School Spirit Low at Homecoming

Homecoming. First on the mind of so many students who hear this word are memories of high school pep bands and football teams. Everyone knows that Homecoming at UMD is simply not the elaborate display of school spirit that it was when we were just getting our driver’s licenses, but why is this the case?
While so many students flock to the U of M – Twin Cities campus for homecoming there, it cannot entirely be the fact that larger campuses have more to offer with their bigger stadiums, division one status and larger student bodies. This is proven by the fact that homecoming at schools such as the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire also draw notoriously large numbers of students and fans for the weekend’s festivities.
Many jump to blame school administration or the student association for their role, or maybe lack thereof, but in reality it is our own fault as students, that UMD’s Homecoming has resulted in nothing more than a few posters on the wall and another weekend football game. Those who passed on attending the week’s activities because they assumed them to be “lame” or “boring” have effectively rendered it such. Even Greek Life chose not to participate in Homecoming activities this year, and they normally sponsor the tailgating activities.
It is surprising, considering the physical tightness of the UMD campus, that it seems so hard to solicit school spirit from the student body. While UMD Hockey has a fairly attractive following, when they’re doing well anyway, one has to wonder why this type of enthusiasm doesn’t also exist at UMD in general. Perhaps it has something to do with the origins of UMD students, most of them being from the Twin Cities and other parts of Minnesota and Wisconsin.
We can continue to speculate as to why things are this way, or we can do something extremely simple. Participate. The reasoning is even simpler. While we may, as we did in high school, look at our graduation as a point of exit that can’t come too soon, we will one day look back on our collegiate career and reflect. It seems one should be proud of the school they went to, their involvement in student life, the extra-curricular activities that they chose to participate in and even more importantly – the people they go to school with.
Homecoming is more than a football game, it’s a time for students to gather and continue to gather for many years after they graduate. Let’s be proud of our school and participate.