff to take training on racism, inclusion, and bias
• The UF Research Office offering grants on race, equality, justice, and reconciliation
• Dedicating the 2020-21 academic year to the black experience, racism, and inequality, featuring speakers, seminars, courses, programs, and town hall meetings
• Offering a day of community service and learning in the spring semester
• Forming a presidential task force to document the history of UF and race relations, particularly those of black and Native Americans
• Asking the chiefs of the University Police Department and Gainesville Police Department to review use-of-force policies, report their findings, and institute any needed reforms.

The cheer ban comes amid worldwide outrage over the death of George Floyd in police custody, the resurgent Black Lives Matter movement, and reflection on cultural institutions with racist overtones. Just this week, Quaker Oats and Mars Inc. announced they would retire and change the Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben's brands, respectively.

In April, before Floyd's death, Land O’Lakes removed the Native American woman on its butter and cheese packaging, which had been there since the 1920s.