School pride may not seem that important, but it is one of the most important things a student should have while attending their institution. I have noticed that students at Alabama State University do not carry the amount of school pride that we should. We most definitely do not carry the amount of pride that university alumni have.
I have been to many events this semester, from welcome week to many football games. During the 2-Chainz concert in Atlanta in August, right before the MEAC/SWAC Challenge football game, he wanted us to make noise for the university we were representing. Unfortunately, Howard outshined us, which is ironic because 2-Chainz is an alumnus of the university, so you would think that we would’ve been the loudest representing our university.
It was embarrassing, and that’s not the only time another school outdid us.
During football games, I usually sit in front of the cheerleaders and next to the band. When the cheerleaders try to get us to yell out chants, only a few people do it. Everyone knows “AS AS ASU,” but the spirit is just not there.
School spirit is the heart of a school, and it can be a sense of belonging to many students and faculty. The lack of school pride may be because of our curriculum. We have a first-year experience course, which is a course that is supposed to teach freshman/sophomore students the history of the university along with other helpful topics to get through college.
I was in first-year experience during my freshman year in 2019, and even though I was taught some things that would benefit me in college and life in general, the university’s history part was a blur. We were supposed to learn the history of the university, but it was the bare minimum. We learned about the Marion Nine and the alma mater. I can’t speak for every single student here, but many of us do not even know the alma mater or even the history of the Equinox. We were supposed to learn the alma mater in that class and take a test on it, but the test was just a fill-in-the-blank. There is not any type of pressure to learn the university’s alma mater unless a student is in the choir or any other organization that makes it mandatory to learn the alma mater word for word.
Students can’t have much school spirit without knowing the history of their school, especially an HBCU (historically Black college and university). The history of HBCUs is rich, and each student should carry a sense of pride in knowing why our university is so important in history. Alabama State University is more than just the Marion Nine.
It is not just the lack of knowledge about our university’s history that affects our school pride, but the students play a huge part in it as well.
Many students lack respect for the university, and sometimes I can’t blame them. A lot of us do not feel heard, seen, or even respected by the school. Though many do feel that way, it still does not justify disrespecting the grounds of the university by littering literally everywhere possible.
If someone has pride in their university, they would not trash it. There are trash cans everywhere across campus, and I have seen many students leave their trash on the ground or on the tables just a few feet away from a trash bin.
HBCUs are supposed to be like a family and you can most definitely tell which HBCU students take more pride in their school just off the events alone. If you ask anyone that has been to a Tuskegee University homecoming, they will say that it is such a family-oriented environment. That is how it should be. One thing about Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) students, they are going to highly represent their school, loud and proud.
To fix the lack of school pride at the university, students need to know exactly what they should be proud of.
Instructors need to put more emphasis on the school’s history, and we can also have events related to learning more about the university.
The relationship between students and the university is not the best, and it could be a lot better. When students feel seen and heard, they are more likely to have more pride in the school, because the school is showing that the student body matters.
Students should also take care of the university as they want the university to take care of them. It does not take much to walk a few feet to a trash can to throw something away. The university and its students can really work together to possess a sense of pride.