Some would say that the bonfire and carnival had “meager” attendance and that Colorado Mesa University (CMU) is lacking school spirit. And I must say I disagree with that statement.

I had a good time at the bonfire and carnival. Disappointing? What more did you want? They had booths, activities, a bounce-house basketball hoop, different organizations and a nice day to work with. And when things got really cold later, the bonfire roared across the field and swept that cold away. 

The bonfire having “low energy” is a claim that I’d say doesn’t hold a lot of water. I saw plenty of people having a fun time, getting warm and socializing. While the bonfire did drop off in attendance, a good reason for that was the Hallow-Scream Queens drag show, hosted by the Genders and Sexualities Alliance right after the bonfire in the Point. That had the largest attendance of any drag show they’ve had so far. 

Now I understand that some things at the carnival cost money. I don’t think that’s much of a concern, especially given all of the other free things that were happening. And, I looked at the carnival as more of a social thing anyway. It was pretty easy to talk to everybody there and most everyone looked like they were having a good time. 

The bonfire was exactly what I wanted: something warm, awesome to look at, and a social opportunity to talk to everyone. The Maverick Stampede was there, KMSA was there and pallets were being heaved into the blaze every few minutes.

Perhaps this debate as to whether the events were under-attended can be looked at as an argument over school spirit. I personally think that CMU shows their school spirit in a bit different way than say, filling up a stadium with a 30,000 student capacity to support a Division I football team. 

Sure, it’s impossible to find a single metric to measure school spirit. But I would disagree with the point that CMU’s school spirit is down. There are flags in the plaza. Tons of events going on all over the place. I struggle to comprehend the notion that CMU has a “little” school spirit. As Art & Life Editor of The Criterion, it’s my job to find all sorts of interesting things going on all around CMU. And there are so many things going on, with all sorts of interesting people attending in all sorts of interesting places. 

The Downtown Parade for Homecoming definitely smelled like school spirit. Floats from different organizations, all conglomerating together in one big mass of CMU pride? Or how about the Maverick Stampede, which always shows up to the football games and hype up the crowd? They’re waving CMU flags around and leading the chant.

As for the low attendance at the football games. I’m not too sure what is to be done about that. If the day is completely freezing, or the tailgate is particularly popular, then sometimes the stands won’t be filled. But tons of people show up anyway, to watch the Mavericks play, and sometimes we win and sometimes we don’t, but I don’t think school spirit is lacking just because Mavericks don’t turn out to events the way Division I schools do. 

Attending events isn’t always the best measure of school spirit anyways. Attend events, sure. But one can be proud to be a Maverick without going to a football game or bonfire.