Over the last few years, the joy of walking through your college campus wearing the latest university logo-stamped hoodie and cap, excited over last night’s big game, has been dwindling.
Students trudge across the school, uninterested in many of the opportunities to connect with each other and the university. It goes without saying, but university life wasn’t always this way. School spirit is dying.
Just a few years ago, school spirit was an important aspect of university life. Students took pride in the places they attended. They were proud of the way their school handled issues, the events held and the people representing them. Students were not only eager to learn, but also to declare themselves as members of the student body. One of the ways they showed this was by attending events.
This week, Utah Tech University is celebrating Homecoming Week, one of the hallmarks of generating and maintaining school spirit. But many students, myself included, have noticed a lack of advertising. There’s a few posters here-and-there, maybe some standees near a few of the busier buildings, but not much else. Although more students are attending Utah Tech than ever before, it seems like there’s less focus on school spirit overall.
Why? It might be because students are disillusioned by the higher education system.
Nobody, especially not Generation Z, wants to pay the amount they do for their degree — a price that keeps raising every year, with interest. Nobody wants a degree that no longer guarantees them a well-paying job. Nobody wants to attend a university that doesn’t address pressing issues until they’re impossible to ignore. Nobody takes pride in attending a university that won’t take a stand for their rights. Plus, the rise of anti-intellectualism across the globe has played a factor. What sense of pride is there in belonging to something that doesn’t align with your values or wellbeing?
University events were once the perfect time to go all out and show school spirit. Students, alumni and faculty painted their faces in school colors and wore matching outfits. Some even went so far as to memorize and shout catchy chants at the teams. There were posters, excited professors and staff encouraging attendance and various other incentives.
Even if you didn’t care for the game itself, you wanted to attend to show that you cared about the school— that you took pride in being whatever nickname the school gave you. The people around you weren’t just other students; they were your newfound family.
Now, after the game, when everyone shuffles out of the stadium and makes their way back to the dorms, a less enjoyable reality sinks in: that pride isn’t sticking around. School spirit seems delegated to these few hours alone, and worse, these events appear to be getting harder and harder to attend. Some events cost money and others aren’t advertised far enough in advance for students to notice, such as Homecoming Week at Utah Tech University.
Where school spirit was once the expected result of being a university student, now students just want to get through the day without struggling. University students’ mental health is dropping rapidly across the U.S., and universities have a part to play in that. Students don’t have the time or energy to spend looking for reasons to like their university, nor do they have the money to spend on merch after they’ve purchased their textbooks. Frankly, school spirit is the last thing on most people’s minds right now.
Sadly, academia will take a hit from this loss. School spirit has so many benefits for students — higher retention rates, helping students feel like they belong, creating a positive environment and so much more. Many post-grads even cite school spirit as a major motivator to their success during and after graduation.
Right now, the world needs more academics, not less. We need more people who can think critically, make the next big product and save lives. If students feel that universities are more focused on profits and hosting elaborate events than on student and world well-being, they will remain uninterested in school spirit.
Universities should be focused on lowering costs for students, partnering with companies willing to hire graduates and fighting for a better world for their students. Moving forward, they need to take into account the needs and desires of their students and the world, not just investors and their pockets. Growing your university isn’t worth it if no one’s there to attend.
Although the higher-education system doesn’t meet the needs of students now, one day it will again. The pendulum always swings back. When that happens, sports games and Homecoming can go back to what they were always meant to be: a gathering of those who take pride in their university, in their degree, in the future they’re going to build.
