It shouldn’t be secret that the Fordham University Athletic Department has had a historic past.  Fordham athletics will forever be immortalized through “The Seven Blocks of Granite,” Frank “The Fordham Flash” Frisch and of course Vince Lombardi, who is the namesake of the National Football League’s championship trophy.

But, in some ways, Fordham’s athletic past has gone unnoticed by the recent student population. At Rose Hill, a student can wander through the Lombardi Center, look plaque-by -plaque and learn about the Fordham sports elite, but at Lincoln Center, there’s very little interest in athletics. Also, in order to experience real college sports, a student would have to take the Ram Van to the Bronx. This could be considered an inconvenience to any Lincoln Center student even if he or she loves sports. This reason among others could be why Lincoln Center students are apathetic when it comes to collegiate sports.

Sports are an integral part of a true college experience, so why does Lincoln Center knowingly choose to ignore it? Yes, we are a different campus, but we are not a different school. We should be proud to be a part of Fordham’s athletic tradition, and yet we aren’t. It could be because Fordham hasn’t won a football championship since the 2007 season (they have gone 5-6 every season since then), or it could be that the men’s basketball team hasn’t had a winning season since 2006-2007. When asked about her interest in Fordham sports, Jordan Davidson, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’13 said, “I don’t care all that much. I think that Lincoln Center students just don’t care about athletics. I didn’t apply to Fordham to paint my face maroon and cheer on the football team. I came to learn.”

However, there are some students who have a strong interest in the success of Fordham’s athletics, but even they see the students’ indifference.

“I hate to say this, but I think a lot of people choose not to attend games because Fordham doesn’t have a highly-publicized team that wins on a consistent basis,” Sean Stroub, FCLC ’13 said. “I love going to the games, but I think more people would go if they knew that Fordham was winning.”

There are various reasons why Lincoln Center students elect not to attend games at Rose Hill, but one of the biggest reasons is the Ram Van. Lincoln Center students can get into any Fordham sporting event for free if they have their student IDs, but they have to pay $6 round-trip to even see it, and that alone has likely deterred them from attending. “I don’t want to pay six dollars to go to a game that I get into for free. If you go to a game at Rose Hill, Lincoln Center students should get free Ram Van passes. It would encourage students to go,” Davidson said.

Along with Davidson, Stroub also put forth an idea to promote interest at Lincoln Center. “I’d like there to be a way to easily find out how the teams are doing. I know [Fordham] sends out a weekly e-mail about the games, but they should find a way to make people read them. I feel like most of the students just delete the e-mails.”

Julio Diaz, the associate athletic director for marketing and promotions, is the man who writes these e-mails, and he has also noticed the disparity between Rose Hill and Lincoln Center attendance during games. “Every year during orientation, we provide all incoming freshmen with the fall sports schedule so they can look through that and see what games interest them. In the past, we have conducted Lincoln Center days where there are promotions and giveaways for the students, but recently even that doesn’t garner enough attention,” Diaz said.

In addition to noticing the problem, Diaz also had some suggestions for improved attendance. “I think there needs to be a student liaison between the athletic department at Rose Hill and the students at Lincoln Center,” Diaz said. “If the two campuses can communicate with each other, then the word-of-mouth will spread. If I could get some help from the students from both campuses, we could have stronger promotions. Right now, the promotions are limited to e-mail.”

E-mails aside, it’s important for Lincoln Center students to participate in all aspects of their university, including athletics events.  Despite being in different boroughs, we are the same university and we should make an effort to experience all of the elements that college life has to offer.