If you take a look at the sweaters, baseball caps, and T-shirts that students wear on campus, you would get the feeling they would rather be some place other than CSUN.
Take a walk behind the Oviatt Library, by the science buildings or the Noski Auditorium, and a countless number of students are participating in an act that would be considered an infamy at other universities. They are wearing another university’s logos.
I should be the last one to talk about school spirit. I have yet to attend a rally, or any kind of sporting event, and sadly, I am not the only one. If there is anyone who needs a dose of school spirit, it’s me. But even I know better.
It isn’t that I choose not to attend school-related matters, but with a full load of classes and work, it just hasn’t been at the top of my to-do list. I am the typical CSUN student in that respect. But I have never worn a UCLA sweater or baseball cap on campus. Doing so would be just, well, rude.
Instead, I’ll proudly wear my CSUN T-shirt. If it’s raining, I might be wearing my Matador baseball cap or beanie. All apparel from other universities is limited to the weekend.
But around campus, I will still run into people wearing USC sweaters, Stanford hats, and even using Berkeley umbrellas.
Where is all the CSUN paraphernalia?
I have even run into people wearing Pacific T-shirts during the same week that the men’s basketball team lost against them. Are they suicidal?
My condolences to the university’s team members,who must deal with this insolence, and my thanks and appreciation for their restraint.
It probably doesn’t help that much of the apparel with the CSUN logo is a bit boring and repetitive. The styles have remained relatively the same for several years, as have the colors. Only recently have I seen a slight change with the new brown sweaters and T-shirts sold at the bookstore, which, to no surprise, have been showing up all over campus. Something new might get that old merchandise moving.
But apparel featuring the names of other universities still dominates the campus.
Perhaps a restraining order against all other school logos should be enacted, banning all other school names on university grounds, at least when we lose a game.
Paraphernalia police would walk around campus collecting sweaters and T-shirts, and nabbing baseball caps that did not have the CSUN logo.
But I think this might be a bit harsh. Besides, now that I think about it, I think the university already has received enough of my money. Tuition is going up, again, and I always contribute to the wallets of wealthy publishing companies that introduce a new edition to their books twice a year if they get the chance. I might as well write CSUN on my wallet, not for school spirit, but because my money is already predestined to go their way anyway.
I might start wearing my UCLA sweater after all.
But like the mournful black worn during a funeral, students should dutifully wear their CSUN paraphernalia after a loss by their teams, or at least restrain from wearing apparel featuring the opponent’s name. If students can’t seem to wear their CSUN logos for pride, then perhaps they can wear them for mourning.
