MAWL no more

The student section is getting a new name and a makeover.

The new name will be picked through one round of student voting from these five choices:

The Green Riot

The Pack

The Zoo

The Green League

The MAWL is also on the ballot.

“It’s all about tradition, and there’s definitely an aspect of being weary about changing it after six years, but with this disconnect, we have to start somewhere,” said Tyler Brklacich, UVUSA president and enactor of the name change. “It’s time. It’s going to be a lot of work, but we want something that can connect, create tradition and inspire pride right off the bat without having to ask three questions just to understand what it is.”

The name change is part of a rebranding effort to encourage a stronger bond between students and their student section. Part of the lack of connection stemmed from confusion about what the MAWL (Mighty Athletic Wolverine League) is. Aurally, MAWL sounds like mall.

Brklacich ran into this problem often when encouraging people to join the student section.

“When you tell a student, ‘Come join the MAWL,’ it’s confusing because a lot of the time the answers are, ‘The University Mall? You want me to go to the mall?’ Legitimately – these are real conversations,” said Brklacich.

Brklacich says that the name is not fully responsible for a lack of connection. There are a lot of things that make a student section successful.

Part of the revamping is changing the benefits students receive for having memberships in the MAWL. Before this year, MAWL membership got students into games free. In January, the student government voted on having free games for students anyway.

The new benefits are still being discussed, but will likely include access to exclusive tailgating.

Brklacich hopes the refreshing of the student section will improve loyalty. Attendance has been rising over the past two years, with entering the WAC and excitement for the men’s basketball team heating up, as well as students having better access to games. The growth of the student section has been a concern of the UVUSA for years, since before it was called MAWL.

Cast a vote here.