Joey Diehl ’15 | Director of Photography

Before I begin this column, let me start by saying that I have no problem with authority; what I do have a problem with is unjust authority. For instance, when South’s administration eliminated the Senior class from the running for the spirit jug, they were exerting their authority justly and with good cause as some of the class members were not exemplifying safe school spirit. I am writing this to express my strong disappointment with the actions of certain administrators of South and North. I have never seen a better example of unjust authority than I did last night. I was waving a South flag at the North-South hockey game, a very common and good-spirited way to cheer on your school’s team. For two periods, there were multiple instances of a North security guard demanding I relinquish my flag, claiming it was for the sake of not causing problems between North and South. Ironically, the only problem between the two schools the entire night was between he and I. I refused to give it up, but when I was told by a South administrator that I had to get rid of the flag or leave the game, due to an accusation from a North administrator that my positioning of the flag was blocking a pathway, “shocked” doesn’t even begin to describe how I was feeling, but I did as he asked.

In a discussion today with Assistant Principal Terry Flint, he said that the administration would always support school spirit, but any demonstration of school spirit requires boundaries. He added that a school flag is great in our own stands, but not in the face of the opposition. The problem here is that there is no student section at City Ice Rink; anyone can sit around the rink at multiple places, mainly behind the goalies. I stayed behind our goalie the entire time.

Did I scream obscenities with the flag? No. Did I taunt the other team? No. Did I show school spirit? Yes. My right to express myself was stymied, and while doing nothing wrong. So when one wonders about the decay of school spirit, and why student sections are empty at sporting events, their answers can be found by examining certain policies of school administrative leaders.