You see it everywhere — N.C. State shirts, hats, flip flops, book bags, shorts, pants. Anything that the University can get the red and white on, it will.
It’s a part of showing your school spirit, and it shows people that you are proud of being part of the N.C. State family. When I first got on campus in August, I thought if people were going to wear anything school-related, it would be State and State only. Boy, I was wrong.
As I started going to classes, learning my way around the campus, I began to notice that I wasn’t only seeing State shirts or hats — I was seeing other schools. When I saw out-of-state schools like Florida, Clemson, Auburn, South Carolina, Yale and Harvard, I took a glance and was wondering why if you’re going to school in the state of North Carolina, you would wear an out-of-state shirt.
But here’s where it gets interesting. Name every college in the state of North Carolina and I’ve seen it — Appalachian State, UNC-Charlotte, UNC-Wilmington, oh, and schools that we actually regularly compete against in athletics — North Carolina, Duke and Wake Forest.
I said to myself, “Oh, wait a minute, I thought this was N.C. State University and our school colors were red and white, not green and white. That’s UNC-Charlotte.”
Where’s the school spirit? For as much money as most people spend on going to Cook Out every week, you can save about a month’s worth and buy you a State shirt, hat and a hoodie.
It’s not just the clothing that shows some people are not loyal to the school they are attending — it’s even on Facebook. While writing this article, I got some help from some of the other sports writers who told me there are Carolina and Duke fans at State and they have their own groups.
So, I went on Facebook, and I was amazed at how many groups showed up. Duke fans at State, UNC fans at State and other similar groups. Name it and it’s on Facebook. I believe if you go to a certain school, you root for your school. You show pride for your school.
They didn’t have to accept you, so be happy you got in because there are probably people who are wishing they went here. But for all the people who go here and show love for other teams, there are people who hate it and people who don’t care.
“Carolina shirts are horrible. And if it’s a far away school, it’s all right,” Audrey Pharr, a freshman in political science, said. “But if it’s around here, you just can’t do it.”
Will Wadsworth, a freshman in business management, said he doesn’t like it, either.
“It shows a lack of school spirit for N.C. State,” Wadsworth said.
But Keeley Jones, a sophomore in environmental technology, said as long as people don’t wear other schools’ clothing to games, she doesn’t mind.
“I think we should wear our N.C. State paraphernalia to football games,” Jones said. “But if you wear any other school’s stuff on campus, it doesn’t bother me.”
Jimmy Cappadona, a freshman in civil engineering, said passion for State’s teams might pick up if the teams were doing better.
“I think if we were winning more in football, spirit would be higher,” Cappadona said.
You either wear other college shirts or you don’t. But just remember that too many people are walking around this campus, seeing you in a Duke sweatshirt and wondering why you are wearing it and wishing that you would get hit by a bus.
And for those who root for other schools, don’t become a bandwagon fan for State if we are in the Final Four or a BCS bowl. And for all those Wolfpack fans, just keep cheering and supporting your school.
You’ll feel a whole lot better when we eventually win a national championship, and you’ll know you’ve been there since the beginning.
