We R UR ... or are we?

For many years, the University of Richmond has been concerned about poor student attendance at sports games, particularly football games, and it has worked to solve this problem.

Two years ago it completed an on-campus stadium, and it was hoped that more students would attend games and as a result stop the large student half-time exodus.

The student section, which was at first placed in the end zone in blinding sunlight, did not improve attendance.

This year, the student section has been moved to the south side of the stadium, Athletic Director Jim Miller said. Yet the long-standing student tradition of leaving at half-time continues.

Junior Sarah Huang, president of the Richmond Rowdies, said that there had definitely been a problem with students leaving the football games. The main factor in whether students choose to leave is the team's performance, she said.

By half-time, the team has to be winning or losing by a small margin for students to stay, junior Daniel Fairley, the official student-section microphone representative, said.

"The fans are so confusing," Fairley said. "I find it hard to pump up the students at times. Sometimes they think they are too cool or would rather wear their sundresses and ties than cheer on the team. But other times, there's a really good response."

Miller agreed that the team's success during a game had been the main factor in attendance for students, alumni and general ticket holders.

"When teams are winning, more people come to the game and that's always true, whether it's football or another sport," Miller said.

Freshman Jasmine Smalls said that she had been disappointed because there had not been as many students as she had expected at the football games.

"Maybe they get bored," Smalls said. "More people leave now that it is colder outside. I run track, and I know if someone came to support me and left before I even ran, I'd be upset."

Although student attendance averages for the past four years has steadily increased at home football games, the athletic administration has also noticed fewer students in the stands during the second half than at the start of the games, said Jana Ross, assistant director of athletic marketing and fan development.

During the 2008 season at Richmond City Stadium, the attendance averaged at 601 students each game, and 1,006 students in 2009. The first season in the E. Claiborne Robins stadium in 2010, brought in an average of 1,394 claimed students tickets each game. Thus far this year, the average claimed student tickets per game has been 1,208 tickets. A claimed ticket refers to the process of registering online before the game, Ross said.

"Overall, students, alumni and general fans have the mentality that students are leaving," Jana Ross, assistant director of athletic marketing and fan development, said. "Are they out of the stadium completely? Are they at the concession stands or the bathrooms? I don't know. But they don't tend to be in the stands."

The problem is more than just the game itself, Casey Glick, junior and Rowdies member, said. When students choose to attend Richmond, sports usually do not play a role in the selection process.

"Spirit depends on upbringing," Glick said. "In Ohio, Friday nights were always football nights at my high school. But, a lot of students come from private schools where there is not a big athletic focus."

Sophomore Abby Goethals, who does not attend any of the games, said that at her public high school everyone had attended the games because they had been friends with the athletes.

"Athletes [here] don't interact with the student body," Goethals said. "We don't feel the need to go to any of the games and support it as much. In high school, that's all I did."

Some students have attributed attendance and people leaving at half-time to the culture at Richmond.

The root of the problem is that attending football games is not part of the culture at Richmond, Glick said.

"At some schools, it doesn't really matter if the team wins," Glick said. "You are going to go out early and tailgate, then go to the game because the culture is that the game day is an event. But here, it's more just a game. he bigger goal is to change football from a game to an event."

Fairley agreed that the social scene at Richmond did not revolve around football games.

"It's not like 'Yea! The football game is this weekend.' It's like, 'Oh, maybe if I get drunk enough at a lodge I will go,'" Fairley said.

Although these factors may be true, it is hard to measure school spirit solely through athletics, Steve Bisese, vice president for student development, said.

"I don't equate school spirit with the fact that students leave at half-time," Bisese said. "School spirit to me is how you feel about your school. Too often, Richmond is measured on school spirit by just on how many people come to a game. And we're never going to look good because we are a small school competing in big divisions."

Miller agreed that the small student body at Richmond had influenced the appearance of attendance. During his 10 years at North Carolina State University, Miller said the athletic department had allotted 3,000 tickets to the 30,000 enrolled students each game, which is only 10 percent of students.

It's a different situation here, Miller said. Richmond might have 800 students at a game and that's approximately 27 percent of the student body. Our numbers are small, so it's going to be hard to get a lot of students, he said.

Barbara Melton, a season-ticket holder and the administrative coordinator for the music department, also defended student attendance during the 2010 season. She commented on a letter published in The Collegian on Sept. 28, 2010 from David Anderton, a 1970 graduate, who criticized students for leaving at half-time. Melton wrote, "Please turn down your anger toward the fact that our students are a) sitting on aluminum bleachers with no backs on them, b) stuffed down at the end zone without benefit of the jumbotron, and c) are always in full sun whether game time is 1 p.m. or 3:30 p.m."

"Last year it bothered me that students were stuck at the end of the stadium facing the sun," Melton said. "I kept looking over and they looked like eggs on a frying pan. One by one, they were dropping off, but the overall attendance looked pretty good, so I felt compelled to defend them."

When the changes were made to the student section this year, Melton said she had been excited to see student's reactions, but she still saw half of the students leaving at half-time.

"It was disappointing for me to see that after I defended the students," Melton said. "I understand the academic rigors are intense and I don't know what it takes to generate an audience. I think those who do attend the games are really into it. We just need to spread that further and find the mascot, WebstUR. Where is he hiding out? Isn't he supposed to be generating spirit?"

Although some people believe that the new stadium has had an influence on attendance, Ross said that students leaving at half-time had always been a "thing" at Richmond.

RMC Event staff member, Buddy Lee, said he had been working at the football games for five years and even at the Richmond City Stadium, students had left at half-time.

"I don't know what it is with these kids," Lee said. "We have talked about it among the staff and we can't figure it out. It's kind of a shame. I can understand being across town and people can't get over there. I thought being on campus would make it better, but it hasn't."

Fans have said that there have been positive and negative implications from having a stadium on campus.

"It almost seemed like at Richmond City Stadium there was more student spirit," Melton said. "The students stood through the whole game and it was cool to see all the action going on in the student section. I don't get that same feeling anymore and I wonder why. Maybe it's too convenient to go to the game now."

Glick said that it had been beneficial to have a stadium on campus because it had made it more convenient for students to attend the games.

"But, that also in some ways contributes to the problem because it is so accessible, so people can just come and go to the game and stay for a little while," Glick said.

Ross said that having the stadium on campus had changed the way that students had tailgated. The students now have their own assigned tailgating lot because they do not need to drive to the game like the general public does. Before they were mixed with other fans in general parking lots because they had to drive to Richmond City Stadium, Ross said.

"They do still have a place where they can go to tailgate and we see students just tailgating in their apartments or dorms," Ross said.

Glick and Huang both said they had preferred tailgating at Richmond City Stadium.

"The overall atmosphere at City Stadium was better, but Robins Stadium has nicer amenities," Glick said. "I would rather just have the whole X-lot where students and everyone else can mingle. It builds up that school spirit and pride when you are with alumni who are having fun. City Stadium was more of a commitment so I think attendance was overall lower, but once you were there, you were more likely to stay for the whole game because it was off campus."

Ken Murgusa, a season-ticket holder, said that when students had left at half-time, the only people they had offended were their fellow students on the field.

"It's upsetting," sophomore cheerleader Ginger Epstein said. "But, mainly we're there for the players, so if they're there, we're out there. I believe it's a bit demoralizing, but it's almost expected at this point which is sad. I've heard people used to stay for the game [at Richmond City Stadium] because they couldn't leave, but not many people went. It's a balancing act."

Senior tight end Kevin Finney said that the fan base had been more geared toward alumni than students. Student athletes support other student athletes and Greek life supports Greek life and its events, Finney said.

"When you're in the game, there's so much going on that you can look up and see that people have left obviously, but at the same time, people who stay seem like they're having a good time," Finney said.

The athletic administration has implemented the fourth-quarter frenzy to increase excitement and student attendance into the fourth quarter, Ross said. Each week, T-shirts and food are thrown into the student section. Also, a student organization provides a prize, such as a Y-lot parking pass given away during the Oct. 22 game, which allowed the winner to park anywhere on campus, Huang said.

"I think the students who are there during the fourth quarter enjoy it," Ross said. "I don't know that it has created the frenzy that we hoped it would because the numbers of students that are there are not going crazy into the fourth quarter. But I think it has created a step in the right direction."

It looks pathetic for the team if the administration has to throw food at people to get them to stay, Kelly said.

"If that is why people stay, to get free Jimmy Johns, then I guess that is a little bit of a slap in the face," junior Wil Kamin said. "It's always nice to hear some cheering, but we're not playing for the cheers."

Bisese disagreed about the stigma attached to the fourth-quarter frenzy. He said that he had seen the fourth-quarter frenzy as just a part of the game atmosphere.

Miller said: "I hope students come to Richmond because they love the university and for the full experience of what it has to offer. Students are going to be happier with their college experience if they find something outside of the classroom to get excited about. It could be coming to sporting events. But, some people have their own thing, whether it be Greek life, theater, or just hanging out with their friends."

Contact staff writers Erin Moyer at erin.moyer@richmond.edu and Rachael Specter at rachael.specter@richmond.edu