Letter to the Editor

By Jenny Vandenbilt

To the Editor: Loyalty to a school has nothing to do with the number of athletic events one attends.

There is a reason attendance is low at Santa Clara athletic games: lack of interest in seeing teams that continually lose.

Similarly, there is a reason we will wait in line for hours to get our Gonzaga tickets: a high level of interest in seeing our rivals beaten.

People like watching basketball because it's exciting, while the prevailing opinion seems to be that women's sports are not.

That is why attendance is the way it is. It is not a lack of loyalty, it is a lack of interest.

The only way to increase interest is increase the level of play and intensity.

I wholeheartedly support the academics at this school, and would defend to anyone the quality of the education I am getting.

I would not defend the athletics, though, because our teams do not win championships — unless you count the "definitely not the NCAA National Championship" the basketball team won last year.

If the Loyalty Program wants a crowd of insincere fans they are welcome to have me swipe my access card, stay for a quarter to eat some popcorn and leave, because I'll be damned if I don't get my Gonzaga ticket.

Thanks,

Jenny Vandenbelt

Class of 2012