Our beloved UCSD is changing.
This campus, once a sanctuary for apathy, indifference and lifelessness, now shows signs of change. Having been in San Diego for 10 days now, I question if this is the same campus I left.
First of all, while helping freshmen move into their dorms in Revelle College on Saturday, I noticed attractive freshmen females and socially competent male students in significant numbers. Stunned and confused, I moved on to a Sixth College informational fair, where I was relieved to see the thick-rimmed glasses to which I’ve become accustomed. But the crowd of students around the Triton Tide table, excited about going to athletic events and wanting to get involved, threw me off even more. Could it be that these UCSD students might actually put down their biochemistry homework every once in a while to attend a basketball game?
Everywhere I look, I see signs that this campus is changing. The awnings in the Price Center are slowly becoming blue and gold, “”Home Team”” posters are all over campus, and perhaps most importantly, this year’s A.S. budget includes a significant amount of money allocated to increasing school spirit.
Even so, Friday afternoon may well have been the greatest sign of change. After dealing with all kinds of unforeseen issues at the office, I grabbed a quick dinner and headed over to the men’s soccer game 10 minutes late. I parked my car, got my program — and then my jaw dropped. At 4:30 p.m. on a Friday afternoon at UCSD, before most students returned to school, I saw 500 soccer fans.
Being accustomed to a school at which I had my pick of any seat in the house, I was a bit angry, and yet excited. Instead of being able to sit right in the center section, I could find nothing but a little space on the far left side, halfway up the bleachers, jammed between two teams of screaming 10-year-olds in soccer jerseys. My favorite seat wasn’t there, but the guy sitting in it was yelling for UCSD just like I would have been, and he brought his friends. The frat guys came, too, and carried their couches down to the edge of the field, watching and cheering. It felt like a real home field advantage, and it was fun to be there.
Maybe it’s too early to tell. Maybe midterms and papers will temper the enthusiasm, and pretty soon UCSD will settle back to its sleepy existence. Maybe students won’t recognize that things are changing around here and will spend their Friday nights doing the same old homework.
Maybe. But until they do, I’m going to enjoy a school that knows how to have a little fun, and I’m showing up earlier to games. If UCSD is going to change, I want to be in the front row when it happens.
