by Matthew Dolbey
Campus Editor
The University of Wisconsin has lately been accused of unruly fan behavior, and rightly so, according to Chancellor John Wiley. Wiley related detailed accounts Friday of visiting fans’ complaints of vulgar or obscene behavior. Wiley said a man and his son reported that they were cornered in a bathroom by fans draped in Badger-wear who eventually threw a trash can over the man.
Even though the chancellor said this behavior is the antithesis of good sportsmanship, he wanted to make sure people knew a lot of the incidents or verbal abuse outside of the game should not be solely attributed to the students. He also made it a point to say this behavior is not unique to UW sports.
“One thing I want to make real clear … I honestly don’t think this is primarily a student problem. There are some students involved, no doubt about it, but the vast majority of students are not involved,” Wiley said in an interview. “And, some of the worst offenders, frankly, are not students.”
He added that both the Big Ten conference and UW have addressed the unruly behavior, with advertisements running on television and in newspapers of college towns. According to Big Ten commissioner Jim Delaney, there is a trend of worsening fan behavior in the upper Midwest — chiefly Big Ten teams — and the Southeast.
“It’s not just the Wisconsin crowd,” Wiley said, adding that he was personally the recipient of abusive behavior at Iowa and Michigan State. Even though this issue is not unlike that of other schools, Wiley said it has to be nipped in the bud.
“I do think it’s something that feeds on itself,” he said.
The Big Ten held conferences in Chicago to describe the problems and discuss possible solutions. One suggestion that came out of the conference was to break up the student section. Though Wiley said he wishes that would never happen, it would have to at least be considered.
“If we were asked to do it as a result from ongoing unacceptable behavior, we have to consider it … we’re part of a conference, and we have to abide by the conference rules. I think that goes too far and pointing the finger just at the students. It’s not just students, it’s all the fans.”
Wiley personally walked down Breese Terrace with UW Police Department Chief Susan Riseling before the Purdue game to tell people to tone it down a bit when it comes to yelling at visiting fans.
“Most of the fans, including most of the visiting-team fans, come in that way, and they have to sort of run the gauntlet (of all the people on Breese Terrace),” Wiley said.
He said he talked to several people, particularly those around a keg, adding that many were cooperative and appeared almost chagrined at their accused behavior. Wiley said the point of his stroll was to hold a mirror up to the raucous crowd. Wiley also said the most uncooperative fans were not UW students.
Another issue Wiley touched upon was the cheers within Camp Randall, particularly citing the “Eat sh-t, f-ck you” chant.
“What is a little disappointing is the mouths that it’s coming out of. You know, we try hard to recruit the best and brightest students, and there they are, 30 [or] 40 thousand of them all in one place, and the most creative thing they can think of to chant over and over again is ‘eat sh-t, f-ck you.’ Give me a break,” Wiley said.
He said he does not mind if students are loud as long as they are not abusive.
“We’re proud of the enthusiasm of the game-day atmosphere at Camp Randall, even if we’re not proud of the specific incidents,” he said.
At Saturday’s game against Michigan State, out of 27 ejections, seven UW students were ejected for various reasons. At the Ohio State game, 18 UW students were ejected.
