Them Aren't Fighting Words: Boston University's Need for "Wholesome Cheers"

Boston University has a new policy for those attending their sporting events: if you swear or make a racist or sexist comment, and someone else hears it and complains about it, you will be tossed from the stands (Maria Cramer & Sarah Schweitzer, "BU Moves to Clean Up Foul Language at Games," Boston Globe, 9/12/2006). This policy most affects the BU men's hockey games, as the Terriers are one of the best teams in the country and often sell out the arena. Apparently, some of the more rabid Terrier fans "use profane chants" to express their loyalty, as they believe that "cursing is practically tradition." Here's BU's dean of students, Kenneth Elmore, on the thinking behind this new policy, which BU claims has also been adopted by Ohio State University and the University of Wisconsin:

"Standing and shouting obscenities does not have a place. I don't equate school spirit with the yelling of obscenities," Elmore said.

School officials hope spectators return to more wholesome cheers.

"I know our fans can be classy," Elmore said. "I hope they can use cheers we can all participate in and feel proud to do."

Although it's unclear how BU students in general feel about this new curse-free policy, the Globe article interviews one sophomore who doesn't seem to like it:

``That's terrible and an infringement on our freedom of speech," said Kendall Lyons, an 18-year-old sophomore who often takes part in the chants. ``Sports won't be fun anymore."

Geoff discussed bad words and sports in June, and touched on some of these same issues.

While I agree with Boston University that racist or sexist remarks should not be tolerated, I question the University's crack-down on obscenities. Given that a lot of people seem to swear during games, how will this policy be enforced? Now, it could be only intended for either groups of fans swearing in a chant or the habitual, usually intoxicated curser, particularly when he is sitting near children (i.e., the true jerk who we all agree should be thrown out), rather than the fan who occasionally reacts to a disappointing turn in the game with a swear, but couldn't the swearing groups and habitual curser be kicked out anyway for being disruptive? Is this policy really needed?

And is promoting "wholesome cheers" realistic or even desired, especially if they might jeopardize the home court/field/arena advantage? On the other hand, might this policy be a helpful strategy for diminishing the "us" versus "them" mentality that pervades sports so much, and might it also discourage the potential for group violence?