April 9, 2024
Imagine the roaring cheers of the crowd, the stadium flooded with its school colors, the stands full of energy, with students connecting and sharing the excitement of the game.
That’s what the Big South Basketball Championship brought to the students and community of High Point, North Carolina.
High Point University hosted the 2024 Hercules Tires Big South Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championship game in the Nido and Mariana Qubein Arena from March 6 to the 10. This is the first time High Point University has hosted the combined tournament and the sixth time overall for the championship to be held in North Carolina, according to Big South Sports.
This was an exciting event for the university, and beyond the game, brought many other positive impacts to the campus and our community. Sports have the power to bring people together. No matter if you were on the team, a supportive friend, or a long-distance family member. For those two hours you spent cheering and supporting your team, you became bonded with everyone on the court.
For college students, this sense of belonging and positive atmosphere makes all the difference in their education. A 2023 social analysis by the University of Washington stated that prioritizing your friendships and social life is imperative for college student's personal and professional success. One of the easiest ways for students of all different backgrounds to socialize is at sporting events.
HPU Athletic Director Dan Hauser supports this by stating, “Sports has an amazing ability to engage lots of constituents. There are not a lot of things that bring so many different people together, whether that be students and alumni or the community.”
College campuses and communities have the unique advantage of bringing people together who come from many different areas. The Student Experience Team at HPU confirms this by stating that roughly two-thirds of the student body are not from the North Carolina area with many traveling over 500 miles to the university. With a variety of students and families coming from all different backgrounds, the need for events and engagement is crucial.
This need for engagement on college campuses was supported by a study conducted by The Ohio State University Office of Student Life. They found that involvement in college matters. It doesn’t matter how big or small, by simply going out and being a part of campus life, they found that students feel much more connected and less likely to experience feelings of depression and loneliness.
Student retention and feelings of belonging are some of the biggest issues that higher education institutions face. Campus events help promote this feeling of belonging and allow for a more intricately connected study body. More recent studies by the Review of Business Discipline found that these events continue to demonstrate that participation in campus activities encourages student retention and personal growth. Thus, helping to build stronger relationships and attachments between the student and the school.
“Sports enables you to truly care about your university in a unique way. And that spirit is born in you during your four years here as a student,” says Hauser.
After the opening of the Nido and Mariana Qubein Arena in 2021, the excitement about HPU’s basketball teams soared. To celebrate and bring people together, students within Greek Life and the Campus Activities Team started hosting tailgates for the games.
These events have drawn more people onto campus and given students a place to bond. These tailgates also gave students the space to mingle and ramp up their school spirit before the game, allowing for the student section to continuously erupt with cheer.
“I feel that by bringing sporting events to our campus we are increasing the pride HPU students positively hold in their school. With strong athletic teams on campus, students can attend spirited athletic events and proudly cheer on the team they represent,” says Vice President of Campus Engagement, Caitlin Black.
With the growth of HPU’s athletic teams and students bringing heightened levels of excitement, there is no doubt that the energy we saw from the crowd at the Big South Championship will carry on throughout the year.
So the next time there's a game, don’t hesitate to put your purple on and bring your school spirit to the Qubein Arena. It’s good for HPU and your mental health too!