Students show support for Gator dance team

Two weeks after a UF competitive Bollywood dance group was confronted with racial slurs, UF students want to show their support.

Praveen Varanasi, a former senator in the Student Senate, said he’s sponsoring a Student Government resolution, authored by three Impact Party senators, responding to the incident. The resolution needs to be approved by SG committees before it can reach the Senate.

“The resolution is the Student Senate’s way to say they stand in solidarity with the dance team Gator Adaa,” he said.

On Tuesday, the Asian American Student Union posted a letter of support on its Facebook page condemning the incident in which two men mocked the Gator Adaa dance group and compared them to an “invasive species.” The group, made up of 13 women, was practicing for a competition outside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on Oct. 4 when the encounter occurred, according to Alligator archives.

In the letter, AASU stated “this inexcusable act of bias reminds us of the importance of education and advocacy for (Asian and Pacific Islander American) issues on a collegiate level and beyond.”

Kevin Doan, the president of AASU and the letter’s co-author, said if a similar event happened again, he would respond quicker. He had a draft prepared six days after the incident but spent time revising it.

“For us, we felt that even though we are a little over two weeks past the point, it’s still an important discussion,” Doan said.

Doan said he wanted to support the South Asian community, a group that isn’t often considered part of the APIA community.

“Our goal is to try to strive for advocating for all Asian American identities,” he said. “It’s just unfortunate that acts like this happen on campus. It’s reality, but it’s up to us in how we respond.”

Varanasi, the president of Indian Student Association, said he appreciated the letter regardless of when it was posted.

“I don’t think there’s necessarily a time limit on it,” he said. “They’ve always been very supportive, and I appreciate their support.”