Toreros, let your school spirit show

By Khea Pollard

It’s been an ongoing debate: Do we have school spirit? Are we connected as a community? Why are the stands so empty during football games? We’ve all heard it. There are multiple perspectives to the issue of school spirit. There are also a lot of explanations for why it does or does not exist.

Junior and transfer student Crystal Scorsone speaks about the pros of transferring from her previous school to USD.

“My other school didn’t have any school spirit to be honest, it was all about the social life rather than the community life. I do prefer USD, even though I’m still getting involved, at least there something to get involved with”, Scorsone said.

On the other hand, it is common for transfer students to feel somewhat lost in the shuffle arriving here at USD.
“Since I am a transfer student and a junior I do feel a little left out. I didn’t really know a lot about the community and I did feel rushed in,” Scorsone said.
School spirit is not just a concern of the students. The administration has put forth efforts to up school spirit by marketing events via social media outlets and creation of student organizations to plan weekend events.

Dean of students Donald Godwin, weighs in on this, “In my experience, students create school spirit. I think students have great pride in USD, it just doesn’t manifest itself in the same way it’s seen at other universities, such as through sporting events,” Godwin said.

The lack of student support for athletics is a troubling issue for many students on campus. Michael Cannan senior and president of Bullpit, an organization created to increase school spirit at athletic events, places some responsibility on the administration.

“I believe administration can assist with school spirit by incorporating a college pastime, tailgating. Having visited other schools with great school spirit, I can attest to the fact that tailgating brings people together in a way that no other event can,” Cannan said.

Senior and transfer student Jeff Bush highlights some of the differences between his first college experience and transfer to USD.

“Being a transfer student from Ventura College I was exposed to high levels of school spirit, especially in the arena of athletics. Here at USD the levels of school spirit are the same, if not higher than my previous institutions. It’s just that here, the school spirit is more concentrated on academics, student organizations, greek life, etc…whereas my preceding schools were more focused on athletics,” Bush said.

We should consider our demographic before we knock our school for having less spirit in comparison to other schools. It is possible that there is a cultural gap contributing to the lack of connection between student groups.

Junior and former member of the football team Tarez Lemmons says his experience at USD is about much more than athletics.

“Some underrepresented students feel little connection to the majority of the student body. This could contribute to a lack of pride by isolation. If some USD students do not feel as though they fit in, it is difficult to muster up school pride”, Lemmons said.

Here is the bottom line. Students and visitors alike should be able to feel the Torero pride in the atmosphere of our beautiful campus. If we want more school spirit, we have to get together and create it, not just talk about it.