"What do a University student and a Virginia Tech student have in common?" My friend inquired this last Saturday as we walked to the final football game of the season. "They both applied to the University." The successful telling of this joke was quickly met with high fives all around as we navigated through Hokie tailgates to Scott Stadium. This admittedly low blow was prompted by a number of verbal assaults by inebriated Tech fans that had infiltrated the Academical Village to watch their beloved football team take on ours. The insults continued throughout the game where we sat on the Hill, mostly from overly-loud people dressed in overalls shaking their keys at us. The University's finest, dressed to a tee in Ralph Lauren, returned in kind with sneers about SAT scores. At once, we were a pack of University students, defensive of anyone who insulted our house. This battle of stereotypes continued until the clock ran out. As I stood there participating in cheers, I was forced to contend with how others see us. Last weekend's loss to the Hokies was a teaching moment about the reputation of this University. Our reputation, once exposed, forces one to question the priorities of the students.
What makes a University student? Besides the obvious good looks, impeccably good taste in fashion, and sky-high standardized test scores? Well, based on the character of students at the football game, a superiority complex. In other words, money: This is what some call class and others call conspicuous displays of wealth. The University's long-standing tradition of "guys in ties, girls in pearls" might catch a first-year at his or her first home game off guard, but the image of a sea of seersucker and sundresses eventually loses its shock value. On Saturday, it provided a stark contrast to the orange-and-maroon-hoodie-donning Hokie fans. Most Tech fans looked - amazingly - like normal college students and not like the hillbillies we are so quick to label them as. Meanwhile, some of the most vocal Wahoos looked as if they were dressed for a tea party. Coupled with a rhetoric based on the University's superiority to Virginia Tech in the "areas that really matter," it presented an ugly image of a privileged "frat" boy or "srat" girl.
The question becomes, what are the areas that really matter? SAT scores go out of vogue in the 11th grade, so that can't be it. We have a stronger academic reputation in general, but when it comes to architecture, engineering, veterinarian science, or forestry, Tech might very well be a better bet. Charlottesville may be a more cosmopolitan city than Blacksburg, but that is sure to change as Tech becomes a more competitive school. And while the argument can be made that we perform better in other sports, there is something to be said for assembling a strong football program, especially considering the amount of money that we put into it. Perhaps the greatest embarrassment was the fact that our stadium did not reach full capacity, even with the help of Tech fans and despite the aid from our notoriously generous alumni base.
Our response to our loss was the reassurance that we're still better in the end regardless. At the end of the day, we're 'Hoos and they are Hokies. I found myself echoing these sentiments as I trod back to my apartment, surrounded by jeering Tech fans. At least I had all my teeth, all my toes, and a brain, right? Making this hasty conclusion ultimately does a discredit to the University, however. It perpetuates the stereotypes that others form about us and makes it more difficult to form a lasting dialogue with them. I appreciate a good rivalry as much as the next person, but not when one side's intelligence and worth as human beings gets compromised. Being on the top of anything, in our case, the totem pole of Virginia higher education, is lonely not because we are by ourselves, but because we had to alienate ourselves to get there.
When forced to take a step back and consider the stereotypes about the University, I did not like what I found. Yes, stereotypes are generalizations, and yes, generalizations by virtue of their being general are not all true, but they are grounded in some nugget of fact. University students seem to revel in being classified as pompous, rich frat thugs. This is anything but a proud tradition.
Emily Kuhbach's column appears Wednesdays in The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at e.kuhbach@cavalierdaily.com.
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