BY AARON JAFFE

PRIDE STAFF WRITER

photo courtesy of csusm.edu

California State University San Marcos has no identity. Quite a bold statement, yes?

Over the last seven years, I have clicked the student button in every survey that asks me what my occupation is. I am looking forward to clicking that button for a few more years given the declining rate of necessary classes being provided at reasonable times. I enjoy being a student and dealing with the real world on my own terms. The one thing I do not enjoy is the daily grind that is campus life (or lack thereof) at CSUSM.

In my travels as a student, I have been to many campuses, both in state and out of state. At each and every single campus I visit, I come away with one constant: the students at other schools are proud of their schools. More often than not, this pride is a direct result of the athletic performances of their teams, whether students are sports fans or not.

Are you proud of CSUSM? For me, the answer is short and succinct: no.

I am not proud of how few of my Cougar students, faculty, and administrators I see supporting their fellow colleagues or students in both athletic and non-athletic endeavors. I am not proud of those of us that look at school like a trip to the grocery store with the “get in and get out” type mentality instead of helping build our campus identity. I am not proud of how many of us have to dump our blood, sweat, and tears to represent CSUSM without the support of those they represent.

In the Fall/Winter issue of CSUSM’s alumni magazine, Steps, stories of Cougar athletics take up a good amount of space. Maybe the administration has finally realized that they do not need to cram Cesar Chavez quotes and statues down our throats to unify us. Maybe they have finally realized that athletics are the glue that hold campus pride together and help new people get stuck in.

What are you going to remember about being a student at CSUSM when you graduate? My challenge to you is to take some time out of your hectic schedule to go out and support the students that give their hearts to representing CSUSM week in and week out. Maybe you might just replace those memories of walking up and down stairs with having some fun at a game. You might even find some Cougar pride in the process.