Members of the Faculty Senate Monday night passed a resolution to work with the Athletic Board, the Alumni Association and the Office of the Dean of Students to seek solutions to the problem of fan behavior at sporting events.
Lawrence Kahan, professor of biomolecular chemistry, submitted the resolution in order to put faculty on record regarding such behavior.
\Therefore, the Faculty Senate calls upon all members of the university community-faculty, staff, students and alumni-to remember that unsportsmanlike and uncivil behavior tarnishes the reputation of this great university well beyond the athletic field,"" part of the resolution read.
The faculty senate passed the resolution unanimously.
Bruce Jones, Athletic Board chair, who was at the meeting to present the board's annual report, weighed in on the issue from the board's perspective.
""I assure you, the whole issue of fan behavior is on the Athletic Board agenda for the year,"" Jones said.
Kahan cited the importance of working with the Athletic Board but added the problem goes well beyond the arena of which the board has control.
Chancellor John Wiley said most of the worst situations involving fan behavior occur before and after games and he does not hold students solely liable for bad fan behavior.
""I'm very pleased that the resolution doesn't single out the students,"" Wiley said.
In fact, he said he has walked down Breese Terrace before games talking to students and was satisfied with the level of responsibility he saw.
He added that students were the minority of arrests at games, while older males-alumni and other citizens-seemed to cause the majority of problems. He said he is not concerned with the student section and thinks splitting it up is unnecessary.
Wiley also discussed fan behavior problems as a trend in the Midwest and among Big Ten schools. He has met with other Big Ten schools to discuss this problem and his concern that problematic fan behavior will spread to sports other than football.
When asked about the National Collegiate Athletics Association's position on fan behavior, Wiley cited their possible restrictions being yard penalties or game forfeitures for large problems. He said the NCAA cannot control what happens outside the stadium, which Wiley sees as more problematic than inside the stadium.
Finally, Wiley said he would like to put a mirror up to fans behaving poorly and ask, ""Is this the way you want to present the university?\
