Baker University is having a successful sports year at the national level.
The women’s soccer team made it to the “Fab Four” of the NAIA National Tournament, and April 8, the Baker University dance team won the NAIA National Dance Alliance National Small Dance Championship.
The women’s soccer team’s run was well documented throughout the team’s national tournament journey.
Watch parties were hosted in the Harter Union Lobby and emails were sent to the Baker University community congratulating the team on their success, but also large signs stood at every corner of campus and a pep rally allowed the students, faculty, staff and other supporters to show its support once the team returned.
While a story was posted on the Baker and Baker athletic websites, signs congratulating the dance team weren’t constructed and no pep rally has been announced to honor the team.
It is difficult to compare sports or make the judgment that one performance was more difficult or impressive than the other.
The women’s soccer team deserved the recognition for their accomplishments, but why can’t the dance team also receive attention for their monumental accomplishment?
Not only did the team reach the national competition, but won it.
Competitive dance and cheer teams in the NAIA have been categorized as emerging sports since 2009, and Baker’s national win was covered on the Baker athletic website and the Heart of America Athletic Conference website.
Spirit Squad, which consists of both dance and cheer, is even listed with the other spring sports on both websites.
It is no longer thought of just another activity.
So, why should this team’s accomplishment not be publicly congratulated to the extent of Baker’s other sports teams?
Yes, it costs money to pay for signs and plan pep rallies, and it is understandable the university has more important payments .
But, it does not cost any money to send out a campus-wide, congratulatory email.
Those who don’t read the press releases on the Baker website or Baker athletic site might not have even known about the team’s victory until the team was back on campus to talk about it.
And even then, some students may not have heard about their fellow classmates’ impressive achievement.
The win not only makes the team look good, but it can also benefit the university. It is a good possibility high school dance team members naturally would want to dance for a team that won a national championship, which would bring more students to campus.
So, why would Baker not want to publicize this?
It seems like the decision to cover the dance team’s recent success more thoroughly would be an easy one to make.
The dance team does not bring in the revenue that a soccer team would, but the university should recognize and be proud one of its teams was able to achieve a title no other dance team in the country can claim this year.
