STUDENTS, alumni and sports fans gathering to cheer on the University's varsity football team expect sport and entertainment but experience much more. Scott Stadium is intended to be a place where the University community comes together as a collective whole to embrace the spirit and excitement of all its individual members. At no time is this spirit of togetherness more evident than in the singing of the "Good Ol' Song" following touchdowns. Sung in unison, Virginia fans join, arm-in-arm, to offer one voice, for one community of Cavaliers.
Approximately 10 years ago, however, some students began inserting the words, "Not Gay," following a verse of the song that reads, "We come from Old Virginia, Where all is bright and gay." With this new insertion, the "Good Ol' Song" no longer brings unity to the University community. Instead, the chant causes the song to blatantly exclude gays, lesbians, and bisexual people. The chant is also offensive and exclusionary to any person who believes that the University of Virginia is an open and supportive community. Clearly, with the chant's recent insertion, the spirit of unified support and community has been taken away from the "Good Ol' Song" and game-days - excluding members of the community that should be a part of the experience.
What can seem like an innocent joke has serious negative repercussions for the community of students, the alumni support-base and the school's national reputation. As a direct result of the chant, many students do not feel welcome at games or are made ill at ease to the point of being unable to comfortably enter Scott Stadium and support their team. Even alumni have begun to grow dissatisfied with the spirit of a community that supports such negative speech, and some have withdrawn their support from the University. The chant, which can be heard on television during nationally broadcast games makes the University community appear to be excluding a segment of the population entirely - a representation that is contrary to both the image of a number one public university and the spirit of diversity that the University embodies.
The irony of the situation is that a majority of students believe the chant is a problem and should stop, and most students who chant remain unaware of the repercussions of their choices. Those students who insert the chant have offered a variety of responses when questioned about their decision. They often claim that it is "fun," or that it livens up the song. Others simply repeat the chant because they heard it at their first football game. Still others choose to sing the chant simply as a reaction against the administration. Whatever the reason students offer for their participation, most are not malicious, and almost no responses reflect homophobic sentiments. The fact remains, however, that the chant is hurtful to students, divisive to the University community, and negative for the school's national image.
It is a problem that students mindlessly chant something that ostracizes a number of their peers. It is a problem that students are doing something hurtful simply for fun and are not forced to think about the repercussions of their actions. Fortunately, eliminating those problems is as easy as exercising one's freedom of speech. As a member of this community, each person must make an educated decision about game-day speech. Everyone must consider the reasons for chanting "Not Gay" and then consider all of the ways that it is hurting this community. Everyone must consider what he loves about this community and then make sure his speech represents those beliefs. Finally, when students are confident in their choices, they must share their sentiments with others. If all do this, whatever happens on game days will reflect the true sentiments of this community and not the sentiments of a vocal minority.
Students gather at football games for the purpose of joining in collective support of the University. With the insertion of "Not Gay" into the "Good Ol' Song," the singular voice raised by the community has become one of exclusion, rather than unity. As the new football season approaches, the possibility of restoring unity to game days rests on each individual UVa student responsibly exercising her freedom of speech.
(Sarah Jobe is a third year on Student Council. Niko Schutte is a third year. Both are on the Ad-Hoc Committee for the Eradication of Homophobic Language from Renditions of the Good Ol' Song.)
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