As thrilling as the victory over Boise State was for MSU students Friday night, watching Michigan get brought back to earth the following evening against Alabama was at least equally enjoyable.

The rivalries in the Big Ten are so deeply embedded in the fabric of our lives that imagining a season without Michigan to root against is nearly impossible. It’s the reason why the Big Ten remained intact amidst the whirlwind of conference realignment, while the Big 12 was left to pick up the pieces after rivalries such as Kansas and Missouri were discarded like yesterday’s news, all for the venture of greener pastures.

However, for a conference that brands itself as the tightly knit bunch representing Midwestern glory, the clothes we wear to dig at our peers are becoming far too revealing.

College campuses are meant to serve as the ideal environment for expression of idea, and your choice of clothing falls in line with your freedom of expression.

We certainly don’t pay big tuition bucks to be told how to dress for class every morning. Then again, what you choose to put on can say a lot about how you want to represent
yourself.

Never showering and wearing sweats every day for class doesn’t necessarily mean you’re lazy — at least you’re there, right? — but it also doesn’t make you look like you’re serious to learn, either. The same goes for any T-shirt you wear. Those with witty slogans and puns will garner some laughs, but others will just as easily make people roll their eyes, or worse, laugh at your expense.

As young men and women, and the future leaders of this country, we can choose to make college another extension of high school, or a stepping stone into becoming mature adults about to enter the real world.

When you decide to proudly don a T-shirt that reads, “I’d rather shower at Penn State than cheer for the Wolverines,” you’re choosing to be the former.

These shirts are the latest fad to hit Big Ten campuses this semester, as versions mocking Penn State and the university’s child abuse scandal have popped up at Ohio State and Iowa.

Taunting opposing universities via crude humor on T-shirts is nothing new, and we saw plenty of recent designs mocking Ohio State after their players were caught trying to profit from selling their jerseys and other related football memorabilia.

But that’s nowhere near as rude and self-degrading as spending money to make a public joke about something as tragic as the abuse that occurred at Penn State.

All Big Ten schools have already gained a competitive advantage over Penn State following its NCAA imposed sanctions that will undoubtedly cripple the Nittany Lions’ immediate future in the conference.

Whether or not you agree with the severity of the punishment enforced on Penn State, taunting the already disparaged community in Happy Valley isn’t going to make you sound clever.
My sister finished her first year at Penn State under circumstances no college student passionate about his or her university should have to endure.

Television crews were spread around campus every day she left for class, all hoping to hone in on the palpable sadness that engulfed the strong community of Penn State students.

She has heard every joke and witnessed every smirk made about her school, and even listened to others question the morality and intelligence of her fellow classmates for rallying together when it seemed as if the entire world couldn’t wait to condemn them.

She admits that the administration is at fault for the mess they made, and their ignorance to problems that persisted for far too long. The rest of her college experience and future as an alumna will go on with the cloud of a child abuse scandal hovering over her school’s name for something that happened before she even thought about where she would go to college.

As the leaders of the Big Ten, we have a responsibility to represent ourselves and our universities in the best possible light.

You might be happy that Penn State no longer will be a factor in Big Ten football during your college experience, and you have every right to dislike the university for its handling of the scandal.

But leave the T-shirts to those who are too immature to voice their opinions.

Michael Briggs is a guest columnist at The State News and a journalism senior. Reach him at briggsm3@msu.edu.