Staff Editorial

The Issue: Upperclassmen seem to be disappearing from football games and conventional forms of school spirit.

Our Stance: These same individuals are expressing their spirit in different ways.

B-B-B-R-O  P-P-P-H-Y  B-R-O P-H-Y  BROPHY-BROPHY-BROPHY: the famous chant echoes off the cemented Phoenix College bleachers with incredible fervor every Friday on game day.

Early into the season, football games seem to be packed more than ever, with the cheering section perhaps larger than any game last year.

There has been a serious increase in the amount of underclassmen that have joined into the cheering section, which is definitely a positive phenomenon.

Visions of freshmen sitting off by themselves at the tops of Phoenix College’s bleachers bring sadness to any Bronco junkie’s heart.

But there seems to be a serious lack in the amount of upperclassmen showing up to scream and cheer for their football team.

On the outside, this can seem like an apathetic trend—troves of juniors and seniors too cool for school spirit; but, in reality they just express spirit in a multitude of other ways.

And that is not necessarily a bad thing.

School spirit is not only painting one’s body red and white with the letters B-R-O-P-H-Y embossed on their torso.

It is engaging in the full Brophy experience: retreats, service and the other hundreds of activities around campus.

It is being a shining example of Brophy inside and outside of the classroom.

To have school spirit does not simply mean to be present at a football game, it involves the very core of Brophy’s values: the idea of being a “Man for Others.”

Students like Michael McNamara ’12, who is the President of Latin club, a good student and an avid volunteer, exemplify this trend.

Students like Nick Giancola ’12, who is extremely involved in the Office of Faith and Justice among a multitude of other organizations, let their school spirit shine.

Students like Matt Harris ’13, who is on the executive board of the red-white club (the open house planning committee), secretary of Best Buddies and is credited as an all around nice guy, are a testament of what this school is about.

Lastly, students like Jobert Adan ’12, who actively participates in the cheering section, among other things, and provides a positive atmosphere at football games, show their spirit in a more traditional way.

All of these students show that school spirit is not just subjected to showing up to football games, although it can be, but it is also being involved in activities around the campus.

Finally, it is giving back to the school, in using a student’s talents to the best of their abilities.

Nevertheless, it would be nice to see a few more older faces at the forefront of the cheering section.

Someone needs to make sure the underclassmen know how to cheer and live up to the standards now expected of the home crowd.

That can never hurt.

Staff Editorial by Julian De Ocampo ’13, Joe Skoog ’13 and Alex Stanley ’12

Staff Editorials respresent the view of The Roundup. Share your thoughts by e-mailing roundup@brophyprep.org or leave comments online at roundup.brophyprep.org.