Saving Stuyvesant's Spirit

Every March, thousands of eighth graders across New York City receive their SHSAT results and high school invitations. For around 800 of these students, this is the beginning of their Stuyvesant journey. These 800 open their letters: accepted to Stuyvesant, they say. Elation follows for the elite few who meet the cutoff.

After the initial excitement of acceptance, their journey through Stuyvesant begins at Camp Stuy, where Big Sibs encourage them to buy merchandise and give them advice on surviving the grueling academic atmosphere here. At this point, the polished image of Stuyvesant that prospective freshmen are shown through open houses and even during Camp Stuy still hasn’t worn off, so they are still buying Stuyvesant apparel and proud to announce that they are Stuyvesant Students.

In the coming months as they begin at Stuyvesant in earnest, these new recruits must fork over a minimum of $25 for gym clothes, $14 for a lock combination. Not to mention, countless extracurriculars—from sports teams to debate clubs—constantly request donations or fees for participation. In addition, freshmen experience their first real taste of high school. Stuyvesant is not just any high school, so they are quickly overwhelmed with work coming at them from all sides. As the expenses—and the workload—begin to build up, students realize that Stuyvesant might not really be all that it’s made out to be. As reality sets in, the incoming class starts to lose its optimistic view of the school, which in turn leads to decreased pride in our school and the lack of school spirit that has become so evident at Stuyvesant.

This disillusionment with the school begins to present itself in a bizarre form of dark, self-deprecating humor unique to Stuy students. Barely a period passes without hearing someone commiserate over their poor grades, lack of sleep, or any one of a number of ailments that afflict the Stuyvesant student on a daily basis. “I hate Stuy” has become a staple of our vocabularies, and it’s used so often that it has almost become a default greeting among the student population. With this attitude about the school so widespread among the students, it’s no surprise that there is little enthusiasm for representing Stuyvesant, particularly when it comes to supporting our sports teams.

At many high schools, sports teams and their support bases represent the sort of school spirit that is so lacking at Stuyvesant. Here, however, the attendance at the vast majority of sporting events is abysmal. Even at Homecoming, which should by all rights be one of the biggest events of the year, the turnout is far below what could be expected at almost any other school, as the interest in supporting the football team and the school just isn’t there. One cause of this may be the sheer volume of sports and extracurriculars at Stuy. With so many teams, ranging from Robotics to Ultimate Frisbee, the student body just doesn’t unify behind, say, the football team, as it would at a more typical school. Merchandise showing off memberships in Key Club and 694 Robotics is almost as common as generic Stuyvesant merchandise, which showcases the divisions which the variety in activities creates among the students. One possible solution for some of this division would be a unified mascot, which could serve to unite students’ pride behind the school rather than for their individual clubs or teams. The responsibility also falls to some extent on the members of the teams, as without their enthusiasm in promoting games and events, the student body won’t be mobilized to support the school. Whatever the cause, however, the apathy surrounding sports at Stuyvesant is a major factor in the lack of school spirit as a whole.

While school spirit at Stuyvesant is generally fairly low, there are some events that prove an exception to this, including school spirit’s namesake—Spirit Days. On Spirit Days, participating students dress up following a different theme each day, such as Goth Day, Pyjama Day, Nerd Day, and more. While collectively dressing up like clowns is a great way to bond as a community and unify behind our school, there is one major issue with these Spirit Days—they tend to be events that are exclusive to seniors, which alienates three-fourths of the school population from what could be one of the largest school spirit events of the year. A simple and cost-free way to help boost school spirit would be to simply include more of the school in events like Senior Spirit Days, either by expanding them into general spirit days or by adding other days for the rest of the school. Either way, focusing on increasing fun, community-centric events like Spirit Days is an excellent way to boost school spirit at next to no cost.

Another event that inspires a lot of school spirit and unity amongst the school community is SING!. Each year during the months of SING!, school pride is high, and people walk the halls constantly wearing SING! apparel. However, while it does boost school spirit, it only happens once a year—and for a fairly short time at that. This is as it should be―we are not calling for a elongating SING! season or doing it twice annually―but it does mean that the spirit it brings is a short-lived acme.

The problem of school spirit cannot be easily solved. Much of it has deep roots, many of which are either essential to Stuyvesant or in its DNA: the school’s large size, its diversity of interests, and its high-pressure environment. But there are fixes to be made, from minor changes like extending spirit days to the entire student body and policies continually expanding the resources and support infrastructure for students who feel at risk of cracking under Stuyvesant’s pressure.

The onus also rests upon students to not constantly trash the school. Much of the time, Stuyvesant-trashing arises from legitimate and deeply felt woe surrounding pressure and workload. But it has a life of its own beyond that, and it makes its way even into the language non-distressed students.

When we trash our school, other people, both outside and inside Stuyvesant, notice. And that itself contributes to a culture of Stuy hatred. So the next time you get ready to say “I hate this school,” ask yourself if you mean it. And if you do, it’s important to express that. But if you’re just saying it because it’s part of the vocabulary of Stuyvesant, think twice and bite your tongue.