Editor’s Note: Olin Health Center health education services coordinator Dennis Martell’s quote inadvertently was cut and should have concluded with “(But vulgar chants) do reflect on the university, and I think we need to recognize that.”
Although normally the MSU football team is the focus of home games, lately it’s been the student section getting attention.
Following the use of vulgar language at the MSU-Notre Dame game two weeks ago, the student section has come under fire for its unsportsmanlike conduct — something MSU’s undergraduate student government hopes to change.
ASMSU discussed the MSU student section’s use of swear words and vulgar language at the game at its general assembly meeting last Thursday, but President and Chairman Evan Martinak plans to take the issue outside the walls of Student Services.
“The student section is great for its enthusiasm, but there’s no doubt that sometimes it loses sight of what it means to be a Big Ten fan,” Martinak said.
Although Martinak said he still is considering how he will handle this issue, he said he has been planning to develop a subcommittee to create closer relations with the athletics department.
Environmental biology junior Mitchell Treadwell not only was bothered by cheers throughout the stadium, but also was concerned “by how upset they made alumni and members of his family feel.
“I feel that such unruly behavior diminishes … the positive feelings of being a part of the greater Spartan community,” Treadwell said.
Representatives discussed options such as not letting students wearing the opposing team’s apparel into the student section or involving head coach Mark Dantonio in a sportsmanship campaign.
But even if these options could make a difference, some students, such as education sophomore Katherine Liles, believe it isn’t worth ASMSU’s effort.
“There are way bigger issues they should be looking into rather than cursing at a football game,” Liles said.
According to a 2011 Sportsmanship Survey conducted by MSU, 52 percent of students “participate in group chants that involve swearing or vulgar language directed at the opposing team,” although only about 32.2 percent of all fans in the stadium do this.
Dennis Martell, Olin Health Center health education services coordinator, said cursing and vulgar language is a relatively recent phenomenon.
“We want our fans to be vocal (and) we want the environment that the other teams come in to be difficult to play in,” Martell said, adding that vulgar chants reflect poorly on MSU.
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