I feel that I should write a disclaimer for this response. This article isn’t directed at any organization on campus. It is merely a response to the column, “Well-Intentioned Homecoming Humor Ends in Ill Will.”

I was very surprised and caught off guard by the column involving the writer’s sorority, Pi Beta Phi and the Simpson Football team.

To me, Homecoming week is one week out of the year when students are supposed to pretend to have school spirit and actually attend one game. The skits, Olympics, Yell-Like-Hell, and street painting are all activities meant to get students excited about athletics, specifically the football game. The previously-mentioned events are all supposed to be in good fun. So my question is why did one group feel the need to degrade our football team during a significant week when the student body is supposed to be supporting them?

The skit was very funny and I found myself laughing but it was in the “should I be laughing at this?” kind of laugh.

It may be true that our football team does not have a great record and may not play well all the time, but why make it negative and kick them when they are down? Is getting a laugh at someone else’s expense worth it? I guess the sorority found out.

In response to the comment, “…girls worked very hard on their Yell-like-Hell performances, and all that was heard when they were done was booing.” During the season, the team practices at least two hours a day, five times a week, as well as committing one hour daily to meetings and two hours of lifting twice a week. Their devotion to the sport continues in the offseason by having weight lifting and running sessions. The team works hard and even though they may not be conference champs, they still deserve support and recognition. Imagine putting forth all this effort only to be made fun of… oh wait.

I understand the girls in the sorority sent the team a fruit basket and apologized for the comments in the skit, but this was only after they got booed in front of a large number of the student body. To me, an apology should not be given with an intention of getting an apology back. Saying “sorry” normally occurs when someone feels genuinely bad about what they did, not after they see the repercussions.

I don’t condone threatening people and hurting their feelings but my question is whose feelings were hurt first? I can’t think of one man on the football team who would really beat some girl up over a skit. He may give her the finger, say a swear word or two, but who initiated these events? Not the football players. This all follows along with the phrase, “think before you speak.”

-senior Jessica Ellingson