Memorial Stadium gains new cheering section

By Jesse Rangel

Thursday, July 2, 2009

The Duke Blue Devils basketball team has the Cameron Crazies to cheer it on at home games. In professional football, the Oakland Raiders have the support of the Black Hole at their games. Now, a new student section promises to bring extra support to the Kansas Jayhawks during home football games.

The new section, Hawk Zone, will be a blocked-off area at home football games at Memorial Stadium for students who pay a $10 membership fee to Student Union Activities, on top of purchasing their all-sports combo or season tickets. SUA’s goals for the section are positive cheering, good sportsmanship and a place to reinforce traditional songs, cheers and chants. The Student Senate Executive Committee voted to endorse the Hawk Zone after meeting with SUA leaders June 24.

Members of the club can expect banner waving, spirit items such as rally towels and megaphones, and a membership shirt. A membership card would make the section exclusive to those who had not only signed up, but also signed a behavioral agreement. But Michelle Compton, student development advisor to SUA said the agreement had not been finalized.

“The behavioral agreement exists for extreme circumstances,” Compton said.

The SUA spirit committee created the section and has a first-year goal of 750 members, Compton said. She said she contacted student spirit committees such as Tiger’s Lair at the University of Missouri, Orange Nation at the University of Tennessee and The MUSS at the University of Utah to get ideas on what the section should look like.

Justin Sailer, El Dorado senior and vice president of administration for SUA, said he wanted the Hawk Zone to be a good option for national TV cameras to show a student section at football games.

“The goal is that we want to be seen, the section that can be shown on TV,” Sailer said.

But Sailer said the goal was not to create a section that was “sober and quiet.”

SUA has a booth at new student orientation sessions for students who purchase an all-sports pack or season tickets to sign up for the new section. Compton said the booths would be “everywhere” during Hawk Week, Aug. 16 to 22.

Compton said students were visiting the booth at orientation in groups of friends and with their parents.

“We have a lot of parents who reach right for their wallet,” Compton said. “Every parent is looking for a student’s place to have community.”

The athletics department is still working with SUA on what the Hawk Zone will look like within the stadium.

“The issue of cordoning off is something that they’re still working up,” Jim Marchiony, associate athletics director, said. “That raises different issues regarding who monitors the area and what the time frame is in terms of holding that area.”

Compton said she was still working on the details for this year. She said she expected the section to build more members with each season.

“No tradition at any college campus starts overnight,” Compton said.

— — Edited by Hannah DeClerk

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Comments

rockchalkjayhawkku (anonymous) says...

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!

July 7, 2009 at 1:36 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

tj06 (anonymous) says...

I love SUA. Good luck!

July 9, 2009 at 1:55 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

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