COLUMN: Crushing Student Spirit

From Charles Ornstein's "Paving the Way," Fall '95 From Charles Ornstein's "Paving the Way," Fall '95Saturday marked the first time I genuinely cheered for another Ivy League school. I knew in my mind that the Quakers did not deserve the Ivy League football title after their poor season, but something in my heart would not allow me to give up hope. As Penn took a quick and commanding lead over Cornell, it was obvious that our hope of coming out on top of the league would rest on the "other" game in Hanover, N.H. "Let's go Dartmouth!" my section screamed to the surprise of some fans around us. But as we waited and watched, the announcer conspicuously left out the score of the Princeton-Dartmouth game in his frequent score updates. Why, I wondered, would the biggest game of the day not be included in the score updates? It defied logic. In yesterday's Philadelphia Inquirer, I learned the answer: "At the request of Penn's athletic administrators, and with the blessing of coach Al Bagnoli, no Dartmouth-Princeton scores were announced until that game had ended." 11 It made no sense to me. Was it that the Athletic Department did not want the football players to be affected by the other game? Doubtful, because to the best of my knowledge, this had never been done before. Then I figured it out. The administration did not want to excite the Penn football fans, who have developed a reputation for their fanatical school spirit. The decision not to announce the score of the Princeton-Dartmouth game, combined with a handful of other poor calls by the Athletic Department this year, makes me question its understanding of the Penn student body and its desire to let students have a good time. Officials first began to flex their muscles when they announced that students would have to sit during basketball games at the Palestra. According to Athletic Director Steve Bilsky, when students stood up, they blocked the view of the alumni sitting adjacent to them. Explaining the dilemma, he said that either students had to sit down during the games or their section would be moved so as not to block the alumni spectators' view. When basketball tickets went on sale, an agreement students had to sign encouraged them to stand up after a good play, a slam dunk or when the score was very close. During the Quakers' exhibition game Saturday night against the Russian Select team, though, the new policy created a good deal of confusion and dampened student spirit to a degree. In the section where I sat, students constantly joked if it was alright for them to stand up after a key play. And while some fans stood up, others sat down. The traditional excitement among Penn fans did not shine through. After announcing its basketball edict, it wasn't long before the Athletic Department announced its next manifesto -- students would not be allowed to tear down the goalposts if the Quakers won their third straight Ivy football title and they would not be allowed on the field after the game. Their concern for student safety, again, was a noble one, but the way the decision was carried out had many faults. The police presence on Franklin Field during the Princeton loss on Homecoming appeared more like a National Guard battalion at a massive demonstration than it looked like security at a football game. Tom Seamon, managing director of public safety, said police would arrest anyone who charged the goalposts, and at least 20 officers were on hand to carry out his orders. I really wondered if there were as many officers on the street as there were in Franklin Field -- to protect a goalpost. As I near the midpoint of my senior year at Penn, I am proud of the traditions that are currently in place and I am proud of the intense student spirit that I and my peers have for this institution and its athletic teams. At the same time, it amazes me to see the degree of fear that the administration has about students' ability to enjoy themselves without hurting themselves or others. With teams doing better than ever, applications on the rise and media interest in Penn growing, I hope the administration will rethink its policies toward student spirit. Officials should try to foster the type of spirit that students currently have -- not crush it.