I read Jill Brandenburg’s response to my article the other day. Jill completely misunderstood what I had to say. I was not attempting to attack Greek life.
I only used the word Greek once. I merely mentioned the Greeks because I saw more alphabet soup shirts than I did red SMU shirts. I also watched the vast majority of those people leave after the halftime ceremonies. I stated that it was student organizations. But hey, if you have a guilty conscience about the Greeks, I understand.
Make no mistake, I do not want to do away with the Homecoming festivities. I do want to put an end to people not showing up until halftime and then leaving after the halftime ceremonies. I’d say someone that has nothing wrong with this practice has a distorted view of Homecoming. I personally thought that Homecoming was about welcoming back alumni and supporters of SMU. If that were the case, why would you walk out on them?
To say that I don’t understand the concept of Homecoming because you don’t like football is pretty far from the truth. The football game is the single largest representation of what Homecoming is about.
The game is the easiest place for ALL members of the SMU community to come together in support of the school. If you don’t care for football, come for the community. Come to yell chants with the band, laugh with your friends, taunt our rivals and enjoy the weather. Don’t come JUST to see if your candidate won your competition and walk out on the rest of the community.
My problem is not with having pride in your involvement at SMU. My problem is with too much pride. My problem is when you have so much pride that literal involvement doesn’t matter anymore. I like Jill’s statement:
“Homecoming is also a chance for SMU’s awesome alums to come back and celebrate their alma mater. I guarantee you that they did not all come back just to watch SMU play Rice. For many, the football program simply provides a date and arena for the festivities.”
She’s right when she says that Homecoming is the chance for alums to come back and celebrate. So, why did you walk out on the celebration? She said that the game provides a date and arena. Why did you leave the arena? Were there alums where you went? I had several alumni respond to my article and tell me that they were at the game and saw the exodus. This indicates to me that the alumni were at the game.
Basically, I was really, really mad at how many student organizations treated the members of the team, the alumni and the rest of the student body. I issued a call to action if you wanted to attempt to save face. I wasn’t trying to bash Greek organizations for participating. I was bashing all organizations that pretended to participate. I still am. Saturday, Nov. 26, 2 p.m., lower level, next to the band. Wear red.
Bill Meehan is a junior computer science and math double major. He can be reached at [email protected].
