Some still not sold on plan to fix fan behavior

When students think of Terrapin sports, many think of the fan culture — the contagious energy in the stands, the marching band's enthusiasm, the roaring cheers — as much as the activity on the field. But recently, some have said fans are crossing the line between harmless fun and unsportsmanlike conduct.

That outcry has prompted administrators, student leaders and incoming university President Wallace Loh to put their heads together to address the issue from a student perspective. But many, including some top administrators, have said the university should be focusing on more pressing issues.

To address Terps fans' notoriously rowdy behavior, Loh, who will take over Nov. 1, said he intends to work closely with the Student Government Association to create a student-led committee to improve sportsmanship at sporting events in the coming year.

But interim university President Nariman Farvardin said the administration has "bigger fish to fry."

He added that in attempting to censor students, the administration may toe a dangerous line between sacrificing the rights of some for the comfort of others.

"My gut tells me that if the administration tries to impose some sort of change, it wouldn't go well," he said. "It's a First Amendment right, and we need to honor that. It's best if it is discussed actively."

As of yet, SGA President Steve Glickman said, there are no concrete plans in the works for a sportsmanship committee. He noted, however, that any action taken will be led by students.

"Anything that comes from the administration won't be taken seriously," he said, adding the biggest obstacle is student indifference and reluctance to relinquish what many see as a university hallmark.

Families and alumni, however, may not be so eager to uphold the tradition of rancorous cheering. Glickman said family ticket packages for games against nonconference opponents are down 40 percent since last year — a statistic he said may be indicative of their disapproval.

Loh vowed to tackle the recurring problem after complaints poured in from alumni and other spectators about students' unsportsmanlike conduct at the football game in Baltimore's M&T Bank Stadium against Navy on Sept. 6. The issue also arose in March following the riot after the men's basketball victory over Duke, leading some to believe fans' behavior has worsened in recent years.

"It used to be that when I took my 6-year-old to a game, I would have to put my hands over her ears when fans said ‘suck,'" Director of Student Conduct John Zacker said. "Now the culture on campus says it's OK to berate and be profane to the other team."

The university has been known since the late 1800s for its enthusiastic displays of pride at sporting events, university archivist Anne Turkos said. But university cheers started to take a negative turn around the late 1990s, when cheers such as the popular "Hey, you suck!" chant became the norm, she said.

"I think it's become so commonplace in professional sports in language and behavior that people think it's OK, or they're used to it," Vice President for Student Affairs Linda Clement added. "People get numb to it. I'm hoping we could make a difference here. We could be a model for sportsmanship here."

Relaxed standards in the media and shifting attitudes in American culture may be partly to blame, Turkos said.

"It's a very interesting contrast to the way it used to be, even in the '50s," she said. "They had certain cheers that students had to practice, and they were very clean."

Sophomore engineering major Nima Sarfaraz said organized chants might be a realistic way to alleviate the problem because many students resort to swearing when they have nothing else to say. He added although many students feel pressured to join in on obscene chants, they are ultimately responsible for changing their own behavior.

"SGA could kind of advertise being the better man," Sarfaraz said. "Otherwise, I think it's a bit of an individual deal and how people choose to watch games themselves."

Senior staff writer Lauren Redding contributed to this report. korkut at umdbk dot com