http://www.dailyevergreen.com/story/27216
Don’t destroy our image, Cougs
Your actions reflect upon every single Cougar, so act wisely
Pragmatic Progressive
Derrick Skaug
The Daily Evergreen
Published: 12/05/2008
There are few people with more Cougar pride than me – I’ve been a Cougar all my life.
In elementary school, I was a Colbert Cougar; in middle school, a Mead Mountain Lion; and in high school, a Mt. Spokane Wildcat. All my life I have been some form of ferocious feline. I go to games and brag to my Husky friends when we win the Apple Cup, like any other Cougar who bleeds crimson.
Recently, my well-founded faith in our university has been shaken. The actions of a few have raised serious questions about our students’ commitment to higher education and community improvement.
Surprising though it may be to many, the actions of WSU students are being followed closely by most of the residents of the state. When I invited my sister to WSU for Dad’s Weekend, she asked, “Is WSU safe? They are having all of those crazy sexual assaults right now.” Though those incidents were isolated, I have witnessed far too many students making bad choices that reflect poorly on the university. Even the pride of winning the Apple Cup was tainted for me by a few students.
I was thrilled when I heard Gov. Chris Gregoire was going to be at the game. I had the pleasure of meeting Gregoire in the past, and I think she is truly an intelligent and wonderful woman. To my horror, I learned some students were yelling disgusting profanities at the governor, blaming her for losing the Seattle Sonics and generally making asses of themselves. Thankfully, someone had the decency to tell them to shut up.
That was not the end of some people’s Apple Cup immaturity. During halftime, I stumbled across a group of five male WSU students chewing out a couple of Univesity of Washington students. The leader of the gang, a WSU student, was belligerently and repeatedly asking why anyone would go to UW, using offensive slang terms I won’t deign to print in this newspaper.
He then proceeded to knock a UW’s student’s hat out of his hands. I decided to politely – yet loudly – impress upon him the same suggestion given to the governor’s hecklers; I told him to shut up. I also let him know he was an embarrassment. I unzipped my jacket to show him I wore a crimson T-shirt, and yes, I too am a Cougar, but his behavior was unacceptable.
He seemed perplexed. I could imagine what he was thinking, “Why would a fellow Cougar tell me to stop verbally attacking and nearly physically assaulting a Husky? He is supposed to be on my side!” He then walked away with the rest of his makeshift gang, mumbling heterosexist remarks.
Finding drunk and angry idiots at a state football rivalry game is not surprising. But what is surprising were the enablers he was with. I watched several people walk by, watching this encounter without saying or doing anything. I am reminded of the timeless words, “Of course we must fear evil men, but there is another evil that we must fear more … and that is the indifference of good men.“ Most of our students are not the kind of people who go around insulting or assaulting people. But we must remember if we say nothing to those using hate speech or behaving in hateful ways, our silence is a form of approval.
When one Cougar makes a fool of her or himself, it directly impacts how all of us are perceived. Don’t make Butch cry crimson tears. Be a good Cougar and have some respect.
