"This is not merely a football field," says Notre Dame's Official Campus Guide. "It is an experience, a uniquely Notre Dame synthesis of sport, tradition, pride, loyalty and belief." The Notre Dame football experience is one born of tradition. Tradition makes Notre Dame more than a university. It gives alumni, students, and fans a passion for the school and creates a sense of loyalty to the university. Breaking this tradition would dishonor our history, alumni and accomplishments.
During the past three home games, Notre Dame has played music over the loudspeaker. Brian Kelly has also made comments supporting the idea of adding a Jumbotron and turf field, but modernizing our gameday experience would take Notre Dame's tradition away. Notre Dame fans come to games not only to watch the game, but also to experience tradition. Fans don't come for the same clichéd experience that you can find at other stadiums, which boast a Jumbotron, a turf field and "intimidating" stadium music.
Furthermore, the marching band is one of the biggest traditions at a Notre Dame game. They have played the same songs and lead the crowd in the same chants year after year. Playing music over the loudspeaker has already put the band at bay and will continue to disrespect the leaders of the stadium experience.
Some have argued that stadium music will help pump up the crowd, but the tradition of Notre Dame creates an atmosphere where the fans feed off the performance of the football team, not Ozzy Osborne. We want people to be excited in the crowd, but because of the quality of football being played rather than their favorite song blasting throughout the stadium.
Lastly, although traditions do grow and change over time, it seems rash to completely overhaul the stadium experience at the whims of business students working on a project and 8,000 other undergrads. The young student body lacks the proper frame of reference to truly understand the changes which some are proposing. We are not the typical college football program and we do not have a typical gameday experience.
Joel Kolb
freshman
St. Edward's Hall
Chris Lattimer
freshman
St. Edward's Hall
Nov. 20
