By Alexis Young
Staff Writer
After being named the toughest place to play in the Atlantic 10 conference by ESPN.com, St. Bonaventure looks forward to the student section being loud and proud this basketball season, as always.
However, events at the Nov. 12 season opener game against St. Francis University, boasting one of the largest student turnouts in some time, provoked administration to remind students what it means to be a Bonnie and what is expected of fans at the game.
One of the incidents took place behind the basket and in sight of the cameras at Saturday’s game against St. Francis. A student made an obscene hand gesture that was caught on camera and displayed on the scoreboard.
Matthew Trifoso, ’15, said, “…When an alum sees this kind of behavior, it’s a complete 180; it’s unprofessional. If we see anything like that, it reflects poorly on you and overall puts us in an awkward position. When you’re about to be a college graduate, there’s a lot of people who can fill your place. Sometimes the difference is how you present yourself.”
Trifoso said it’s disheartening to see Bonaventure students behave in such manners.
“If I see something on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or the news that reflects poorly, I probably won’t recommend them to my boss,” Trifoso said.
“That’s not conduct we want to encourage, or should be occurring at a college basketball game,” said Steve Campbell, associate athletic director of internal operations.
This is not to discourage fans from coming out and being loud at games.
“We don’t want to lose the atmosphere; the atmosphere is dynamic,” said Campbell. “We need the atmosphere; the students are what makes this the tremendous home court advantage. It’s to be an energetic atmosphere; it’s to be intimidating without crossing the line. I think it needs to be creative. I think it needs to be humorous and it shouldn’t cross the line to over-the-top vulgarity towards the visiting spectators that are in close proximity or the officials and coaches and players from the other team.”
For this change, Campbell looks to the students to help.
“I think we need to make sure to police each other and, again, I think students need to support other students who may be crossing the line by saying, ‘Hey, we don’t need to do that. Let’s clean that up a little bit,’” Campbell said.
Campbell also said that security used to have a stronger presence on campus.
“We used to have security or event staff that were stationed throughout that sideline. That wasn’t a good atmosphere and it wasn’t fair to the students either.”
“Rowdiness is part of the atmosphere, but at the same time, students have to be mindful that they will be televised more than ever,” said Daneil Egan, ‘14.
Going forward, Campbell would like to encourage the students to continue to come out, be loud and get creative, but at the same time be responsible, not cross the line and be more supportive towards their own team and less derogatory towards the other teams.
“We’re better than this,” Campbell said.
youngam13@bonaventure.edu
