They live among the Spartans. They look like any other student at MSU. They might even be next to MSU fans on Saturdays in Spartan Stadium.
But what most students don’t know is that they are University of Michigan fans. These students might wear green and white on campus, but they secretly bleed maize and blue.
Natural science freshman Melissa Rice said she still wears Spartan green, but she tries to hide it whenever possible.
“I root for State because I go here, but when they play Michigan, I’m hoping for Michigan to win,” Rice said. “I’m in the student section at MSU games and rooting for Michigan, but the people around me won’t know that.”
Rice comes from a traditionally U-M home. Her parents raised her and her sisters as U-M fans, but they all have ended up coming to MSU for college.
With their daughters going to MSU, Rice said her parents’ priorities had to change.
“When my sisters came here, my parents started to like State,” Rice said. “They’re like me — they root for State when they’re not playing Michigan.”
Journalism sophomore Craig Peterson, who also is a U-M fan, said even though he attends MSU, he doesn’t root for its teams or own a single piece of Spartan memorabilia or clothing.
“I don’t buy the season tickets— why would I?” Peterson said. “On game days, I sit in my room, and I have the Michigan game on. But I always respect the place that I’m at — I’m not going to harass MSU fans.”
Many U-M fans were raised swaddled in maize and blue, but when it came time to apply to colleges, their dreams just didn’t quite come true.
“I didn’t get into Michigan,” Peterson said. “I think most of the Michigan fans who go (to MSU) didn’t get into U of M.”
Some MSU students don’t appreciate U-M fans on MSU’s campus.
“They wouldn’t like it if we went there, so why should we like them being here,” communications junior Scott Runyan said. “It’s just weird.”
Being a U-M fan on campus makes some students nervous, including mechanical engineer junior Brett Hewitt.
“I would never wear Michigan stuff on campus,” Hewitt said. “I mean, that’s just asking for it.”
But fans such as Rice and Peterson said just because they go to MSU doesn’t mean they have to give up their allegiance to Michigan.
“People think that if you go here you have to be a fan, but that’s just not how it works,” Peterson said.
For Hewitt, going to MSU football games for two years has transformed him into an MSU fan.
“Having gone to the games — in the front row mostly — for two years now, I don’t think I would consider myself a Michigan fan anymore,” Hewitt said. “Ultimately though, these people are choosing an education, not a sports team.”
Having Michigan fans in attendance at games and classes doesn’t bother nutritional science senior Eric Tye.
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“We have a mutual respect in this rivalry,” Tye said. “I’m not about hating on these guys. They go here just like me — it’s just sad that their team loses all the time.”
