December 22, 2022, 05:18 PM
ZSMICHAEL‘Stanford Hates Fun’: Students Revolt After Tree Mascot Suspension
The mascot unfurled a banner calling Stanford dull, drawing support from students who say campus rules stifle social life.
Wonder what the students think of the list of objectionable words.
For nearly 50 years, students at Stanford University have risen to the challenge of playing the Tree, the popular, unofficial school mascot.
In its long, storied history, the Tree, which dons a towering leafy costume, has been sidelined for public drunkenness and ejected from a basketball game for rowdiness. The mascot has survived kidnapping and imprisonment by students from rival schools.
During the Oct. 22 homecoming weekend football game, the 44th Stanford Tree got axed.
At halftime of a televised game between Stanford and Arizona State University, Stanford’s human sapling walked onto the field. With help from Sparky the Sun Devil, the ASU mascot, the Tree unfurled a 40-foot banner that said “Stanford Hates Fun.”
A reporter covering college football tweeted the play-by-play: “#ASU up 14-6 at the half.” Looks like the tree is “making some sort of statement at halftime here…at least that appears to be what they’re doing.”
The Tree’s stunt was indeed a statement, stemming from discord at the highly selective school, which some students say has become a snooze. A recent headline in the Stanford Daily News student paper says: “Inside ‘Stanford’s War on Fun’: Tensions mount over University’s handling of social life.”
Stanford has acknowledged the students’ complaints about their doldrums with a new FAQ list on the school’s website. “Does Stanford hate fun?” it begins. “Of course not!”
Jordan Zeitz, 21, is a Stanford junior who was serving as the Tree and held the banner. Days later, says the management science and engineering major, he was suspended from Tree duty by the executive committee that runs the band. The band oversees the Tree mascot.
“They told me self-expression goes hand in hand with self-awareness,” Mr. Zeitz says. He was stumped. “I told them that doesn’t make sense.”
Mr. Zietz, a Florida native, had gone to great lengths to prove he had the timber to become the Tree, an honor passed down by the former Tree. In April, he planted himself waist deep in soil on the school’s quad from dawn until dusk. It rained throughout the day and the stunt secured his selection. He spent weeks building the 10-foot-tall, 45-pound costume out of a backpack, aluminum poles and 70 hand-painted leaves.
The students on the band’s executive committee said in a statement to the Stanford Daily that they suspended the Tree because he used his platform to spread a message without going through the required channels. “This decision was completely unrelated to the content of his message and to the ‘war on fun,’ ” they said.
Other students stand with the Tree. Some band members protested by not showing up for the next game.
A petition entitled Reinstate the Stanford Tree calls the suspension “yet another sign of an administration hellbent on stamping out fun,” and has attracted nearly 1,000 signatures.
A staged photo of Mr. Zietz in tree regalia and splayed out on the sidewalk next to a liquor bottle and a giant cigarette ran on the cover of the student satirical magazine under the headline, “Tree Gets Axed” and “Found Trunk in Public.”
“I can’t walk across the quad without someone saying ‘Hey I agree with you,’ ” Mr. Zietz says.
A former Tree has stepped up to be mascot for the final games. “Heyo, previous Tree (#43) here,” the backup tweeted. “Don’t worry, I’ll be coming out of retirement until #44 returns in the winter.”
Stanford has a long reputation as an offbeat party school for high achievers. Campus traditions have included dashing naked through the library before finals, kissing strangers on the quad and bathing in school fountains.
The Stanford Tree over the years, at a basketball game in 2011, at the Rose Bowl in 2013, a football game in 2015 and at the NCAA Division 1 Women's National Basketball Championship in 2019.
During a televised football game in 1970 against Arkansas, band members dropped their pants. In 2016, the band was suspended for alcohol and other violations. It was later reinstated to good standing.
Rules governing the band tightened, reining in parties and playlists. Band nicknames go through an approval process. Yanal Qushair, the band’s former drum major—a position known as “the guardian of the funk”—quit. “They drained the spirit of the funk,” he says.
Administrators this year published a 13-page index of words to be avoided on the school’s websites. It suggested “ballsy” be replaced by “risk taker,” “you guys” by “everyone” and “Karen” by “a demanding or entitled White woman.” The language guidance has gone viral among conservatives on Twitter and in person, but on campus, rules around parties dominate the conversation.
Stanford began mandating students file an application two weeks ahead of a party including a list of attendees, along with sober monitors, students said.
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The number of registered parties dwindled to 45 during the first four weeks of school this fall, down from 158 over the same period in 2019, according to the Stanford Daily.
One night this semester, Carl Schoeller, a 21-year-old mechanical engineering major, checked Fizz, the Stanford social app, to see what was happening over the weekend and it was basically empty. “It was kind of depressing,” he says.
After Mr. Zietz was suspended as the tree, Mr. Schoeller arrived at the next football game wearing a banner around him like a toga that said “Free the Tree.” Security officers made him take it off, he says. Yet he and his friends handed out about 400 T-shirts with the words “Stanford Hates Fun’ to students.
Mr. Zietz’s suspension is set to expire Friday contingent on his good behavior which includes not retaliating against those who suspended him. He’s not sure if speaking publicly will hurt his chances. “I’d rather quit than be silenced,” he says. “The Tree is fearless.”
Samuel Santos Jr., associate vice provost of inclusion, community and integrative learning within the Division of Student Affairs, says the school is working to address students’ concerns about Stanford’s social atmosphere.
The party-planning process will be streamlined and more administrators will be hired to help facilitate student social life.
“We want events to be fun, inclusive and safe and those things can happen,” Mr. Santos says. “They just require collaboration and honesty.”
LINK:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/s...7?mod=hp_featst_pos5December 22, 2022, 08:17 PM
wishfull thinkerPROBLEM ONE
Samuel Santos Jr., associate vice provost of inclusion, community and integrative learning within the Division of Student Affairs
PROBLEM TWO
The party-planning process will be streamlined
and more administrators will be hired
to help facilitate student social life. (Sad, there's no emoji for Orwellian NewSpeak)
Problem 2 Squared
“We want events to be fun, inclusive and safe and those things can happen,” Mr. Santos says. THEY JUST REQUIRE INCLUSION etc. (and that shows with every move you make)
That's quite the title this ol'boy has. I wonder if the whole work load of party pooping falls to him or if he has two assistant associate vice provosts to help him with the heavy lifting like, you know, getting approval on the size and shape of jello-molds and stuff.
December 23, 2022, 08:36 AM
ZSMICHAELI think he needs to have a uniform with that title. Not even a PhD. He is a first year doctoral student. That helps expain things a bit. A bit more:
Santos is pursuing a doctorate of education at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Education, Leaders for Equity and Democracy (LEAD) program. He holds a master’s in education, multicultural and community-based counseling, from San Diego State University, and a bachelor’s in Mexican American Studies, Literary and Cultural Studies Track, from the University of Texas at San Antonio.
What other postion would he qualify for?
