GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Rival schools came together and put aside their differences... at least for one day.
The University of Florida and Florida State University announced their 'merger' on Twitter, changing their the names on the site to UFFSU and FSUUF. UF President Kent Fuchs and FSU President John Thrasher even took to social media for the prank to discuss the deal in a 2-minute long interview with a crawl that read "UF + FSU = PREEMINENCE" They marketed the "largest research-intensive university in the entire nation."
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The video even had questions from Twitter users, asking 'Which school is my degree going to come from'?. The answer? Each student would get two degrees; one from each university. The presidents planned for all alumni to receive retroactive degrees so all FSU alumni would get a UF degree, and all UF alumni would receive an FSU certificate. The presidents said the two degrees could hang side-by-side.
VIDEO: UF, FSU Presidents announce 'merger'
In the video, both presidents admitted to not telling the faculty about the merger, but they promised they would break the news sometime today before the video went public.
As far as the mascots are concerned, President Fuchs wondered about how UF mascot Albert would enter Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Would he ride in on the FSU's horse, Renegade, or would he just walk in? President Thrasher didn't think it was possible for the alligator to ride in on Renegade and said, "I don't think we're ready for that quite yet", but the students could figure it out.
The video then took to the UF and FSU campuses, asking students what they thought of the two rivals coming together as one. Responses included "No way, I'd hate that", to "Uh... Is this a joke?". The main concern was the lack of a rivalry, and what would happen to the football programs. One student even suggested 'coming together to hate Miami', which was an idea he wasn't too fond of.
The Independent Florida Alligator, a newspaper not affiliated with UF, also got in on the joke. Their main headline discussed the merger. The lead of the sports column? UF getting rid of their football program.
It's not clear how seriously students and alumni of both universities took the news. President Fuchs also pulled an April Fools' Day prank last year. Football coach Jim McElwain and President Fuchs both 'switched jobs' for a day. The university released a video of 'Coach Fuchs' trying to lead football practice, and 'President McElwain' trying to handle the day-to-day activities of a university president.