Remember when you saw the wave of blue shirts in the student section of Bender Arena at that basketball game last year? The Screaming Eagles, of which there are few, wore those blue shirts to AU games last year and tried to promote student involvement in AU sports. A project of departed AU Athletics Director Tom George, the Screaming Eagles program is now trying to become a student-run club because Athletics dropped the program.
AU Athletics was disappointed with the lack of leadership and student interest in the Screaming Eagles, and so were we. Although the project made some fans more vocal, it seemed to do little in attracting new spectators, which should have been the primary goal for the program. Despite numerous incentives for joining the Screaming Eagles, including free travel and lodging for away games and special prizes, many students were wary of the administrative eye placed over the program. Students are more likely to become involved in student-run groups than in administrative organizations. If the Screaming Eagles becomes a club this semester, it will be student-run, which should attract many more students. In addition, the Screaming Eagles plans to hold cookouts before AU home games, which should do wonders to draw new fans out for games.
We think this is a fantastic idea, but we are concerned that the Screaming Eagles will not have enough money to fulfill its noble dreams. Athletics will continue to aid the members of the Screaming Eagles in limited ways, including free transportation to D.C.-area games. While this is nice, in the end Athletics needs to get students to games, and they should continue to stay involved in any way they can with the Screaming Eagles in addition to any other programs of their own.
However, the Screaming Eagles also need to work with other groups like the Residence Hall Association to ensure they will have enough money for its plans. By working with other clubs and organizations the Screaming Eagles should also be able to draw more students to its events and to AU games. We want to see great things from the Screaming Eagles and we want to see students running it, but we only hope that the leaders of the Screaming Eagles won't try to do too much by themselves and fade away into oblivion. If that happens, new AU fans would have far less to cheer about.
