The student section has made chants more inappropriate over time. What was once, “1, 2, 3, first down State!” has been altered slightly to include inappropriate language. The student section needs to be more careful with how they portray themselves to not only visiting opponents, but Spartan alumni with families — many with young children — who attend football games for an exciting event, not to hear foul words thrown around carelessly.

The student section became especially heated when MSU’s Kurtis Drummond almost blocked a punt but received a roughing the kicker penalty instead. Notre Dame’s punter, Ben Turk, stayed on the field after suffering an alleged injury, and MSU’s student section chanted, “He’s a p***y!” over and over again while he walked off of the field. The Spartans were losing at the time, and the blocked punt could have been the turnaround MSU needed to make a comeback, but instead of looking forward in support of the Spartans, the student section continued to tear Turk apart.

Not only did he receive flak after the injury, but he repeatedly was welcomed to the field with the same chant. That kind of language is offensive and insulting to women.

Turk most likely would not have received as much abuse from the student section if the Spartans were winning, depicting MSU’s fans as sore losers instead of passionate fans.

Often, MSU students and fans criticize other schools for being arrogant, but rarely do they realize how unwelcoming and offensive they can come across to other fans and schools. MSU has attempted to push for a more positive, less offensive atmosphere with the “Spartan Fans Raise Your Shield” campaign that surveys students and alumni and provides statistics that dispel usual game-day stereotypes.

The most recent survey found 79 percent of fans do not swear or use vulgar language when chanting in the stands. This might be true for a majority of the stadium, but it does not accurately reflect the language used in the student section.

Once in the stands of Spartan Stadium, students and fans can develop a group mentality.

As those around them begin cheering, fans’ emotions can get the best of them, causing them to passionately lash out instead of dealing with the game rationally. Spartan fans should challenge themselves to be more mature at games, allowing MSU to gain more respect from other schools as a school with passionate fans with admirable sportsmanship.

Saturday night’s game against Notre Dame was MSU’s first home loss in two years. Fans are not used to seeing this team fall on home soil, and it’s possible they let their emotions get in the way of their sportsmanship. MSU knows how to celebrate a win at Spartan Stadium. Now, fans must challenge themselves to accept a loss with dignity.