While Laker Spirit Club understands Mr. Baranowski’s question about the origin of the Blackout at the women’s hockey game against No. 4 Clarkson University on Jan. 15, and agrees that black is not one of the school colors, we would like to address what seems to be his larger issue, that of student involvement at athletic events.

His piece presents the idea that LSC is not doing its job to get students involved in the games, however what he failed to note was that attendance at our Blackout game was the highest so far this season by more than 200 people.

In fact, this was the only game this season that has topped the 1,000 mark in attendance, with the official number listed at 1,211. While some might point out that this was due to the No. 4 ranked opponent, during two games with rival and No. 5 ranked Minnesota-Duluth, attendance only averaged 658.

However, we also understand that the goal should be to have this type of attendance and support at all of the events, not just those with special promotions, which brings us back to the article. Mr. Baranowski fills the article with suggestions, yet he failed present them constructively.

Mercyhurst Student Government, of which LSC is a branch, has weekly meetings that are open to all students where they can present their ideas, which would have been a much more productive and constructive forum for his suggestions to be presented.
In essence, by merely lashing out in the newspaper instead of taking action, Mr. Baranowski was being hypocritical.

He fell victim to the same problem of inaction that he accuses LSC of by not doing his part as a member of Mercyhurst College to make our sporting events the best that they could be.

Response from John Baranowski.

It’s Laker Spirit Club, not Laker Show-up Club. Attendance is irrelevant, participation is key. I would rather have 10 people who cheer constantly than have 1,000 who sit, talk, and text. T-shirts don’t evoke participation, just attendance. This promotion failed; it didn’t encourage active participation. LSC still misses the point.