Letter to the sports desk

Dan Guerrero
Published: Tuesday, January 31, 2006

To the UCLA student sports audience

A few days ago I read a handwritten note from a Texas woman affiliated with an intercollegiate athletic tournament.

She had hosted the Bruins in her home and wanted me to know how impressed everyone was with the way our team comported itself. She used adjectives such as “professional” and “courteous,” and referred to UCLA as the “class of the tournament.”

It is precisely that image I want every one of our teams to project wherever they play. I expect and demand that our coaches and student-athletes conduct themselves in a manner reflective of UCLA’s preeminent position in higher education and intercollegiate athletics. I want the same from you.

More than once at the UCLA/USC men’s basketball game two weeks ago, selected students chanted a two-word insult toward the visiting team. The first of those words starts with an “F,” exactly the grade I would have bestowed upon them for their objectionable judgement.

Such a cheer, if you can call it that, has no place in Pauley Pavilion. That our own fans (including children), alumni, faculty, coaches and team had to hear it made me feel embarrassed and ashamed.

Even worse was seeing the look on Coach Wooden’s face, an icon who abhors profanity.

I love having the students strategically positioned in Pauley to serve as our 6th player. This team, as do all of our teams, needs you. I encourage you to wear “True Blue,” be enthusiastic, be loud and supportive, have fun, and revel in our success and tradition. But please refrain from tarnishing the essential and elemental message UCLA wishes to deliver at every level, whether at home or on the road: we are a class act.

Dan Guerrero UCLA Athletic Director