“At my first basketball game, I was like, ‘there’s no student section,’” said Erik Austin, president of the Rowdy Raiders.
“And then we decided to do something about it,” said Lucio D. Lombardo, vice president of the Rowdy Raiders.
Last year’s basketball game against NKU ended up being the organization’s starting point. Lombardo came up with the marketing scheme, which led to Athletic Director Bob Grant giving them his phone number.
As a whole, their main goal is building rapport with the students. They work with the athletic department to develop an atmosphere people want to be involved in.
As of now, there are 13 members on paper, but according to Austin, “whoever shows up is a Rowdy Raider; everyone is included and everyone can be involved.”
So, what exactly do they do? They promote upcoming games on their social media pages, like Instagram and Twitter, and attend off-campus games. Once they’re there, they help start chants, pass out banners and try to energize the crowd.
“Honestly, if you see one person in the crowd start dancing, everyone else will eventually start dancing,” said Austin. “It’s infectious, what we’re doing on campus, and that’s what I love.”
Recently, they have decided to get involved in games other than basketball.
“We showed up at our first women’s game some time ago,” added Lombardo.
Everything the organization does is geared towards getting students more involved in campus life.
“There’s a divide on campus between commuters and non-commuters, and we’re trying to pull those commuters in,” said Austin. “There are so many organizations on campus and there’s people that just go to class and then they go home.”
Lombardo and Austin both wish students would be more involved on campus.
Overall, Rowdy Raiders is aimed towards helping other students create bonds while raising school spirit.
