I am not a good student here at SMU. I am only involved in one student organization. I don’t regularly attend the Boulevard, and I worship a different school. Quite frankly, I’m the guy with the Notre Dame hat you’ve never seen without that hat. I do attempt some respect, though. I attend SMU football games. I have since my freshman year. I have seen the worst of times, when we went 0-12. Now, I feel I’ve seen something worse.

I do not claim to ooze school spirit, but many students do. I do not hang signs that say that I love SMU or SMU football. I merely claim that when I show spirit, I mean it. When I attend football games, I do it for the football. I do it to support the team. I do it to make noise when we’re on defense. I do it to quiet others when we are on offense. I yell pass, ball, option, fullback and reverse on the hope that the defense hears and reacts. If I was not there for the team, I would not bother to show at all.

Many student organizations do claim school spirit. These organizations have tents on the Boulevard and host parties to celebrate the team. They build floats for Homecoming and nominate candidates for king and queen. They project an image of spirit and support that cannot be matched by the others in the student body. I myself admit that the displays are quite impressive.

I caught glimpses of these displays Saturday. The game was Homecoming. It felt more like Homeleaving. The crowd was best described as sparse for most of the first half. I could not believe how many people were not only sitting but also seemed uninterested in the game. The demeanor felt like we were losing by 20 points. We were winning by 20. Then, towards the end of the first half, I noticed a change. The student section started to swell. People came with signs and had coordinated outfits. Students from many student organizations started to force their way into the stands. The stands became crowded.

The half ended and the Homecoming ceremonies were completed while the now crowded student section made large amounts of noise. The signs were displayed and noisemakers filled the stadium with celebration, the most noise since TCU came to town, all during the halftime show. Then, the ceremonies ended and the exodus began. This is where the term Homeleaving came from. All told, the organizations were mostly out of the stadium as the second half kicked off. The student section was left with maybe 400-500 students. It now held less than half the number of students that it had before people showed up for the halftime show. The masses of the allegedly loyal student organizations occupied the stands for maybe 20 minutes. Fifteen of those minutes were the ceremonies.

So, I’m here to call you out. I am talking to the Greeks and the other student organizations. This is for the people who built floats, coordinated outfits, made signs, carried noisemakers, filled the stands and left without realizing the score. You claim that you love and support your school, but you really only care about your image. I’m here to smear that image. I want to expose you for what you really are. You’re fake, imitators and, most of all, classless. You have an utter lack of respect for the team that you claim to respect, as well as the alumni who support this school.

If you disagree, prove me wrong. Show me that this was an anomaly that does not reflect the student body. Show me that you care about the school, the players and the alumni. I’ll even give you the date and time to prove it. Nov. 26, at 2 p.m., we host UTEP. That’s two days after Thanksgiving. If you care to salvage what’s left of your sacred image, meet me at the stadium, lower level, next to the band.

Bill Meehan is a junior computer science and math major. He may be contacted at [email protected].