Beginning this basketball season at Chaifetz Arena, feel free to go on, sludents, and just go ahead and shake your tail feather.
All students who wish to cheer on their Billikens will leave behind their normal personas and take on the Nelly inspired “SLU-pun” SLUnatics title after a campus-wide election was held in an effort to rename the student cheering section, formerly known as Blue Crew.
The new name of the student section for basketball games won by a high percentage over the other 20 candidates suggested. Other names submitted onto the ballot by students included Billiken Brigade, SLUmania and SLUpertroopers.
SLUnatics, a mixture of the SLU and the word for describing somebody who is insane, comes to signify a change in tone for the student section at Chaifetz.
“It adds personality and spunk to what it means to support the Billikens,” group president, senior Mike Putnam, said.
Putnam is in charge of relaying the student section’s wants to the Athletic Department.
“Blue Crew served us well, but we have done so much better with SLUnatics. No other school or organization has it.”
That originality is what fans hope will add to the experience of attending basketball games.
“I think the history of student apathy toward athletics is starting to turn in a big way,” Billiken fan, junior Zac Miller, said. “Many more groups of people are taking initiative and adding their personal touch to the student section.”
Miller feels some sentimentality about the re-branding, but believes it is for the best.
“I grew up knowing the student section as Blue Crew, and it is a little weird seeing it go. But it’s time, with basketball enthusiasm at an all-time high,” Miller said.
The new name is intended to capitalize on this enthusiasm, an enthusiasm that was palpable last year in the form of section antics, crowd noise and hijinks.
“Anyone who came to a game last year saw how excited and electric the student section gets,” Putnam said. “SLUnatics is creative, fun, and most importantly, a little bit crazy—when you have a Chewbacca and ‘the Situation’ a la ‘Jersey Shore’ in the stands, you know we take our spirit seriously.”
The SLU student section last year was applauded by a multitude of opposing coaches and players, including Dayton’s Brian Gregory and Temple’s Juan Hernandez. Media outlets even ranked Chaifetz Arena as one of the toughest places to play.
Regularly-attending basketball fans hope this new name also clears up confusion in the student section between those who viewed themselves as members of the student section, but not members of Blue Crew.
“I think SLUnatics will help if it is made clear to the students that this is not a student club or an exclusive group in any way,” Miller said. “It needs to be obvious that this is renaming the student section and basically retiring the idea of a ‘student fan group.’”
Putnam hopes that the new name will increase student involvement.
“Because students decided the name, they will feel more invested in the program,” Putnam said.
“Anyone who comes to the games to cheer on the team is a member of the SLUnatics.”
When asked why students should attend basketball games, Putnam said that the student section is about “being a part of something larger than yourself.
“It’s part of the SLU experience, and if you’re not very interested in the game, there’s always the chance you can be on the Kiss Cam.”
