Note from the editor: The staff writer reporting this story is a volunteer member of the Warrior Athletics events staff.
The Stanislaus women’s soccer game on Oct. 3 marked the end of Greek Week for Greek life participants as Humboldt State’s coach overheard members of the Nu Alpha Kappa fraternity shouting negative statements towards the Humboldt State goalie.
Over 1,000 fans were present while the Stanislaus women’s soccer team blanked Humboldt State, but the Humboldt State coach could still hear curse words coming from members of the Nu Alpha Kappa fraternity, which was announced as a member of the winning Orange Team.
Not only were the chants loud enough to catch the attention of the Humboldt State coach but also several members of the Warrior Athletics event staff.
A University Police Department (UPD) officer was asked to make himself visible to the Greek fans because if the chants continued, the fraternity would be kicked out and possibly banned from the stadium.
After noticing the UPD officer, the offensive chants stopped, but not soon enough to stop it from upsetting the opponent’s coach.
The coach made it a point to speak to members of the Athletics event staff about his concerns.
The negativity came as a surprise to the entire staff, who plan on speaking to Alissa Aragon, the Student Organization Coordinator, and the president of Nu Alpha Kappa in hopes to regulate the behavior of Greek life at future events.
“We welcome the great enthusiasm displayed, and the excitement generated, by the student body at our events,” Hung P. Tsai, Assistant Athletics Director, said.
“However, we also promotion positive sportsmanship in supporting the Warriors without the use of profanity, racial or sexist comments.”
Warrior Athletics hopes they have seen the last of the negativity from Greek life, but to take precautions they will remove fans from stadiums and fields if the issue arises again.
“Poor sportsmanship displayed by our students reflect negatively on not just the Athletics program, but also the University as a whole,” Tsai said. “We want to represent our great University with class and dignity.”
If this issue becomes a recurring problem (and as a last resort), Athletics will consider asking Greek life to find a different location to announce their Greek Week winners and possibly to host their Homecoming events.
Greek Week is a week-long event every fall semester that involves several Greek organizations teaming up to form one color-coded team.
The teams spend a week competing in various games to earn points; these games can include trivia, fundraisers and skits.
Greek Week teams attend the soccer game at the end of the week, usually dressed according to color, and the winner is announced after the game.
“I believe that Greek Week is important because it gives all the organizations a chance to unite for a greater cause,” said Nicole Turner, Greek Live Programs Advisor and Leadership Coordinator.
“Although the week has friendly competition, at the end of the week, we have accomplished a lot for the local community as well as raised significant money for charity.”
Correction: A previous version of this article stated that all Greek Teams were required to attend the soccer game. This has been corrected to reflect the accurate information.
