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Ethnography - Rhody Ruckus

Ethnography on the Rhody Ruckus club. Final and term project

Course

Cultural Anthropology (APG 203)

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University of Rhode Island

Academic year: 2017/2018

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University of Rhode Island

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University of Rhode Island Rhody Ruckus Ethnography Michael LeBeau APG 203 Professor Garcia Table of Contents Introduction __________________________________________ 2 Incentives to Join______________________________________ 3 My Experience________________________________________ 6 History______________________________________________ 7 Culture______________________________________________ 8 Impact on Campus_____________________________________10 Conclusion___________________________________________11 1 Incentives to Join The first topic I would like to cover is why people join the Ruckus and the benefits of being a member. The core reason why people join the Rhody Ruckus is for guaranteed admission to all home games, but the Ruckus has much more to offer. This year in particular, home games were sold out and non members were not guaranteed a seat. The games that were predicted to sell out offered wristbands to Ruckus members first and then the general student body the morning of the game. For the more popular games, students would wait in front of the ticket booth for hours while Ruckus members only wait for a matter of minutes. Not only did becoming a member guarantee you a ticket, but also made it much easier to attend. Most members took advantage of the opportunity as many of the members were big fans who attended all the games. The biggest event of the year and a reason why all of my informants said they became members was guaranteed free admission to the University of Rhode Island versus Providence College rivalry game. College basketball games last on average two and a half hours, yet the price for tickets for the Providence game were upto $400. The price to join Rhody Ruckus is only $20 and a $1 processing fee. This perk of joining alone made the sign up fee well worth it. In fact, some of my informants joined the Ruckus purely for the Providence College game. Other important benefits of joining are “Meet the players” event in the beginning of the 3 season and other exclusive pre-game events. Other smaller benefits such as free tshirt, raffle entries, membership card, and access to postseason tickets just sweeten the deal for potential members. During the interviews, another popular topic was the growth and expectations for the Ruckus next season. The expected size and popularity for next year is much bigger than previous years due to the team's success this past season. The president stated “The years that PC plays URI are years that more people are engaged”. Next year being a year the PC game will be played in Providence, the number of members will decrease overall, but for being an away game year, membership will be high. The recent news that coach Dan Hurley has signed with University of Connecticut and the loss of key recruits has shocked many and left the University of Rhode Island fans with fair amounts of uncertainty. Rhody Ruckus is expecting larger numbers next season regardless, but they do not know how the change of coaching staff and loss of players will change their membership. The Ruckus praised Dan Hurley and his leaving was a major upset for everyone. Overall, this year was the biggest success the team and the Ruckus have ever seen. Even with so much uncertainty, there is a positive lookout for next seasons membership. Although Rhody Ruckus is a paid student club, the time commitment required is relatively low. The most time demanding activity is going to the basketball games themselves. The games are two and a half to three hours long and they are not mandatory. A general member is not required to put in any number of hours or really 4 I was not expecting to receive the offer to go to the URI Vs. Umass game and I did not know what was involved, but I decided to go because I thought seeing an away game would be interesting. The ten hour event was much better than what I expected. Everything from the food to the bus ride to the game was fun and memorable. When we got to the pickup station at 2:00 P. I found out that five of my friends also won or got invited onto this trip. I had no idea that some of my peers were apart of the Ruckus. The free pizza was and drink was great and when we filed onto the bus, everyone was filled with school spirit. There were a few key people who were in charge of the event and they lead chants and activities on the bus including the “RHODY RHODY RHODY” chant and our fight song. Everyone on the bus was friendly, happy to be there, and excited to “destroy” Umass. The atmosphere was great and got me excited for the rivalry game to come. They played movies during the bus ride and handed out all the leftover pizza and drinks. When we finally got the the stadium we found our seats and to no surprise found out that we were put in the nose bleeds of the away stadium. That did not damper the Rhody Ruckus spirit. We were taunted from the beginning yet from the second the Rams entered the court, our small pack of thirty people were on their feet and constantly cheering. It was nice to see a substantial group of fans in the distance wearing the familiar Keeney Blue. There was almost as many Rhody fans as Minuteman fans. Friends were messaging people in our section saying how they could hear us cheering on TV over the opposing fans. For the small group that we brought to the stadium we made our presence known. The 6 game was much closer than it should have been and tensions were tight but we came out on top with a breathtaking ending. We celebrated the whole way home and we got to meet the players before they got on their bus. The whole experience was phenomenal and made me interested in joining next season. History The Rhody Ruckus has not always been what the organization is today. Rhode Island basketball has always had a strong student presence, but they were never given a formal name or endorsed by the school. Finally, in 2013 the marketing committee of the university started a poll for the students to decide on a name for the new organization and replace the old nickname “The Mob”. Some of the options were Ram Nation, The Beach, Rhody Island, Keaney Blue Crew, Ramatics, and The Stampede, but Rhody Ruckus came out on top. Finally, the Organization was official and endorsed by the University their popularity and size began to grown. The Club really took off in 2016 when the first president of the Ruckus, Taylor Kholer, began to make it a more formal and organized club. Since Kholer entered the position the Ruckus has only been improving. Every year there are more perks offered to members and none have ever been removed. Membership exploded once again due to better advertisement and outreach by the first executive board. With increasing interest and more and more perks the price to become a member increased for the first time ever. Twitter is one of the Ruckus’s biggest tools when it comes to outreach. 7 propaganda. Another part of the culture is having student leaders in front of the ruckus. These leaders are always enthusiastic and geared up at every game. The leader’s persona is iconic to the fans and the members of the Ruckus all know them by name. The leaders role in the ruckus is to keep the energy high and to start chants that the Ruckus will repeat. Certain situations always call for certain actions or chants and the leaders are always ready. The culture has minor changes from season to season and almost always have some new additions. The traditions set forth and the opportunity to start a new aspect of the culture for others to follow is a big reason why students return to the Ruckus year after year. The Ruckus brings together students of all types by recruiting through a shared common interest. At times, other student groups such as the cheerleaders work with the Ruckus during special events to create an even better atmosphere. The band and the Ruckus compliment each other by work together during chants and songs to be louder and have a greater impact. Lastly and possibly most importantly, the Ramettes are a huge part of the Ruckus. The Ramettes are the URI dance team that performs at games during halftimes, timeouts, and on the sidelines. Many Ramettes are members of the Ruckus and give a familiar face to many on the court. The sensation of being surrounded by familiar faces in a home environment make for a much better atmosphere. A small group of Ramettes travel with the Ruckus to every game. The ruckus paired with the cheerleaders, Ramettes, and the pep band make a whopping impact on anyone who enters the home of the Rams. 9 Impact On Campus The presence of the Rhody Ruckus has much more influence on students than just on game day. Student life as a whole comes closer together due to the environment generated. Even those who are not a part of the organization are still welcomed and students do not feel like they are in unfamiliar territory while at games. To call oneself a member of a successful student run club creates a better stigma around student clubs in general. Students are more likely to join other clubs because they assume that they will feel accomplishment from being more involved. This idea comes from the positive feelings towards the clubs they are already a part of. Many members of the Ruckus are highly active on campus and take on leadership roles such as orientation leader, tour guide, greek life, and student senate. From a student body perspective, the overall moral on campus is much higher thanks to the Ruckus. School spirit is on the rise especially this past year due to the team and coaches accomplishments during a record breaking season. As a player, having a strong fanbase delivers much more confidence to the team as they are more excited to perform for their peers. The energy created in the arena also motivates players to perform better while the opposing team will feel intimidated. The impact the Rhody Ruckus makes comes in all forms on and off the University of Rhode Island campus. 10 of the Rhody Ruckus changes from season to season and over extended periods of time. At the end of this term, I can happily say that I have achieved the main purpose of this ethnography. Through my methods of collecting data I have found the patterns of growth and the traditions that this special group of students hold. All of my experiences while obtaining data have been enjoyable, from interviewing members and the president to going on road trips to attending games. This report has revealed a great deal of information about the Rhody Ruckus and I now have a greater respect for the association as a whole. I am excited to see what is to come in the future for this organization and I hope to find myself in the student section next season. 12 Work Cited Espn, Jeff Goodman Via. “Rhode Island's Dan Hurley to Be Hired as Head Coach at UConn.” ABC News, ABC News Network, 22 Mar. 2018, abcnews.go/Sports/rhode-islands-dan-hurley-hired-head-coachuconn/story?id=53929483. Members of Rhody Ruckus. “Rhody Ruckus.” 14 Feb. 2018. “Rhody Ruckus.” Rhode Island, 4 May 2016, gorhody/fanzone/RhodyRuckus. 13

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