The “Sea of Orange” arrived in Charlottesville in 2003, and students have been arguing over it ever since. Coach Al Groh’s new alternative to the traditional “guys in ties, girls in pearls” dress code made some students and alumni think Groh wanted to do away with tradition in favor of a Lane Stadium-like environment. Others embraced the idea, thinking the stands at football games typically looked more like a country club social. Both sides have merit, but Student Council was right to refuse to endorse either at its meeting Tuesday.
Specifically, Student Council was right to reject a resolution endorsing the “Tees Overseas” program proposed by Graduate Arts & Sciences Rep. David Hondula. This campaign collects the “Power of Orange” T-shirts handed out to first-year students — as well as other free T-shirts that are (sometimes literally) thrown at University students from all directions — and donates them to World Vision, a charity that distributes unwanted but good quality clothing to developing countries.
Council voted not to endorse the campaign because it would be taking sides in the debate over proper football-watching apparel. Clearly some students support wearing orange tees to games. Council expressing support for the resolution would imply most students also oppose orange T-shirts. Judging from the look of the crowds on Saturdays, this does not seem to be the case.
Student organizations do not need Council’s specific endorsement to be successful. Despite appearances, Council is not quite so powerful that it can determine a campaign’s success or failure simply by voicing an opinion. For most student-led efforts, the support or disapproval of Council is of little import.
The rejection need not signal the end of the road for Tees Overseas. Hondula said the group will continue its efforts, but lamented that Council’s lack of support will hamper it in seeking help from local businesses. This does not need to be the case. If the project is successful and popular, its organizers can certainly come up with other ways to demonstrate its appeal — simply telling a business how many shirts have been collected may be enough to attract support. Not getting Council’s endorsement does not mean Tees Overseas is dead in the water — merely that it must sink or swim on its own merit.
The project also has an undercurrent of activism Council wisely sniffed out. The resolution Hondula proposed to Council contained language stating, “recent marketing efforts and policies threaten to strip Scott Stadium of its unique identity that existed during the era of the football program’s greatest success.” Even if that language were removed from the resolution, the campaign would retain its attitude.
In fact, much of the text on the campaign’s Facebook group promotes just such a view, associating the athletic department’s endorsement of orange T-shirts with “open hostility toward students and alumni who supported traditions that had previously been passed down from class to class.” Hondula also said the group’s goals do include combatting the athletic department’s “branding” of the University. There is nothing wrong with an independent group taking that stance, but it is inappropriate for Student Council.