Swarthmore has a student body with a substantial athlete population; in fact, for 2014-2015, nearly 30% of the population were athletes. At the same time, however, it suffers from low attendance and spirit at athletic events, whereas other colleges with smaller athlete populations often have lively support for their athletics programs and teams. Bella Levine ’18 and Clare Perez ’18 decided to attack this gap by starting Swarthmore’s new pep club this year, which is a new group dedicated to helping connect the entire student body with athletic and other extracurricular events.
Levine and Perez are both active members of Swarthmore’s athletic program, with Levine playing for women’s lacrosse and Perez for field hockey. According to Perez, they came up with the idea for the pep club as early as first semester of last year. The club was formally registered and funded by the SBC at the end of last semester in preparation for the current school year.
“We saw that the only people who primarily attended athletic events and other extracurricular events were people who were athletes themselves or had some connection to the event they were going to,” Levine explained. Based on this, she thought that Swarthmore needed a club to promote such events to play a part in “building more of a community feeling on campus.”
Levine also brings her experience as captain of her high school pep club, which partially inspired her because it successfully managed to bring about this community feeling. “I went to a small school with only 200 people, so a sense of community was key to student support,” she elaborated. “We held tailgates, pep rallies, and send-offs for all sports teams.”
The club hopes to emulate such a model at Swarthmore and already has plenty of ideas that they hope will help immerse the student body in athletic events on campus. Some of these are already close to being put into action. For example, Levine and Perez are planning to have some tailgates for a few Saturday games. A few of these will potentially be done in collaboration with DU and Sharples, both of which the club has been in communication with. They are also in contact with the SAAC and the athletics department to figure out what resources they have at their disposal.
Other ideas are in the works and Levine said that there will be “plenty of fun, interactive things to increase our school pride.” For example, Levine plans to create a “Game of the Week” tradition or something similar to provide a main attraction every week for students to show their support. Perez also hopes that they will be able to order items like foam fingers, vuvuzelas, and other spectator gear to encourage and engage fans who come out.
The pep club has already begun connecting with students by creating a Swarthmore Pep Club group on Facebook, which Levine and Perez encourage every student to join. Although it’s just a start, it has already helped the club achieve a few of its goals in reaching out to the student body and raising awareness of home games. Sports teams have eagerly welcomed the emergence of the pep club and taken advantage of the group, advertising any upcoming games they have and asking fellow students to come out and show their support. The group has also served as a venue for the pep club to tell more people about the club’s goals and plans.
Although they have a long way to go, the pep club appears excited for the year ahead. Levine and Perez are currently handling the duties of the club by themselves. However, they are optimistic that the club will grow and provide them with the opportunity to delegate more roles and enhance the communication process between the student body, the athletics department and specific teams. Anyone who wants to promote an event or get involved Levine and Perez.
While it may seem to serve only the athletes on campus, the pep club believes it is doing much more. Levine said, “We want to fill the gap between classes and extracurricular activities at school. Everyone has a right to feel like their interests are important and that is what we want to achieve.” If all goes well, they should be able to realize this goal with the help of everyone who matters, which is, as they believe, everyone.
