The joy of tradition - A Necessary Ambiguity

Sitting at Homewood Field on Saturday, one could not help but be surrounded by a wealth of human interaction. Of course the credit for this conglomeration of students, faculty, alumni and other locals lies, at least partly, with the sporting event transpiring on the Astroturf. But is it merely lacrosse that unites Hopkins? What is it about such an esoteric event of any type that unites such a diverse population? One could argue, though, that the answer lies not with the event itself, but in the tradition surrounding that which we gather to participate in.

Humans desire to connect with others. As a species, mankind is a social organism. We require others not only for procreation and propagation, but also to fulfill our social needs that contribute to health as much as a diet and exercise. As a people, we crave interaction. When people flock to festivals and gatherings, they come with the subconscious notion that there will be others to interact with. As examples, Mardi Gras is a fantastic event because of the flood of humanity perpetuating a common ideology. The Super Bowl and the Olympics seem to unite us in the pride and admiration of human endeavor. Sports presents a situation that connects us not only to the athlete, but also to the spectators around us.

Athletics are not intrinsically a uniting event. Games and sporting events across the country do not all hold some magnetic attraction over the human conscious. Although millions turn out each year to see grown men pummel each other over a leather oblate-spheroid, you do not see many people lining the rinks of this country enthralled with curling. Similarly, for those who would argue that only "physical" sports garner attraction, you must only look as far as the XFL. Athletics that seem to attract us the most are those that allow human emotion and will to shine through most clearly. The tarnish of business, complexity and falsity quickly dampen the spectators desire to admire humanity in the venue of sport.

An embraced event creates a culture specific to itself. For the issue of Hopkins, lacrosse is the sport that our community has found to create a common point about. As a contrast football reigns nearly ubiquitously as the sporting event of choice in the Deep South. The exclusivity of an event for example, "we're good at it," and the attraction of new participants and spectators to the happening are a perpetuating cycle that, over time, seems to build a specific culture about itself. Taken now down the road at Hopkins, the futility of one or two negative springs of lacrosse will hardly dampen the rampant enthusiasm that the next generation of students will experience for the sport. In essence our continual commitment to lacrosse has created a specific culture around the sport that, as it continues, will attract new players who in turn will attract new spectators.

For those longing to find community in our university and in other human institutions, you should not seek "quick solutions." Any decree of a dance or a social gathering by the student council or other social policy makers will pale in its attraction with the contests on Homewood Field. The question then remains, how do we create a new tradition, a new event that unites and perpetuates so continually? The answer lies in the humanity of the participants. Tradition transcends event and location and lies within the members of the community. Lacrosse is just our most visible, as well as vocal, mechanism for unity. However, behind the brick and marble all around Charles Street, there are individuals who embrace their human desires and connect with others at parties, class and even the library. The job of the policy makers from Brody to the student council is to attempt to encompass more in the sphere of community by expanding venues of interaction and by allowing resources to divert to ideas from all participants. Only from the individual idea gaining communal acceptance over time can we hope to create a venue of interaction and tradition as ubiquitous as our beloved Blue Jay Lacrosse.