The Michigan Mudbowl is a football tournament played in the mud outside the Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) house in Ann Arbor, close to Trotter Multicultural Center. This year, the University of Michigan and the national organization governing SAE have both put a stop to the Mudbowl this year, following SAE's disbandment due to hazing. Ex-SAE members are still trying to put on the Mudbowl, calling it a "storied tradition" and speaking to the charitable donations funded by the Mudbowl. Many proponents of having the Mudbowl say that it's a good thing because of this charity and should continue even though the chapter has been officially disbanded. This brings a couple questions to mind:
Should these ex-brothers be allowed to host an event that was previously affiliated with the school and national chapter even though they've been disbanded? What kind of social factors allow this to occur?
How big of a role does charity play in the Mudbowl? One source states that the Mudbowl has raised a whopping $100,000 in the last five years for Mott's Children Hospital; however, in the promotional video onbleachrreport.com, there is no mention of the charitable cause of the Mudbowl. In fact, one brother even shouts at his teammates, "I want to see blood. Send them to the hospital!"
Questioning money and social status both on campus and on a national scale is critical to unpacking this event. Personally, I am struggling to fully say the Mudbowl should not happen because of the large amounts of money donated to people in need. However, should money be able to buy you immunity from actions taken directly against University policy?
I would love to hear the thoughts of others on how socioeconomic status, the concept of charity, and the idea of continuing an event no longer sanctioned by the University and national organization under the same name and rules come together to shape this year's Mudbowl.
---- Resources ----
The Michigan Mudbowl.
Hosted by SAE: Sigma Alpha Epsilon.
Resources:
Please watch the video and read this article!
Current Hosting Roadblocks and some Facts About Mudbowl Fundraising:
MudBowl 2015's GoFundMe:
Please read the full description!
SAE Disbandment Article:
"The Cost Of Going Greek":
Hey Saharsh!
ReplyDeleteI think this is the beginning of a very compelling conversation on the confluence of the class, history, and social power of fraternities on campus. The dichotomy has always been this: charity and benefits of that privilege on one side for those who are deemed worthy causes, exclusion (hazing or otherwise) on the other. Personally I have my own biases and bad experiences with fraternities, and I think that traditions, even the traditions with a positive aspect to them, need to be questioned.
I'm excited to discuss this in class!
-Alex
Saharsh,
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting topic. While the fraternity is using philanthropy as an argument for having this event, but it is their current social class and status power that gives them the ability to have the argument in the first place. It is almost ironic in this way, and I am not sure it entitles anyone to hold this event. I look forward to unpacking this as a class tomorrow!
Rachel
Saharsh,
ReplyDeleteI found this really fascinating, especially since I didn't know about this before your blog post and your related articles.
For me, the most jarring was the juxtaposition of tradition and philanthropy. Both were given as reasons why the MudBowl should continue - because it has happened, and been hosted by SAE, for 81 years prior; and because 90% of the money raised will be going to Mott's Children's Hospital. To me, it seemed as though the tradition of the event was more important than the philanthropy - the players and coaches all mentioned the game & its traditions, including the previous family members who have played, while the chairs were the only ones who really mentioned the charity aspect at all. What role does tradition play in Greek Life, and how does it interact with socioeconomic status?
Also, it mentioned that SAE was disbanded in 2011. Does anyone know if there have been MudBowls since then, and if there was any campus discussion about them in previous years?
I'm excited to talk about this in class on Monday! It's a really rich and pertinent topic.
- Amber
Hi Saharsh,
ReplyDeleteI think that this is very interesting dynamic here. I know very little about Greek but I do know once an organization is banded than that means all their events and etc are banded too. But even after that, this event seems to only have white privileged males participating. They enjoy participating in it therefore, they don't want to stop it and the thing is they probably won't have to. This event will probably continue to go on because it's tradition!! U of M is a place that is big on that...traditions....and legacies. The donations to charity are secondary to the main reason why they feel it should stay. They're using their status and privilege to undermine rules of the university. I'm excited to hear more from others. See you in class on Monday!
Sincerely,
Faith :)
Hi!!
ReplyDeleteOne of the things that I find most fascinating is the hardcore, impenetrable tradition that necessitates that the mud bowl must be SAE's responsibility.
If the Mud Bowl is such a great act of philanthropy and so , why can't SAE pass on the legacy to another Fraternity?
If the Mudbowl is truly about philanthropy and raising money for Mott, it should exist outside and above Greek Life. Keeping it within bounds of Greek life inhibits people from the larger community from participating. It would be interesting if UM Hospitals would sponsor the event...but then would it still be "The Mud Bowl"? Probably not, at least not in the eyes of SAE alums?
Looking forward to pulling these apart some more tomorrow.
Rachel #2 (P.)
Hi!!
ReplyDeleteOne of the things that I find most fascinating is the hardcore, impenetrable tradition that necessitates that the mud bowl must be SAE's responsibility.
If the Mud Bowl is such a great act of philanthropy and so , why can't SAE pass on the legacy to another Fraternity?
If the Mudbowl is truly about philanthropy and raising money for Mott, it should exist outside and above Greek Life. Keeping it within bounds of Greek life inhibits people from the larger community from participating. It would be interesting if UM Hospitals would sponsor the event...but then would it still be "The Mud Bowl"? Probably not, at least not in the eyes of SAE alums?
Looking forward to pulling these apart some more tomorrow.
Rachel #2 (P.)
forgive my error of pulling these apart. . it should have been pulling this apart.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHello!
ReplyDeleteThis was my first time hearing about the Mud bowl in detail and your sources really helped me learn more about the fraternity and event. (For lack of better words)White Greek Life is very triggering to me. I believe that they have a huge stigma for being solely social and not making in impact on the community. Especially with the disbandment going on, it shows that they are breeding racist and ignorant individuals. I do not support this event being continued on this campus. I think the fact that people are still supporting this, in the name of charity at that, shows that money can truly buy you anything. Even the simple fact that SAE's alumni actually own the house, goes to show how much power and privilege this fraternity has. Yet it is being used to do frivolous things in the name of charity. I look forward to having a deep, honest conversation about this in class.
Elkena
Hey!
ReplyDeleteI didn't even know this was happening here! When I was first trying to understand what Greek life is, I was told a lot of the stereotypes, and about the power they have on campus. When browsing through the articles, I felt that the whole "Mud Bowl" event was less about the charity itself, and more about the fraternity involved in it. While it is a great cause, I feel like the Mud Bowl's come-back is more about SAE's attempt to keep their chapter alive on this campus, which isn't fair, considering what they have done in the past.
I'm excited to hear other views about this during class! I think you picked a very interesting topic, which has many dimensions to it.
-Sarika. My bad.
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