Yes, BU has School Spirit

Photo: Quinn Bryant

A Reflection on The Beanpot 

by Simone DiNota

BU is known for a lot of things: its prime location, its award-winning professors, its plethora of majors and academic programs. School spirit isn’t one of them. 

School spirit evokes visions of colossal football stadiums and game days that take up entire Saturdays and Instagram posts. Though BU hasn’t had a football team since 1997, students show up for hockey in a way that speaks to BU’s distinct vibe. 

Not every hockey game draws a large crowd. Without any extravagant game day festivities to prepare for, students pick and choose the best matches to attend. The Beanpot is the exception.

Every year, on two fateful Monday evenings, students from BU, BC, Northeastern, and Harvard make the trip to TD Garden to watch their teams compete against one another for the ultimate prize of bragging rights. 

I recently attended the 2026 Beanpot semifinal, where BU beat Northeastern in a nail-bitingly close game. As I watched BU bounce back from Northeastern’s 1-0 lead in the first period, I looked around at the sea of bright red sweatshirts and noticed just how packed the stands were. By the second period, everyone had committed to the game, and not a single student was sitting down. 

BU’s Pep Band, which plays at hockey games, basketball games, and community events, brought an unmatched energy. Leading us in fan favorite songs and musical chants, Pep Band kept everybody cheering along, even when the score didn’t look promising. 

Willem Schiener (COM ‘28), a trumpet player in Pep Band, reflected on his experience with being a force for school spirit at BU. 

“I feel if you can’t show some pride in your university, then maybe you made the wrong choice of school,” he said. “I largely have found school spirit with the pep band, as they bleed scarlet and white.” 

When Cole Hutson scored the winning goal in overtime, the stands erupted, the BU flags went flying, and the Pep Band burst into song. Maybe BU doesn’t have football, but it does have this: rarer, sweeter moments, where students leave campus and their busy schedules on a random Monday for a game that could go any which way.

The BU hockey team may not have carried the final a week later, but BU hockey fans certainly carried the student section.