GAINESVILLE, Fla. — This time last year, Lauren Lemasters held the post of chief of staff to University of Florida student body president Cooper Brown. A couple weeks before the annual Orange & Blue Spring Game, the program's public debut under new Coach Billy Napier, Brown got an email from the University Athletic Association asking if he'd be interested in being the first honorary "Mr. Two Bits" for a spring game.
The answer was a resounding yes.
Seated in the stadium's front row, Brown had a few members of his cabinet, Lemasters among them, on hand for an up-close look at the role most often reserved for Gator Greats.
"I think it was the highlight of his year," she said.
Fast forward to present day, with the 2023 O&B game set for Thursday night at "The Swamp." As it turned out, Brown's presidential "Two Bits" bid was so well received (and apparently, so deftly executed) that the UAA reached out to the sitting student body president with the same honorary invitation in what is looking like the start of a tradition.
Here's betting Lemasters, winding down her term in office, will have an experience worthy of another UF presidential seal of approval.
"One of the the things that student government focuses on a lot are the big traditions. They bring everyone together," Lemasters said. "The whole 'Two Bits' is so unique. The chant. The yellow shirt and tie. It's just something that reminds everyone about coming together for football and cheering on the Gators."
Lauren Lemasters (far right) mugs with some friends at a UF football game.
Lemasters is a fifth-year from Jacksonville already with degrees in political science and criminology and currently finishing work on a master's in management. She got involved in politics in high school, as student body vice president, and took advantage of opportunities through Young Leaders Conference to be even more active at the high school level.
Her interest carried over once she got to UF, eventually leading to her chief of staff position, where in addition to that front row seat for Brown's "Two Bits" routine she also had a front-row seat to take in everything that comes with being a student body president.
"It's been awesome," she said. "UF just lets students be leaders. We got to set our major priorities for the year and work toward them. It's been really cool to build a team and build a culture and put people in position to thrive. It's been awesome, really fun and I've learned so much over the past 12 months."
Now comes a different kind of fun. The chant. The yellow shirt. The tie. And the memories.
Anything special planned?
"No," Lemasters said. "I think I'm going to keep it classic."
