Every action, whether intentionally or not, makes a judgment about the world. By choosing to do something, a person or group implies two things: to act in the way they chose is correct and to act otherwise is incorrect. Similarly, to not do something, excluding people or things from a decision implies that to include it would be the incorrect decision.
Why do I start with this philosophical point? Because, whether they intend to or not, Haverford’s administration, by holding a single EA Day, judges the value of its sports teams.
EA Day is the community experience at Haverford. Alumni whose life paths have diverged after leaving Wilson Hall, students as young as lower schoolers, and teachers both current and retired, come to watch five teams battle it out on a cold November Saturday. As an athlete who has competed in EA Day, the atmosphere is unlike anything I have ever experienced (and that is coming from a cross-country runner where races usually muster less than half of those who ultimately attend the football game). Additionally, EA Day is a time to put one’s athletic prowess to the test. Student-athletes want to put on a show for their brothers; they want to demonstrate the skills to which they have dedicated so much time developing, and most importantly, they want to show how much better of a school we truly are. By holding EA Day for the fall sports teams, the school communicates that only the fall sports teams are worthy of this experience.
We should hold EA days, or community events of similar importance, for all seasons.
Conversely, by not giving winter and spring teams an EA Day or a community event of similar importance, they are implying that these teams are not worthy of it. While I do not think that the administration believes this, their actions still suggest it. In order to resolve this discrepancy between the administration’s true beliefs and what its actions suggest it believes, we should hold EA Days, or community events of similar importance, for all seasons.
I would go one step further. Students who participate in extracurricular activities such as robotics, debate, and mock trial dedicate relatively similar amounts of time to perfecting their skills. While I understand there are certain technical difficulties that arise with this proposition that do not apply to the last one, I believe that these students should also have the opportunity to demonstrate all of their hard work to their brothers. There is no question that as a general community, Fords intensely dedicate themselves to their athletics or extracurricular endeavors. The best way for the administration to recognize student passion and dedication is to hold an EA Day or a community event of similar magnitude for all sports seasons and all extracurriculars.
You must be logged in to post a comment.