August 24, 2012

If you are attending MU and still questioning what in the world SEC stands for, it’s time to admit you have spent your past semester living under a rock.

Since Chancellor Brady Deaton’s November announcement of MU’s departure from the Big 12 Conference into the Southeastern Conference, the campus has been abuzz with how we will make this transition. With many changes to fit in, like the idea of dressing up for football games, it seems to me that many are questioning if these changes are even necessary. Do we really consider ourselves a “southern” state now? Is that even allowed?

Prior to coming here last fall, I didn’t know much about all these different conferences, what they mean, or how they were formed. To feed my own curiosity, I’ve been listening to what my fellow Tigers have to say about the matter. Aside from the big changes with the athletic department, moving to the SEC seems to be changing MU in many different ways. For example, the Greek community’s Interfraternity Council is changing its policy to reflect that of a “wet campus” like many of the schools in our new conference are. This means that the consumption of alcohol will be allowed on campus. Now before you all get too excited, you can only be consuming alcohol if you are 21 years old; being a wet campus does not magically trump the law.

Another change that has been a common topic of discussion for students is game-day attire. There are students who have already gone ahead and bought themselves new black and gold dresses, jewelry and ties, while others refuse to jump on this bandwagon.

With all this “southernization,” — that is changing our ways to take on the southern tradition the other schools in the SEC already have — I’m questioning whether we should even bother.

If you look at a map of the United States, Missouri is right up there with Illinois, a clear Midwestern state. But even history cannot tell us where we truly belong. When the southern states succeeded during the Civil War, Missouri was controversial. Hailing from the northern part of Illinois, I even notice differences between living there and living here. The only term that comes to mind when thinking of these differences is “southern living,” where everything is a lot sweeter and a whole lot slower. Don’t believe me? Try driving in northern Illinois. I can hardly make it across town without slamming on the breaks at least once and letting loose a slur of profanities.

However, the point of taking on all these southern ways and traditions is to be uniform with the rest of our new family. You can’t really rag on us for trying to embrace this big change.

In our defense, it’s really not our fault. Just like our heated hate for KU, this confusion is rooted all the way back to the Civil War. The way I see it, it is now our time to decide whether we want to be a southern state. No one is really telling us we can’t, but it probably won’t be a unanimous vote to take on these southern ways either. So, if you don’t want to be “southern,” then don’t! If you do, then be southern with all its tailgating and Sperry-wearing glory. Simple.

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