Like a lime-green, sticky flagship, Gatorade led UF to research greatness.
Now, after enjoying more than 40 years of electrolyte-laced hydration, UF is venerating the drink with a historical marker and a ceremony outside the O'Connell Center today at 1:30 p.m.
The dedication will be the first in a series of three-foot-tall markers to honor UF's triumphs in research, service and education, states a memo from UF's History Advisory Council to UF's deans, directors and department chairs.
About 200 people were invited to the event, including Gatorade's original researchers.
The historical marker program is sponsored by the UF Alumni Association, and the first marker cost ,1,460, said Carl Van Ness, UF's historian.
"When it came time to pick the first one, Gatorade was easy," Van Ness said. "It combines everything-innovation, research and, of course, the sports program."
Sweet roots
In 1965, four researchers in UF's College of Medicine created a drink to replenish fluids, electrolytes and carbohydrates lost during exercise or sports.
Van Ness said the UF football team first tested the drink during practice.
The first time players guzzled it during a game was when UF played then-fifth-ranked Louisiana State University, he said.
"We were heavy underdogs, but we ended up beating them," he said. "We outlasted them."
Van Ness said LSU team members and spectators were amazed by the amount of energy the Gators team sustained throughout the game.
Rewards and concerns
The rest is Gatorade history, and UF still reaps the monetary benefits of sweet, liquid success.
Over the last five years, UF received about ,12.58 million in royalties from Gatorade sales, wrote Steve Orlando, UF spokesman, in an e-mail.
But that piece of the pie could crumble if national health regulations call for public schools to remove the sports drink from their cafeterias.
Sen. Tom Harkin, a Democrat who represents Iowa, recently introduced a bill that would set new nutritional standards in public schools, according to a report from The Washington Post.
Public health advocates are pushing to ban sports drinks and sweetened waters, citing high sugar, sodium and calories as nutritional downfalls.
Janis Mena, GatorWell Health Promotion Services nutritionist, said removing Gatorade from school cafeterias could help curb obesity at a young age.
Gatorade wasn't created for children, Mena said.
Even when used during exercise, it should be diluted and consumed in small amounts.
Orlando said UF officials would not comment about whether stopping sales of the drink at elementary or high schools could severely hurt UF's revenue but said UF would certainly not remove Gatorade from campus.
Making history
UF hopes to erect three to four historical markers on campus each year, Van Ness said.
The next two will commemorate UF's Everglades research and the UF Baldwin Library of Historical Children's Literature.
He said the idea for the marker program came from a similar one at Penn State University.
Like Penn State, UF will eventually offer walking tours from marker to marker around campus to showcase UF's historical contributions, he said.
He said he couldn't estimate how many posts might someday dot UF's campus because the number will continually grow.
"As long as we keep making history, we'll continue to put in historical markers," Van Ness said.
