By Stephen Cooney

The University has spent an entire year planning the debate and decorating the campus for last night’s Presidential debate, etching the school’s name into the lore of Presidential campaign history. Marketing the rising programs and also putting the campus into the eyes of the international media, all the while turning the campus athletic facilities into a home for the media, sending the campus athletes and coaches scurrying for places to practice, game plan and also to just simply be a team. The university packed the schedules of the teams with long road trips and making them change their normal life styles for the good of the university and also the nation.

Finally, the debate banners are falling from the rafters. The secret service is slinking down the towers and most anyone who has anything to do with media has long shuffled out of Dunkin’ Donuts and headed back to their respective offices. Yes, history was made, and maybe a few more students applied to Hofstra because of it. Finally, the world of Hofstra, and more importantly the Pride athletes, can return to some level of normalcy.

Students will be able to move freely around campus and maybe spend some of their free time at campus sporting events continuing to build on the newfound pride that the debate has brought to the campus. Hopefully the debate will not be the only time the Mack Sports Complex will be filled this year.

Since sports have been missing from University life, maybe students can attend a few sporting events that are not just basketball games. Maybe the Mack Center will be filled and students will support the University Sports Programs as a permanent aspect of the campus and not just a fleeting event.

Yes, the debates are far more historic than any event that any campus team will ever partake in, but does that make the sports teams less important? They are as much a part of the campus as the debate was two nights ago, and they will be here far longer and are far more likely to spark the interest of the campus community than a presidential debate will in the future.

“Remember the debate, the entire globe will remember the debate and more importantly the outcome of this presidential election.” Please, though, as a student body, realize the sacrifices that were made by the athletes that most students complain about being given special treatment on campus.

The athletic programs have sacrificed more than any student who did not get a ticket to the debate can even imagine. To a student athlete, locker rooms are like a second home where they can associate and grow as a team and also a comfort zone for a team to fell at one. Home games are a simple pleasure that allow a team to be at ease and maybe gain a few hours of alone time for the players and coaches. A supportive student section and an embracing campus may give a team an edge.

The student athletes and coaching staff probably did not have much of a choice in the actions taken by the University for the Presidential debate. They also did not complain about it and took the whole situation in stride. There was no complaining and never once was there an excuse made for tough away schedules and adjustments to their normal patterns of practice and comfort. The Pride athletic program adjusted to the situation silently and with much less of a complaint then anyone else on campus. The least the student body can do is support the teams for the remainder of their fall seasons and continue this through the winter and spring. It was not only the active teams that had to adjust.

Once the final cleanup is finished and the Physical Fitness Center is turned back into what the name implies, the Pride Volleyball team will return to action on campus. They will have a home match on Friday. Along with this match many other teams will move back into their locker rooms and begin to get back into a normal life. More importantly, the student athletes can fall back into being students as well as being athletes.

Since the University has seemed to find a new sense of pride maybe they will remember to bring that in support of the Pride. Hopefully, at the very least stronger, attendance and game support will stand as a gesture of thanks for the silent adjustment and go-with-the-flow attitude of the athletes that helped the debate go flawlessly on campus.