Fan the Fire | Culture shock: Fan the Fire begins to shake up Tufts sports scene with giveaways

Still, they realize that athletics at Tufts have a lot to compete with.

“I think one of the realities that we can’t ignore is that we’re not located in Williamstown, Mass., where there’s very little else going on than what’s at Williams College,” Gehling said. “There’s just an awful lot of things for students to do here, and we need to give them something to come to that’s worth attending.”

Perhaps, eventually, a true culture change will come. Until it does, though, Fan the Fire is going to stick with what works. 

“I’m not naive enough to think that we’re at that point right now,” Burke said. “It will take time, but I think that it’s a great way of increasing school spirit. So the incentives are going to continue, and hopefully as the years go on it just becomes a part of the Tufts culture.”