New student group creating buzz
A new culture of school spirit is on the rise at Concordia — and it’s creating a buzz.
Last fall at the Concordia Stingers men’s rugby home opener against Bishop’s University, Emran Ghasemi noticed something was amiss.
While the visiting team’s fans made up only about a quarter of the stadium, their presence could not be ignored. Bishop’s fans were cheering, yelling and engaged in the game, while all was quiet on the Concordia front.
“I was quite surprised seeing this. Especially being an athlete myself,” said Ghasemi, an engineering student, Concordia Student Union (CSU) councillor and Stingers rugby player. “The Stingers get motivated by cheering and they perform much better when people are there supporting them.”
Thus, the idea behind SWARM, or Students With Athletes Representing MaroonN’Gold, was born. In its infancy, SWARM is a movement aimed to increase support for student athletes and to make game-watching more active, engaging and fun.
But more than that, SWARM is a vehicle to help bridge the gap between students and student athletes, as well as foster the development of school spirit in a way that unifies the Loyola and Sir George Williams campuses.
“It is realistic,” said Ghasemi. “All that needs to happen is to challenge that warmth and school spirit that already exists and channel it towards athletics.”
However, it is a long-term project, a culture change, he admitted, and he soon realized this was not was something he could tackle on his own. Ghasemi enlisted the help of his good friend Jose (Pepe) Garcia.
Garcia, a second-year student as well as marketing coordinator for Career Management Services (in the John Molson School of Business), was eager to jump on board.
“I would say my role is ‘the guy with the plan,’” he says with a laugh. “Emran is the guy with the dream, and the guy with the idea.”
The two set out to create a plan, with an emphasis on building a strong foundation in the population of new students.
“We want to create a new culture with the new students, and show them. ‘This is how we do things at Concordia,’” said Ghasemi.
Now a team of eight movers and shakers in a variety of different departments, the SWARM team is a mixture of student athletes and student leaders in collaboration with the Department of Recreation and Athletics.
After successfully bringing their game to the Stingers home opener last weekend, the SWARM team has now turned their sights to Homecoming. The CSU will be gathering students September 17 for breakfast on the Sir George Williams Campus downtown and escorting them via the shuttle bus service to the Hive Café on Loyola Campus to be decked out in face paint and SWARM swag. “The main idea is that if people have fun, they’re going to come back,” said Garcia.
When: Saturday, September 17 at 9:30 a.m.
Where: Reggies Bar (1455 De Maisonneuve Blvd. W.)
While SWARM headquarters are at the Hive, there are plans for all-day SWARM activities in residences and on both campuses.
Related links:
• Concordia University Stingers
• SWARM on Facebook
• “Student Engagement Is Key” - NOW, August 18, 2011
• Concordia Student Union
• Career Management Services (John Molson School of Business)