Anaya Cherry ’18, Hannah Moriarty ’18: Last year, the student section at Episcopal had a stronger presence than it has in years past. The increase in attendance at games, combined with the “E-P-I” chants heard across campus, were due largely in part to the efforts of the Spirit Club. Student Council President, Jeffrey Coote ‘17 explained that the Spirit Club was created because “there was a downturn of school spirit in the past, and the seniors last year wanted to rebrand and add more excitement.”
One of the first initiatives of the Spirit Club last year was to the give the student section a new name: The “Bishop’s Bunker.” But, this name change was met with controversy from the students. Coote explained, “I thought it was a good idea, but a lot of people didn’t rally behind it for whatever reason.”
This year the Spirit Club has decided to return to the original student section name: “The Thunderdome.” Coote said that this year “[the spirit club] got a lot of requests for the change, and we also wanted to bring back student spirit as a whole. I think it’s very fun when everyone gets out there together and we’re all on the same page. It’s really inspiring to have a unified experience.”
Spirit Club member, Jenna Lotsis ‘17 justified this decision by stating, “This year, we didn’t want there to be a divide in any way between people who wanted to call it Thunderdome versus Bishop’s Bunker. The whole point of the club was to unite the school and get big crowds to our sporting events. So, to avoid any problems, we thought it was best to change the name back to Thunderdome.”
Lotsis continued to clarify the reasons for last years name change last year by stating that “Over the past few years, the initial hype of the student section faded, and we felt like there wasn’t as strong of a presence in our student section for different events. That is when we came up with the idea of making an organized Spirit Club. When we sat down at our first meeting it was decided that we should have a new name to try and revamp the student section, which is when we came up with ‘Bishop’s Bunker.’ The original creation of an organized spirit club was derived from a lack of energy in the fans, and now the energy is better than ever.”
During the 2015-2016 school year, controversy sparked over the name change of the student section. Many students, especially last year’s juniors, felt that the name change was a change in tradition. Kyle Virbitsky ‘17 explained that “it created controversy because of the tradition of the Thunderdome. When they tried to change it, although they had good intentions, I think a lot of people felt like they were changing something that they had been a part of that didn’t need to be changed. Bringing back the Thunderdome rallied people together based on the tradition that the group had in previous years. In any case, it’s all about the EA community coming together to support each other.”
“The Bishop’s Bunker”, however, was not meant to change any traditions within the community, but rather gather students under a name relevant to the school. Holly Johnston, faculty advisor to the Spirit Club, explained the intentions and logistics behind the name change. “The kids that were in charge of it wanted to be as inclusive as possible,” she said. “Around 2012-2013, students started ‘The Thunderdome.’ When they left, there was a new crowd of kids that wanted to contribute to school spirit, but wanted the name to have something to do with Episcopal. But, [This idea] received some backlash.”
Michael Letts, former Class of 2016 Form Dean and current Class of 2020 Form Dean, also gave an insight to the shift in name. “I don’t think the former seniors or club wanted to get rid of any history or tradition, but they thought that the Thunderdome didn’t apply to the school mascot, history, etc. They were really excited to get into the Bishop William White costume as well,” he said.
Looking ahead, the leaders of the Thunderdome have already planned themed events, pump-ups and are creating a bond between not only the underclassmen and the upperclassmen, but also between the student section and the athletes. “The most important aspect of the Thunderdome is making sure people are aware of upcoming events and hyping up the games so we get as many students as possible at the games,” says Lotsis.