With the tagline "Helping the Dome Shine One Victory at a Time since 1874," the Saint Mary's Board of Governance (BOG) has unveiled the second annual "SMC-tee" for Saint Mary's students to wear to the San Diego State pep rally the College will co-host on Sept. 5 as well as to football games.
The shirt is a way for Saint Mary's students to be a part of the Notre Dame community at football games while still maintaining their identity as students at the College.
"Last [year's BOG] wanted Saint Mary's women to be able to represent their school pride at football games while still fitting into the 'Sea of Green,'" student body vice president Sarah Falvey said.
The first SMC-tee was dark green, to match the color of last year's "The Shirt." It said "Saint Mary's Belles" on the front and the back said "Ringing in Irish Victories since 1844," referencing the year Saint Mary's was founded.
It was unveiled on Nov. 15, 2007, the night before Saint Mary's co-hosted Duke pep rally.
Since that shirt was a success, BOG decided the second SMC-tee needed to make an earlier appearance and therefore was unveiled at the First Year Orientation last week.
"This year, we decided to continue the tradition but reveal the SMC-Tee earlier so students could take advantage of it at our pep rally [which will take place earlier in the year]," Falvey said.
This year, in keeping with BOG's desire for Saint Mary's students not to stand out while wearing the shirts they decided to once again match them to "The Shirt," Falvey said.
"In keeping with "The Shirt" we made our shirts navy blue with white writing," she said.
The slogan on this year's SMC-tee refers to the fact that the College donated the famous Golden Dome to Notre Dame after the Main Building built by University founder Fr. Edward Sorin burned down in 1879. The 1842 date refers to the year that the Notre Dame football team began to meet unofficially even though the inaugural game against Michigan didn't take place until Nov. 23, 1887.
While it may seem as though BOG is trying to usurp the popularity of Notre Dame's "The Shirt," Falvey said there was never any intention of replacing the Notre Dame tradition. It was more about school pride, she said.
"I don't think we made the SMC-tee with the intention of wearing it over "The Shirt," she said. "We are asking students to wear it to our pep rally on September 6. We want students to be able to show school pride."
She also said that, like profits from "The Shirt," BOG has decided to donate any proceeds to a local charity, which will be determined at a later board meeting.
Falvey said many students seem excited about the shirt.
"Our first year students - and their parents - were really excited about the shirt," she said. "We got a lot of compliments on the design and I've already seen the shirts all around campus."
