By Billy Garland
For senior Student Government Association athletic director Trevor Joelson, the new “Nest” initiative is a chance for students to assert their identity in regards to student spirit.
“We want students to make the nest their own,” Joelson said.
The ‘Nest,’ a recently established student awareness initiative, is a collaboration of the SGA, Athletic Department and the University President’s Office. With intent to raise student involvement levels, the ‘Nest’ and its success rely on the potential student involvement. This comes largely from the unconventional approach that the initiative takes.
“We are not an RSO or an organization at all really,” Joelson said of the ‘Nest’ structure. “As students come into each game, we want them to come in with the mindset that they are automatically part of the ‘Nest’. We want to encourage a feeling of togetherness and pride at the games.”
Unlike a typical format for an RSO, there are no regularly scheduled meetings. Following suit, the proponents of the effort chose to abandon the usual membership enrollment concept.
“We don’t want to have a formal membership, or mandatory meetings,” Joelson said. “We want this to be something all students feel a part of while still making sure to stay separate from other organizations.”
Some have admitted the slow progress the initiative has made, but have attributed much of it to the freshness of the initiative; as well as the struggle to gain student involvement. Other schools such as the University of Kentucky have had similar initiatives, but the only recent U of L sports involvement initiative led by students is the ‘L-Raisers’ organization.
While the goals of the two groups are similar, the methods and concepts used are essentially different, leaving minimal precedent for the ‘nest’ to work from.
“Since this effort is so new, the majority of our efforts this fall have been trial and error,” Joelson said. “We are constantly growing and learning. Unfortunately, thus far student involvement has been less than we hoped.”
Hoping to use the lessons of the initiative’s past experiences the ‘Nest’ and its proponents are now looking forward to the upcoming basketball season. The effort hopes to capitalize on the university’s tendency toward being a “basketball school,” as well as attendance numbers that are typical for home games. With record attendance for games hitting numbers that exceed 20,000, the potential for individual student contact is high.
“We are a ‘basketball school,'” Joelson said. “The scheduling conflicts we tend to face as we work with students and RSOs on campus aren’t as much of an issue during the season. People are already scheduling around the games.”
In order to better inform students of upcoming actions and events, ‘Nest’ supporter send weekly e-mails to students signed up to receive them. The e-mail system was established out of respect for the students overall. The hope was that over time, interested students would sign up to receive e-mails either at one of the occasional meetings or online at www.uoflsports.com/studentspirit. A free sign-up form is available under the link “the Nest sign up form,” on this page.
With the success of this effort relying so heavily on the potential for student involvement, the current lack of participation it faces redefines “Empty Nest Syndrome.” The main purpose of the effort is to alter the way that students view the athletic department. Joelson continues to encourage students to sign up and be a part.
“When I started working with the ‘Nest,’ it was because students had approached asking, ‘What can I do to help improve our Athletic Department? How can I be a part,'” Joelson said. “My question now is: ‘Where are those students?’ The ‘Nest’ was created for those students so they could come together. We need those students to champion this effort if we are going to be successful.
