Tuesday, April 23rd was the famous Dolphy Day everyone looks forward to every semester. From a student-athlete’s perspective, I woke up around 4:45 am to go hook up to some bass. I never would have considered fishing a hobby until about three weeks ago, when I finally went with a buddy.
I was able to pull some in during that early morning as the sun was beginning to rise. It was a gateway to keep me in a calm mindset with not being able to participate in the so-heavily-anticipated Dolphy Day, from the beginning of fall semester.
The baseball team and I had an away game against the University of Albany, the Great Danes. Our bus was scheduled to leave at 10:45 am so as my buddy and I were wrapping up our morning of fishing we made our way to the cafe before I had to hop on the bus. Pulling back into campus around 9:45 am I was surprised how quiet the campus actually was.
As we pulled into the parking lot greeted by a security guard standing his post for the chaotic day ahead, I was thinking we were going to roll in and hear music blasting from the quad. My thoughts were completely different than what it was. The campus along with the cafe was a ghost town. I can hear the famous midwestern country whistle and tumbleweed blowing in the wind as that is the exact feeling I felt.
Knowing about the famous celebration on campus and not being a part of it, I took a nap on the bus trying to avoid social media and being flooded with all the local people posting about it. As a bunch of us were bummed, we still had a game to play. We went on to win the game, 4-1.
The day felt almost like a standstill but the game went by pretty fast. This is the second year in a row that the baseball team had to miss the historic day. It makes me question if the people running it really care if fellow student-athletes are able to make the celebration or if they’re just happy they can go. I try not to let it bother me much at all just because it is out of my control but if I were the Wizard (the former title) or now the “King,” I would check all schedules of sports teams to make sure everyone can participate.
From what I am hearing, Dolphy Day isn’t much like what it was five years ago. I remember my freshman year in 2018-19 you didn’t know it was Dolphy Day until the quad was packed the night before with torches lit and a DJ booth set up and we were on the quad until about 3:30-4 am. A bunch of people outside of the campus could come enjoy the special day. I even met Kevin Huerter, an NBA player for the Atlanta Hawks at the time, now on the Sacramento Kings, who came to enjoy the day. The quad was packed even with unfamiliar faces which is the best thing about life, meeting new people and enjoying what is in front of you.
It is sad to witness what it is becoming and I hope administration doesn’t try and control it too much or I feel like it will kill the legacy of what once was the best day on campus.
