I love DePauw, and I love the Tigers.
This will be my third year covering DePauw athletics for this paper, and I’ve loved every minute of it. From the lows of two Monon loses, to the highs of softball and men’s basketball last year, I’m incredibly passionate about the teams that I cover.
But now let me tell you why I also hate them.
I want attendance. I want a band. Basically, I just want a little more school spirit. I came to DePauw knowing full well that it wasn’t going to be like a Notre Dame or Ohio State, but I wanted more than what we have now.
To find out what other people think of the spirit at DePauw, I decided to ask four students and four sports administrators to give it a letter grade.
The results showed that there’s a disconnect between some coaches and the students that sometimes go to their games.
Athletic director Stevie Baker-Watson gave the spirit a solid B. and Scott Riggle, the men’s and women’s tennis head coach, said it was a B+.
The other two coaches I talked to, Bill Fenlon of men’s basketball and Brad Hauter of men’s soccer, had slightly different views on the school spirit at this school.
Hauter gave it a C, calling it the national average, but went on to say that “...I don't consider average to be acceptable, especially at DePauw.”
Fenlon on the other hand went ahead and gave DePauw a C- in the school spirit category.
I then took that same question to four students, and they were even harsher on the spirit than Fenlon and Hauter. Each student I talked to gave DePauw spirit grades below a C-, and I would tend to agree with them.
Now, I understand that there’s a lot going on at DePauw and that can detract from attendance at sporting events. I know the School of Music can have performances on a football Saturday or an art show at Peeler can take away from other sporting events, and by no means am I saying that those activities deserve less attention.
In fact, almost all of the coaches I talked to spoke about how well DePauw students do in supporting every aspect of the school community, and I would agree with that as well.
Regardless of this, I still want to see a little more support at games.
It’s not like you’ll be watching perennially bad teams. In general, I’d like to think the on-the-field part of our athletic program is in a really good place. Realistically, the football team has a shot at winning the bell back this season, Coach Huffman always puts a good product on the floor and both lacrosse programs are on the rise.
These can be fun, energetic events where students can watch their friends compete at a high level and more often than not, win. Every team at DePauw is deserving of the best support our student body has to offer.
I know this is a Division III school and athletes aren’t here because they are looking to go pro and that the word student in “student-athlete” means just that.
I’ve grown up a sports fan and some of my fondest memories have taken place at stadiums and arenas. Now I want great memories at Blackstock Stadium, Neal Fieldhouse and Walker Field, instead of at the parking lot across the street from them.
