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The Rice Thresher
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by Michael Nalepa thresher editorial staff About 70 people attended the discussion "College Cheers: Love 'Em or Hate 'Em" in the Kelley Lounge of the Student Center on Oct. 20. The discussion was the first in a series of Diversity Talks sponsored by the organization Advocating Diversity and the Need for Cultural Exploration. ADVANCE meetings are always open to all students, but the discussion of cheers was advertised more heavily than usual meetings. Jones College sophomore and ADVANCE member Mary Slater was optimistic about the first open discussion. "Being ADVANCE's first open house, I feel the meeting was a great success," she said. "The turnout was great. Everyone had great comments." Slater moderated the event, which opened with four panelists speaking for several minutes about their feelings on the current state of college cheers. Lovett College senior and ADVANCE Student Coordinator Soo Jin Yoo, Will Rice College senior Eden King, Hanszen College senior Lindsay Germano and Jones senior Michelle Brand, all panelists, outlined some pros and cons to college cheers in their presentations. Then, Slater opened a round-table discussion in which audience members could voice their opinions. Issues raised during the discussion included college traditions, sexual harassment, tolerance of sexist language, the impact of introducing the cheers during Orientation Week and the development of alternative cheers. King said the Diversity Talk was helpful because it provided an opportunity for students from different colleges who are not involved in college government to share their ideas about cheers. "I think it's good just to have discussions - I think that's what was accomplished," King said, noting that a dialogue had been opened even if no clear suggestions were made at the discussion. Yoo agreed, but added that she wanted more action to come from the meeting. "I wish that we were able to bring about more solutions," she said. Though Yoo felt enlightened by some of the perspectives that students shared, she noticed that few people spoke in favor of the cheers. "I feel like it was not balanced," she said. Germano agreed that pro-cheer students were in the minority at the event and questioned whether any meaningful action will result from the talk. "It was a discussion," Germano said. "As far as anything coming out of the discussion, I don't know if anyone got the charge to change anything out of it." Yoo said ADVANCE was not trying to lead the discussion in a specific direction. "As a club as a whole, we don't have one strong opinion." Germano said that students who are against cheers cannot expect them to change without any action on their parts. "If you care that much about it, then you should do something," she said. Germano added that she felt that although the broad topic of the discussion was diversity in the college system, it was not fully addressed. "College cheers are not diversity in the college system," Germano said. ADVANCE is in the process of planning talks to examine diversity at Rice, with the goal of highlighting subjects that don't get attention on a day-to-day basis. Slater said ADVANCE asked students to suggest topics for the next discussion and said she feels the administration should also be involved in the dialogue.
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