http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=92947&ran=100349
Not all traditions are worth fighting to save
The Virginian-Pilot
© September 30, 2005
The most dangerous place to stand on a college campus is between the mob and its sacred traditions.
Traditions are what keep alumni coming back to watch what is often second-rate football played by marginal students. But, hey, the tailgate parties are a blast. They are a tradition.
So is the pink locker room at the University of Iowa’s Kinnick Stadium. The tradition of painting the visitors locker room pink was started in the late 1970s when Hayden Fry coached there . A psychology major, he said pink served to have a calming, passive effect on visiting players.
That’s what he said, though the color scheme was always meant to reflect something else, something more cynical.
Upon the recent completion of a two-year renovation of the stadium, athletic officials went overboard on pink, covering almost every square inch of the visitors locker room in a shade called “dusty rose,” right down to the showers and urinals.
This sounds like a college prank initiated by inebriated undergrads. Of course, the redecoration project was carefully designed and executed by adults. Adults who work for an institution of higher learning, no less.
Now, at long last, we’ve heard from critics who claim that the wholesale use of pink demeans women, perpetuates offensive stereotypes about women and homosexuality, and puts the school in the position of having to defend the indefensible.
What the F? If no offence was intended. Then you are not allowd to take offence. Ok everybody get the memo? Good.
