On March 7, the Radford University Highlanders made a win against Virginia Military Institute, taking the Big South Conference Championship title. That earned the team a trip to Greensboro, N.C., to take on the North Carolina Tar Heels in the first round of the NCAA 2009 tournament at 2:50 p.m today. It will also be televised live on CBS Sports and shown on campus at the Bonnie Hurlburt Student Center.

Colby Trent, program specialist for the Office of Multicultural and International Services, mentions that the Highlanders are “making history” and is “putting RU on the map.” The RU community waits in anticipation for tomorrow’s game, supporting their team with school spirit.

Dean of Students Trae Cotton said, “The numbers of students that I hear that are planning to travel down to Greensboro is terrific. The students want to be there to show as much love and support to their team as possible and after all that is what school spirit is all about. I think this has also been great for the local community; it reminds them that there is another school in town that is poised to continue doing great things. We want the City of Radford and all of the New River Valley to show their support, spirit and pride in the Radford Highlanders and we hope they too will make the journey south to be there for our team.

Students are showing their school spirit by buying Highlander apparel from the Radford University Bookstore and Radford Book Exchange. Radford March Madness, “Dread the Red,” and Big South Conference Champions T-shirts are just some of the items that are selling like hotcakes.

Virginia Tech apparel with colors of maroon and orange have frequently been seen on and off-campus, but RU’s tourney appearance seems to have seen an upsurge in Highlander pride.

“I haven’t seen as many Hokie shirts or caps on campus recently,” Assistant Professor of English Don Cunningham said. “I have noticed a lot more students and even local community members proudly wearing RU stuff.”

The university has always encouraged students to wear their RU colors, represent the school, and support their sports teams. RU had ideas to increase school spirit and invigorate this by increasing attendance for sports games. One was the Radford Rowdies, an official basketball student group to bring and motivate school spirit at the games. Another idea was that T-shirts could increase school spirit. This bought about the “Dread the Red” shirts. “Athletic programs generate school spirit,” said Vice President for Student Affairs Norleen Pomerantz . “Winning athletic programs generate more school spirit.”

“We often seem to be overshadowed by other schools,” Cunningham said. “RU has a lot to be proud of, but I get tired of having to describe Radford University to those I meet around the country as a liberal arts university located just a few miles west of Virginia Tech. This is our chance to stand out and be noticed.”

Tech was more known for its sports then Radford was but entering into the NCAA Tournament brings about a wave of enthusiasm. Students are more confident about their basketball team than ever before. Here are just some of the responses from students:
“I want to go to the games even more than before just because our boys have done such a tremendous job and we should support them any way we possibly can,” freshman Jade Copher said.

“Well I believe that since we are a school that is pretty small compared to the teams that we are facing, people are going to want to get more insight on us,” junior Attiana Brightwell said.

“We have some bragging rights now,” senior Cassandra Fuller said.

“I’m so stoked that Radford is finally getting recognized for their athletics,” sophomore Tommy Blissert said.

As the Highlanders take on the Tar Heels, the RU community is hopeful for a victory. Dean of Students Trae Cotton expressed his pride for the team. “I cannot tell you how proud I am personally of these young men and all the hard work and dedication that they have put forth in order to get to this level,” Cotton said. “If you take a look at the season you will see that we started out rough, but we finished very strong, which again is a testament to great coaching and the desire of these young men to play together to get the job done. There is no question in my mind that they deserve to be in the big dance and I have every confidence that they will ‘dance’ like the champions they are.”

Brian Seay is an intern for the New River Voice.