By Andrew Hornback
When freshman psychology major Justin Thurman picked up his season football tickets, the unexpected bonus elicited a look of surprise, rather than appreciation.
“I was given a free shirt,” said Thurman. “And I looked at it and was like, what is with the yellow sleeves? That’s not a university color.” Thurman said he disliked the shirt even more because the sleeves were not long enough to reach his wrists.
Trevor Joelson, former Student Government Association athletic director, designed the shirt. He said the yellow color scheme does indeed serve a purpose.
“I remember the Cardinal Chomp being increasingly popular during the 2005 run to the Final Four,” Joelson said. “There were a core group of students who would paint their arms yellow and their bodies red, to signify a cardinal bird. When I held the capacity of SGA athletic director, my main initiative was to incite student spirit and a sense of camaraderie, among a somewhat fractured student population.”
Joelson’s vision to create a more unified student body at sporting events has blossomed into the Cardinal Chomp shirt, which season ticket-holders all received.
“When I got mine, I did have to think about the color selection, but I assumed it meant to symbolize the beak of the bird,” sophomore sociology major Nathan Zeinius said. “I think the shirt is unique and could create a unified look during games.” He thinks the Card Shirts from Gray’s Bookstore may hinder the uniformity though, because most people wear those to the games.
While the modernistic design on the shirt has received mixed reviews, Joelson believes students will accept and appreciate it, once they understand the meaning.
“The Cardinal Chomp shirt is a functional shirt in that it provides a purpose beyond fashion,” Joelson said. “For some, this is confusing. It is unfortunate that the shirt was not launched around a campaign that would get students excited about it. I can imagine the sheer confusion for students, especially those who have not seen the [Cardinal] Chomp before.”
