Raising campus spirit

After a successful Homecoming Weekend, the Tufts University Spirit Coalition (TUSC) is brainstorming events to increase school spirit which members say has been lacking on campus for several years.

Aside from the Homecoming Weekend activities, the other major event the TUSC organizes each year is the commemoration of Tuftonia's Day, the University's birthday and the official alumni holiday. But Tuftonia's Day will not take place until Apr. 24, so the Coalition has turned its attention to the period until then.

One major event in the making is the "A Tid Bit Nippy" Winter Carnival, which may be held in January. If the plan materializes, the event will consist of a night of festivities in the campus center to kick off the second semester. There will be games and giveaways in an attempt to unify the student community.

Other possible events include a residence hall spirit contest in which residents of each dormitory would compete against each other to see who has the most school spirit.

Meghan Sweeney, TUSC's co-president, said that this year, the Coalition would also like to improve their promotion of sporting events. "Aside from the Homecoming football game, usually people don't have banners and face paint," Sweeney said. "It would be nice if we could support all of our athletes."

The Spirit Coalition plans events in collaboration with other campus groups, especially those which belong to the Programming Board.

The Programming Board is made up of nine different groups, including TUSC, the class councils, the Entertainment Board, the Concert Board, the Lecture Series, and the Film Series. The presidents of each group comprise an Executive Board that coordinates all events planned by each group.

Freshman TUSC member Caroline Kennedy said that each group works closely with one another. "Everyone has the same mission: to promote school spirit," Kennedy said. "I first joined Entertainment Board, but everyone encouraged me to join TUSC as well."

The Programming Board organizes retreats to promote leadership training and send members to the National Association for Campus Activities (NACA) conferences, where organizations encouraging school spirit meet to share ideas.

TUSC is optimistic about what it will be able to achieve this year, despite the recent decrease in its budget mandated by the TCU Senate. However, TUSC is worried that many groups that co-sponsored events in the past with TUSC may not be willing to do so this year because of insufficient funding.

Nonetheless, the Spirit Coalition considers its first event of the year _ Homecoming Weekend _ a success. "Although we rushed to plan it, because it was so early in the year, it still turned out great, especially with the voting [for Homecoming king and queen]," freshman TUDC member Jill Harrison said. "There was an even better turnout than expected."

Sweeney said that although many students are apathetic when it comes to school events, "we have a good crowd this year."

"We're excited because of better turnouts at the events we're planning, and hopefully this trend will continue throughout the year," she said.