At Florida State University’s law school, deep within the enemy’s camp, there occasionally hangs a sign that says, “Work ‘Em Silly, Gators.”
This icon of The Swamp, painted on a pillowcase, is hung by the Litigators, a student-run organization within FSU’s law school that provides a home away from home for the numerous UF graduate students that attend the college.
Sometimes, it serves as a recruitment tool during times when prospective students come and visit the school, said president Kim Siomkos, who, like most Litigators, is a UF graduate.
The group wants Gainesville students to know that despite going to a rival school, there is a group of people who share a common bond — being a Gator.
“Gainesville will always be my home,” Siomkos said. “So anything I can do to remind me of being there is something that I want to get involved in.”
The group primarily functions as a social group and a way for students from Gainesville to network with other law students with UF undergraduate degrees who found their way up north to Tallahassee.
They host game-day tailgates and game-watching parties, hold monthly meetings, go to Gator baseball games when they play FSU and also host various events like beer tastings with the Capital Area Gator Club.
One of the group’s biggest events is their UF-FSU rivalry week, which was hosted last week so as not to coincide with exams.
“We try to have it in early November before the studying for exams gets too overwhelming or too hectic so people can still participate and have a good time,” said treasurer Brett Miller.
During the week, the stairwell of the school is decorated on one side with orange and blue and the other side in garnet and gold, complete with the slogans, “If you’re not a Gator, then you’re Gator bait,” and “Gator haters.”
The week also includes a powderpuff game, a canned food drive and a Mr. FSU pageant.
The school’s administration seems pleased with the group, even though it is dedicated to proving its loyalty to a rival school.
“They’re very, very helpful to our school,” said Don Weidner, the dean of FSU College of Law. “UF is a terrific undergraduate Student Body, and to be sure, we very actively recruit undergraduate UF students, and they’re very active in that effort.”
One of the reasons Weidner said a organization like Litigators is helpful is because of the sheer volume of UF graduates that the college receives. In two out of the last three incoming classes of law students, UF graduates have outnumbered the graduates from every other university, including FSU.
Siomkos said she enjoys having the backing of the administration.
“This is one of the selling points for me for FSU Law,” she said, “the fact that an entire faculty and administration can get behind us and realize we’re not here to be an annoyance, we’re here to be an asset.”
