Staff Editorial: Failure to find a viable alternative

When the Quakers won the Ivy League football title in 1998, students rushed the field and took down the goal posts. What followed was nearly disastrous chaos. After ramming the goal posts into the eastern gate of Franklin Field, students went out the opposite side and rushed onto the highway, barely managing to dump the uprights into the Schuylkill River.

In response, the University installed stronger goal posts, ones that not even the largest group of students could pull to the ground. And the goal posts have indeed withstood the pressure of hundreds twice in the past three years.

But last year, after widespread complaints and fear for the safety of students attempting to take them down, the University created a task force to resolve this situation once and for all. The goal was to come up with an alternative to the tradition, one that did not carry such a high injury risk but would still appeal to the student body at large.

After a much-publicized meeting between administrators and students last spring, little has been heard from the task force. In the meantime, the Quakers have once again clinched the Ivy League title and look to complete their undefeated campaign tomorrow against Cornell.

Now, whatever the task force has come up with is essentially for naught. It is virtually a given that despite recent failures, students will once again attempt to bring down the goal posts, especially in the absence of a viable alternative.

We are disappointed that the task force has failed to suggest a safer and alternate option for students. If administrators truly feel strongly about eliminating the goal post tradition at Penn, they must be more proactive in finding another way to celebrate yet another football championship.

We must caution, however, that recent attempts at other schools to curtail this tradition have only caused more anger among students. Incidents in which police have used pepper spray to repel fans have only served to create more controversy and even riots. While the chances of rioting at Penn are admittedly slim, police must exercise caution in dealing with students who are merely seeking to take part in a tradition that has roots all across the country.

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