Spirit rooted in tradition

In a recent guest column, a member of the IU Marching Hundred expressed his displeasure at the athletic department for discontinuing the run-on, where the band runs onto the field and forms the IU trident during the pregame ceremony, and moving their game seats to the north endzone.\nBefore that, a letter to the editor complained about the student section being moved from the middle of the west stands to the far end by the north endzone.\nBefore classes resumed, IU athletics announced that the new school uniform colors would be a darker cream and crimson than in the past.\nBefore school ended last year, there were rumors of a bison coming to Bloomington to represent all Hoosiers at sporting events.\nNow, before any more damage is done, we have to speak out to keep our traditions safe. If the trend continues, what will change next? The shape of the trident? Or perhaps the candy-stripe basketball warm-ups.\nWe realize that whenever new leadership is brought in, some things will change. But if IU changes its colors every time a new athletic director is hired, we will cease to be IU Hoosiers, and turn into IU "Who are we?" \nNCAA Division One athletics are a business, and they have to make money or break even in order to survive. Money comes in when alumni and companies donate, when teams do well and when coaches, faculty, students and staff all work together to make IU a place where any student-athlete would be proud to call home. Changing a school's colors or misplacing the band isn't going to draw in new recruits, and it may inadvertently alienate alumni who love the traditions -- red, white and run on. Adding two shades of gray to the colors and putting some random animal on the sidelines as a mascot isn't going to get the football team to any bowl games, nor does the money spent on such accoutrements help out with the budget crunch.\nThe athletic department's rationale for the color change was differentiating IU from Ohio State and Wisconsin, who also use red for a school color. As if the differences between them, with symbols, mascots, traditions and even letters, weren't enough. So now, instead of sharing a color with two Big Ten rivals, we share a color with Oklahoma and Alabama. Hooray for individuality.\nWe believe that the business has to be balanced with the tradition. If we lose tradition, then we lose our heart and our history. And isn't that what brings in top recruits? People willingly bet on a sure thing. If IU continues to change the cards then fans, alumni and recruits will begin to leave our game table.\n