T-shirts should be available to all students

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To the editor:

In light of the recent promotion by Student Congress in the giving out of the "Griz Den" T-shirts, I have two responses.

First, any organization that attempts to promote school spirit among its students should be recognized and applauded. The idea of giving out a T-shirt in order to create a student fan base at athletic events is a worthwhile cause.

The original idea was a good attempt, but it leads to the second response which is shared by many of my peers.

The purpose of these T-shirts was to promote school spirit, but in an unexpected paradox Student Congress created the opposite result. I, along with many other Franklin student-athletes, was turned away from these shirts. The reason?

I was going to be competing in another sporting event the same morning as the football game against Butler. Due to this other sporting event, I would arrive at the football game at the end of the first quarter.

Since I would miss these first minutes of the game, I was denied a shirt. However, any student who was willing to lie to Student Congress representatives and tell them that they would go and stay at the game would receive one of these free shirts. In fact, some, if not many, did lie as I saw them leaving the game at halftime and not returning.

Since I was honest, and acknowledged the fact that I would miss 12 minutes of the game, I was "punished" by being denied a shirt.

I realize that Student Congress wanted people to be at the football game wearing these shirts, but lying would allow one to receive a shirt, while honesty and a promise to be present for over three-fourths of the game would get one a mere "Sorry."

While Congress did promise to hand out T-shirts again later, the many student-athletes who were told this are still waiting. The point is not that we were denied shirts, but rather that since we were representing Franklin College in another way, also promoting school spirit, we were rejected as unworthy and not of enough value to receive the free gift to all students.

I express the feelings of many other student-athletes when I say that we feel belittled by this treatment by Student Congress. We, too, want to be recognized and valued, but we now know not to look to Congress for this.

Good luck to all athletes this year and Go Grizzlies.