Editorial
'Leo Night' is great example of student involvement
February 26, 2015
The Student Voice would like to take this opportunity to commend the 702 UW-River Falls community members who attended the Feb. 14 women's basketball game against UW-Whitewater on "Leo Night."
While the Falcons lost the game by seven points, the 702 spectators helped raise money for assistant women's basketball coach Mike Babler's grandchild, Leo, who has a rare form of dwarfism and a lethal form of skeletal dysplasia. It was a record-breaking night as the previous attendance record was 681.
While it's unfortunate that it took an extremely ill child to get more students to attend a UWRF basketball game, the support from the athletics department and all student-athletes was nothing short of amazing. The Voice would like to see more crowds of this size more often at not only sporting events, but all on-campus events happening right under our noses seemingly every day of the week.
We recognize that students are busy with school, work, student organizations and extra-curricular activities, but there's something special about having over 700 people attend one single event on the UWRF campus.
Certain events are always going to draw larger crowds than others, which has more to do with lack of funding and advertising, commuter students and easy access to the Twin Cities, and less to do with student involvement.
Instead of harping on students for not getting more involved on campus, we would like to bring special attention to those who supported the women's basketball team on Valentine's Day.
It should also be stated that the crowd at Tuesday's men's basketball WIAC first round playoff game against UW-Eau Claire was very enthusiastic and loud, something that's been much needed over the last couple of years. The crowd of 405, the second largest of the season, showed up in mostly white attire for the "white out." The first 100 UWRF students got into the event for free, which was a good promotion.
The Voice is seeing a distinct effort by the athletics department to garner more student attendance. Whether it be "Leo Night," or "Pink the Rink," or a white or red out, there is progress being made. It's important to support Falcon athletics and to support the UWRF community by spreading word about events. Each event is special to at least a handful of people, so don't be afraid to promote campus events to fellow students whenever possible.