The Badger Herald: News: UW officials: Student fan behavior getting better

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UW officials: Student fan behavior getting better

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By Pedro Oliveira Jr.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007 12:00 a.m.

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Over the years, University of Wisconsin Chancellor John Wiley has expressed a great deal of discontentment with Badger fans' behavior during home football games.

But after receiving reports of Saturday's game against the University of Michigan, the chancellor gave the UW student section a thumbs up — and UW Athletics seconded that thought.

Associate Director of Athletic Communications Vince Sweeney said UW Athletics is pleased with students' improved behavior during the football season, but added with such a crowd at Camp Randall, there will always be incidents.

Wiley has been particularly opposed to the "Eat shit, fuck you" student section chant, and though the chancellor acknowledged it might have happened during Saturday's matchup with the Wolverines, he "didn't hear it at all."

"The fan behavior — by all reports I got — was so much better," Wiley said.

Sweeney said he noticed a decrease in fan misbehavior throughout the season, "which also happened last year."

"The number of citations and ejections went down during the course of the seven (home) games," Sweeney said. "Hopefully the message is getting across and people are thinking about their actions while they are at the game."

Despite Wiley and Sweeney's positive reviews of Saturday's game, the UW Police Department reported the number of arrests and ejections was not much different than previous home games.

Six UW students were arrested Saturday, compared to six during the Indiana game and 11 during the Northern Illinois game. Twenty-two students were ejected Saturday, compared to 18 at the Indiana game and 17 at the Northern Illinois game.

"When I looked at the numbers from this game, I didn't see anything striking me as high or low," UWPD Lt. Eric Holen said. "It's hard to say. Maybe people leave earlier, maybe it's cold. The fluctuation is not so great that, to me, it would jump out."

Wiley said several parents also expressed similar concerns regarding students' behavior in Camp Randall during a question-and-answer session held as part of Parents' Weekend Friday.

In a separate meeting, several UW Foundation members expressed their concerns, and said they would talk to members of their old fraternities to see if that would make a difference, Wiley added.

Sweeney said the athletic department pays close attention to students' behaviors regardless of the sport, but sports with bigger crowds — like hockey or basketball — are put under more intense observation.

"We concentrate on men's basketball and men's hockey and, again, we try to address [misbehavior] as soon as we can in the best manner possible," Sweeney said.

Though several parents said they were concerned, Wiley said some commended UW fans for behaving better than other Big Ten schools and professional league fans.

"It's way better here in Madison than in the Packers game," Wiley said.

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