By Ashley Tarbet

One glance around a college basketball game, with its face-painted fans, catchy chants, and waving streamers, and you see a picture of school spirit that never fades or falters. Take an in-depth, behind-the-scenes look at that school’s campus, however, and this image all too often is just a façade. You see it all: students wear rival schools’ paraphernalia to class, shy away from school-sponsored events, and say they’re “dying to get out of this place.”

Instilling lasting school pride in students is a difficult task and maintaining it may seem impossible.  How do you form a genuine sense of community at a public university of 40,000 students, raise spirit at a small private college with no athletic teams to rally behind, or unite a school where most students have a niche, but don’t feel part of a larger whole?

Don’t fret just yet; solutions to sagging spirit can be found with a little creativity and a lot of student dedication. Here’s some advice from four schools who took advantage of their assets to build a true community spirit—one that lasts after the final buzzer sounds.

Tip #1: Keep Tradition Alive
“There’s just something about this place,” says Bryan Barton, vice president of policy for Student Government and the campus relations sub-chair of Traditions Council at Texas A&M University. “Yes, it’s 45,000 students large, but it doesn’t feel that big.” Barton attributes this sense of community to strong campus traditions.

For TAMU, the best way to keep tradition alive was by forming a council dedicated to this purpose. “Traditions Council is about supporting the traditions of the school and understanding what sets TAMU apart from other colleges,” Barton says. The 54 council members—a student-run organization under SG—are selected through a competitive application process. “The members have to have a deep love and respect for the school,” Barton says.

As a relatively small organization, Traditions Council educates the student body about TAMU’s rich history. “This year, we really tried to focus on outreach to make sure people are aware of what the traditions actually mean,” Barton says. “We try to be out in the open because we don’t want anyone to think we’re elitist in any way. We’re there to make the traditions better and to make sure people understand them.”

Outreach efforts by the Traditions Council include the distribution of “Did you know?” fact sheets about TAMU traditions and the organization of an annual 5k race, “Run for the Ring.” At the event, Traditions Council holds a drawing open to all participants for four Aggie rings. “The idea is to increase awareness about what the rings mean and the rich tradition behind them,” Barton says.

Once students understand their school’s traditions, they’ll be more likely to take part in them. Barton stresses that while outreach is important, so is the “doing”—keeping the actual traditions sustained year after year. “One popular event that we facilitate is ‘Silver Taps,’ where we honor any students whom have passed away in the year,” Barton says. “There’s a gun salute and Taps is played. It’s really amazing to see the thousands of people that come out for it.”

Along the same vein is TAMU’s most popular tradition, “Muster,” which is run by its own committee under SG. “Muster is held on April 24^th throughout the world,” Barton says. “It’s where you honor current and former Aggies who have passed away during the year. People gather wherever their hometown is and sit and talk about their days at TAMU.” The largest Muster gathering is held on campus at the basketball arena. “About 10,000 people attend,” Barton says. “Someone reads the ‘roll call of the absent’ with the names of the people who have passed away during the year, whether it’s the Class of 1930, or the Class of 2001. Someone from that class or the person’s family always answers ‘here’ for whoever has been read off because they’re still there. It’s almost eerie. We’re surrounded by candles, and someone is always there to answer ‘here.’”

While Barton stresses the importance of tradition in bringing a campus together and setting it apart from others, he believes that promotion must be a grass-roots endeavor—not force-fed from administration or alumni. “It has to be a student-run effort,” Barton says. “It takes time, but things catch on. It’ll pay off. For us, it’s paid off large.”

Tip #2: Unite Your Organizations
You can’t expect to unify your students without first integrating your organizations. La Salle University, a Catholic institution of 3,500 students in Pennsylvania, has developed a sense of community by finding common denominators among clubs and encouraging them to work together. Such effort helps leaders and club members who are already closely bonded to an organization feel connected to their school on a higher level as well.

This approach may be especially effective in smaller schools such as La Salle, says Bill Wiegman, Student Government Association president. “We’re a small school, so we can focus more on fewer students.”

La Salle’s size allows for an SGA member to be on every school organization committee. “SGA meets weekly with La Salle’s other major organizations in a group called ‘The Point,’” Wiegman says. “There, we can talk about issues that we can work together on.” At the meetings, the umbrella council of SGA meets with FOCUS, the organization in charge of community service, the Resident Student Association, the multicultural representative, the Inter-Fraternity and Sorority Council, and CAOS, the commuter and off-campus student organization. “All of the smaller groups fall under these in some sort of way,” Wiegman says. “The big word we like to use here is networking.”

How does such networking enhance a sense of community spirit? “Our community is about building relationships and knowing who to approach,” Wiegman says. “The big thing we stress on our campus is groups working with each other to run events. This year, for example, we came together and made a big push for our basketball team when we realized they weren’t getting much support at the games. We formed an ad-hoc committee with members from five of the major organizations on campus and ended up getting a really great turnout at games. In fact, at the end of the year, we weren’t worried about fans coming to the games but fans’ behavior at the games.”

When La Salle’s larger organizations have annual events, they invite aid from smaller organizations. SGA’s pig roast is one example, Wiegman says. “Smaller groups may not be able to contribute financially to help us, but with manpower and planning, we get them involved.” This networking strategy has had a trickle-down effect, as the unification of organizations has led to the unification of the student body.  “At La Salle, if you belong to one organization, you probably belong to a couple more,” Wiegman says.

According to Wiegman, flexibility is the key to achieving organized, community-building networking. “It’s not like, ‘This is the plan we implemented, so this is the plan we’re going to follow no matter what,’” he says. “We just do what we can to empower leaders. If you call someone a leader but don’t give them anyone to lead, it’s a waste, and then they won’t want to be involved.”

Tip #3: Big School? Plan Big Events
At the nation’s largest public schools, students tend to get lost in the crowd. But with some effort, this crowd can be used to your advantage.  Despite its size of 22,000 students, Auburn University in Alabama is a school where everyone knows your name—at least one day of the year. “We have an annual tradition called ‘Hey Day,’” says Jessica Eastman, SGA student senator. “During this day, there are bands on the main part of campus and free food, and everyone wears a nametag. Students say ‘hey’ to everyone they pass, even people they’ve never met. It’s a way we celebrate the friendly, welcoming atmosphere that’s at the heart of Auburn.”

While the October event is held only annually, its echoes are heard throughout the year. “This year, we did a talent search prior to the event, and the students who won performed during Hey Day,” she says. “We also do a T-shirt design contest every year, which is another way to get people excited. Students talk year-round about their ideas, and thousands of students purchase the winning shirt to wear at the event.”

Planning an event of this magnitude takes large-scale effort and a strong awareness of the desires of the student body—so start planning early. “To make an event successful, it has be huge, with huge publicity and a lot of influential people on campus involved,” Eastman says. “You also want to plan events students will really want to be involved in—things they won’t think are corny.”

If having 8,000 participants is any indicator, the University of Kentucky SG hit the mark in finding such an event. In fall 2001, SG worked closely with university administration to sponsor its first massive street party, “Gator Roast,” the night before the football game against the University of Florida. “It was probably the most profound on-campus experience at UK in 20 years,” says Justin Rasner, SG chief of staff. “There’s never been anything like it.”

Rasner attributes UK’s former lack of community to the school’s peculiar nature. “We’re a rural state, and most UK students come from small towns where they have small groups of friends,” he says. “When they get here, they often form new small pockets of community, but the student body never bonds as a whole unless we’re winning a national basketball championship.”

With this small-town mentality, how did UK manage to throw such a big-time party? “We knew it would be hard to get a large number of people out on a Friday night in an isolated area,” Rasner says. “So we thought, ‘If we take the party to them, we just might have something.’” To involve more students, SG held the party on a large street block close to the town’s downtown area.

Aside from a local band, the UK marching band, cheerleaders, the athletic director, and football fans, Rasner says he noticed a wide variety of students in attendance. “We had a healthy mix of sports fans and people just out for a good time,” he says. “I’ve never seen such a diverse group intermingle.”

The event was so successful that SG held its second street party—“Hoosier Daddy”—before UK’s 2002 match up with the Indiana University Hoosiers football team. “It’s amazing to see the tradition that’s already started to form,” Rasner says. “There’s already a hype building up about our 2003 party—‘Gator Roast 2.’”

Now It’s Your Turn
Interested in starting a similar campus-wide tradition? Take a deep breath, gather your courage, and be willing to do what it takes. “If you’re starting something new, don’t think it’ll be easy,” Rasner says. “Be brave, be bold, and say, ‘We’re going to do this, and we’re going to do it big.’” Identify the people at the university who can help you, and don’t be afraid to go to the top with your ideas. Above all, always remember the reason why you’re working so hard to plan these kind of events—to bring different students together.”

Contact Wiegman at Wiggs14m@hotmail.com, Barton at Bryanb2002@aol.com, Eastman at eastmja@auburn.edu, and Rasner at j_rasner07@hotmail.com.