I'm not blaming you for being annoyed at the privilege you must have witnessed at that event but the alumni at my husband's markedly less elite university has a cheer about an opposing hockey team sucking. It's just one of those stupid college rituals to hate on other colleges I think.
I'm sorta meh. College rivalries exist regardless of if the school is Ivy League or not. In my experience, it's done in good fun. Like, I don't really hate Buckeyes fans even though I may say an occasional derogatory chant at a football game.
Post by chickens987 on Sept 28, 2015 13:59:17 GMT -5
We didn't put down other seven sisters schools, but kids across the street definitely looked down on us.
I don't think I'd go so far as class wars though. They're not being assholes to people who couldn't get into (or pay for) Princeton, they're being assholes to people who might otherwise have gone there but chose not to.
Post by Willis Jackson on Sept 28, 2015 14:00:37 GMT -5
I think the school spirit vibe is different at different schools. I haven't heard that about your H's school, but I've gotten that vibe from a lot of Cornell people. I think Ed Helm's character in the office was pretty spot-on, lol.
I had a lot of fun in college (and my parents paid for all of it) but I went to a small artsy-fartsy school where everyone was too moody to have school spirit. Now I live in the same city as the flagship state school and there's a lot of school spirit but it's all wrapped up in football, not class or academics.
I think its weird they have to put each other down in order to celebrate themselves. I understand there is a rivalry but dont understand this bad talking. But to me it doesnt seem out of the ordinary just because I feel like there is a certain attitude that comes with going to one of those schools.
I wonder if its a school size thing. My father went to a private school that was smaller and they have a ton of pride that I just dont see happening in the mega school I went to. I dont know who their rivals were but I could see them singing bad songs about them. But then again the are a bunch of white males too with some privelege.
I dont know where the class/pride/money/schhol ssize/douchery line is drawn. It feels off though.
Post by CrazyLucky on Sept 28, 2015 14:01:00 GMT -5
I agree with you the Princeton grads are VERY proud of themselves. I don't think they are worse than Penn Staters though. I enjoyed college, although I wouldn't call it the best years of my life or anything. What you are describing does not seem fun to me at all, especially since they do it every year. Isn't every five years enough? The person I know best who graduated from Princeton is very proud she went there. But she is not douchey like this at all. She is one of the kindest most genuine helpful people I have ever met.
Post by rootbeerfloat on Sept 28, 2015 14:02:26 GMT -5
I went to a (non-Ivy) school full of white, rich kids that is big on school spirit and mocking its rivals, particularly around sports. I'm not rich or white, but I managed to enjoy college.
The cheers were silly then, and I would find it even dumber now as an alumni.
Post by ribollita on Sept 28, 2015 14:03:38 GMT -5
IME, school spirit is usually rooted in sports. I find what you describe odd, but I am also one of those obnoxious I LOVE MY COLLEGE people. (And I am a white privileged person proving your point.)
Well I went to an SEC school and we used to loudly chant GATORS WEAR JEAN SHORTS at the Georgia/Florida game. And I won't even mention some of the stuff my friends wrote on their cars to drive down to said game every year.
Also one of our rivals, Georgia Tech, bases basically all their school spirit on hating Georgia. Like it doesn't matter who they are playing, at games they chant "What's the good word? TO HELL WITH GEORGIA!" They publish a newspaper every year the week of the game talking about how everyone at UGA is stupid and uneducated.
I think this is just a college rivalry thing.
PS. Gators do wear jean shorts. gamecockgirl74 can come in and back me up on this.
I worked all through school to go to a crappy state college and didn't live on campus (my parents were divorcing and declaring bankruptcy at that time so my college plans changed). College was just OK for me. I learned enough, but didn't party or make tons of friends.
I always assumed that was due to commuting instead of living there and getting the 'whole carefree, fun, college experience'?
That level of 'school spirit' is so foreign to me. I don't think it's because I didn't have fun in school. I just think that your school can be awesome without shitting on all the others.
I'm so glad my college had no school spirit. This stuff sounds dumb and exhausting.
I laughed at this but it's true. I went to a small state college. We were proud of ourselves but that's all it ever amounted to; we never talked crap about our rivals etc. I am team marshmallows.
I feel like there is probably a divide here between schools with a storied or competitive sports history and schools without.
I went to the former for undergrad and the latter, almost an Ivy, for grad school so I have seen both sides and I get how it might seem mean or hateful or unnecessary to bash another school. But it's all in good fun and part of the culture. One of my dearest friends since age 7 went to Florida and she does not wear jean shorts. lol. But it's fun to rib each other.
I'm sorta meh. College rivalries exist regardless of if the school is Ivy League or not. In my experience, it's done in good fun. Like, I don't really hate Buckeyes fans even though I may say an occasional derogatory chant at a football game.
Yeah, I liked college and definitely get into the whole trash talk/rivalry thing when MSU plays Michigan. BUT I can totally understand why you would feel weird about it looking at it from your perspective.
Post by boiler717 on Sept 28, 2015 14:19:03 GMT -5
I can see how it seems a little different with the Ivies, but I don't think it's uncommon for big schools -- that type of stuff is very common in a lot of big state schools. While certainly there is some privilege there it's dramatically different than Ivy League schools.
Post by simpsongal on Sept 28, 2015 14:19:41 GMT -5
@marshmallows - I had an experience similar to yours and my DH is much like yours as well. I'm a little jealous of his school spirit and camaraderie. I wish I had a better experience, and sometimes I get a chip on my shoulder re: my upbringing (e.g., when I showed up on move in day it was the first time I saw a college campus). But the parade and ivy hate sounds over the top, regardless of affinity for his school.
I'm usually a big fan of calling out tone deaf privileged idiots on being tone deaf privileged idiots, but I don't think this one qualifies. They compete against each other in most sports, which I think is the basis of the rivalry. I bet what I've seen between Pitt and WVU is ten times worse.
I'm kind of 'meh' about this. Regardless of "caliber" of school, this kind of trash-talk-y school spirit is hardly outside the norm. And of course it comes up at reunions, because I would assume it's mostly driven by a sense of nostalgia regarding a great time in his life.
I went to a privileged small private university filled with mostly white upper middle class kids. I was also in a sorority - where we took our overall GPA ranking and philanthropic pursuits quite seriously (lest anyone jump to the horrifying 'sorority girl' stereotype) and still if we get together at reunions, we wind up reliving the silly slam songs and drunken college chants of our youth. No one lives their everyday life consumed by their college spirit/rivalries/etc (one hopes), but it was a fun, (mostly) harmless part of the college experience for many.
ETA: Plus, the Ivies are divisional rivals - so of course they're the target of chants!
Well I went to an SEC school and we used to loudly chant GATORS WEAR JEAN SHORTS at the Georgia/Florida game. And I won't even mention some of the stuff my friends wrote on their cars to drive down to said game every year.
Also one of our rivals, Georgia Tech, bases basically all their school spirit on hating Georgia. Like it doesn't matter who they are playing, at games they chant "What's the good word? TO HELL WITH GEORGIA!" They publish a newspaper every year the week of the game talking about how everyone at UGA is stupid and uneducated.
I think this is just a college rivalry thing.
PS. Gators do wear jean shorts. gamecockgirl74 can come in and back me up on this.
If so, I will allow a defence before we add western to the list.
My DH went to Western for grad school and absolutely calls it a school of privilege.
I went to Mac and while I didn't see any "privilege" per se, it was pretty standard to hear school cheers that involved calling other nearby schools out for various weaknesses. I didn't think much about it, TBH. At the time, I was more concerned about trying to find out which places had cheap drinks on which night.
I agree with you the Princeton grads are VERY proud of themselves. I don't think they are worse than Penn Staters though. I enjoyed college, although I wouldn't call it the best years of my life or anything. What you are describing does not seem fun to me at all, especially since they do it every year. Isn't every five years enough? The person I know best who graduated from Princeton is very proud she went there. But she is not douchey like this at all. She is one of the kindest most genuine helpful people I have ever met.
Well, according to my scorecard Penn State is worse because: 1. Much larger school, so they are churning out more annoying people, and 2. If you're going to brag about how awesome your school is, it had better actually be one of the top schools in America. Then you are insufferable, but at least objectively correct (See also, anyone from USC feeling superior to UCLA - makes no sense outside of a few specific majors.)
I love this part of your response - but I am a UCLA person who doesn't understand how USC got their superiority complex as all my friends who went to USC well fully admit that they went either a) because of the alumni contacts in their field or b) they wanted to stay close to home and didn't get in to UCLA.
I also don't think strong school spirit has anything to do with class or privilege, but that could have to do with were I went to school. UCLA had all kinds of people and it certainly wasn't one type of person who changed the words of the 8-clap from "UCLA Fight Fight Fight" to "UCLA Fuck SC" during Beat SC Week. I don't think that makes us a-holes. It's all in good fun and they have equally lovely words to shout at us.