Disappointment rang though much of the War Memorial Gym last Saturday as the Dons who had risen to the #2 spot in the West Coast Conference, fell substantially to the #1-in-the-conference Gaels of St. Mary’s College. After having won the last two home games, the USF men’s basketball team’s thrilling streak came to an end abruptly; thousands of spectators, many of them USF students and alumni, left the stands frustrated and with hoarse voices.
As the student voice of USF, we would like to unite our grief with that of the USF community over the loss of our Dons.
But just as importantly, we would like to stop and reflect the university pride shown by the student body on Saturday. In recent editorials and news articles, both by the Foghorn staff and by concerned students, the subject of student pride has received more than its fair share of coverage within these pages. Most of the time, the coverage has taken the tone of concern: there is too little pride at USF, the undergraduate student body is lethargic, not enough of the students are involved in organizations despite the many opportunities to engage, the sports culture non-existent, Greek life on campus is limited at best.
However, it seems that since the start of the fall 2011 semester, the students, in many ways, have shown the reverse. Beginning with the sudden uprooting of KUSF days before classes begun, all the way to the end of the basketball team’s home stand on
February 12, the university has shown signs that life on campus and within the student community is becoming vital and vibrant. We believe that the barrage of events geared toward the student body, such as the public airing of President Obama’s State of the Union address and the hosting of the spring 2011 involvement fair on two floors of the recently renovated University Center, has done well to improve the quality of student life.
To us, the 4500+ attendance to the Dons vs. Gaels match is a hopeful sign that USF pride is returning with vigor and will hopefully remain so.
Many issues, however, some of which are reported in this edition of the Foghorn, are still to be resolved. Some, like the long-term suspension of the College Players drama troupe and Upward Bound’s unrenewed contract to remain on campus, appear to be a result of inadequate discourse between various elements of the USF community. On this note, the Foghorn staff wishes to laud recent efforts toward student engagement and to still encourage both the student body and the USF leadership to still strive for increased communication, involvement, and ownership of their institution.
Editor-in-Chief: Heather Spellacy
Chief Copy-Editor: Natalie Cappetta
Opinion Editor: Vicente Patino
