by The term “Science” has become an increasingly broad term with many diverse interpretations. Today, there seem to be many different fields that can be defined as science. The largest disparity in these fields of science, according to C.P. Snow is the difference between the “physical” or “natural” science that has a basis in experimentation, such as physics and chemistry, and on the “other pole” are literary intellectuals and sciences such as the humanities. He describes the difference in these cultures as at odds, trying to undermine each other, but are undoubtedly two sides of the same coin. While literary and natural sciences are two of the most obviously clashing groups under that larger concept, there still exists many sub-groups and cultures within the realm of sciences such as the social sciences like Sociology, Archeology and History that, depending on the media through which they are studied, could fall into either category.
At Colby, the most obvious example of a difference between two cultures is the divide between non-athletes and athletes. While the divide between these two groups is immense in itself, I would like to explore the difference in culture between different athletic teams themselves, almost like the social sciences of Colby athletics, specifically the Lacrosse team and Football team. As a member of both, I think that I have a unique perspective at the disparity between the two and the factors that play into such differences. To begin this analysis, I think it is important to delve a little deeper into the history of each sport, specifically Lacrosse and Football’s demographics, in order to better understand the basis for each respective culture on campus.
To start, Lacrosse has traditionally been seen as a sport for higher socioeconomic individuals. In the development of the sport, wealthy white individuals came to dominate the demographics of it, and soon the game would become synonymous with wealthy white North-Eastearn American culture, specifically the fraternity nature of it. Although the sport is beginning to become more diverse, there is still an apparent racial gap. Thus, relating back to Colby, the team culture does in some ways embody this “brotherhood” personality by being a little more exclusive than other teams with also many of the team members hailing from wealthier families. The Lacrosse team also supposedly has a reputation of arrogance on campus. This may be a reason for why a common response to “I am on the Lacrosse team” is a disappointing and condescending “Oh”. As one of the non-white members of the team, I think that I am able to notice the nuances a bit more than my white counterparts and how the historical demographics of the sport may play a part in the team culture here. Nevertheless, the closeness of the culture along with the size of the team does have much appeal. The members of the team are quite close and this also allows for a large network of alumni connections. Much of the members of the team are very similar, not only in the same interest of Lacrosse, but also personality, and I think this gives a deeper connection and chemistry between members of the team that many other teams lack. To summarize the culture of Lacrosse, I think I would describe it as a close knit community of individuals that are determined yet down-to-earth.
The Football team at Colby does have a different culture with many different undertones. The history of the sport does have some influence in this as well. Football is much more widespread due to its popularity and integration into American culture. Thus, the demographics of the members of the football team are much more diverse, and in turn, the culture is a little harder to define. What I have experienced is that the physicality of the game as well as the type of school that Colby is does attract a specific type of student-athlete; one that has a high intensity personality on and off the field. This has its pros and cons. On Football field, this is obviously a good thing, but it is often the case that this intensity cannot be turned off like a light switch. This intensity, sometimes filled with high testosterone and high levels of masculinity that are required on the field do make their way into the culture off the field. Nevertheless, with the plethora of other personalities and backgrounds from which people come from on the team, this is just a smaller percentage of the culture itself, and at a school like Colby, the people are inherently welcoming. Yet, in comparison to the Lacrosse team, I would say that team isn’t as close. I think this is in large part due to the large size of the team, which causes there to be more separation between grades and thus friend groups. But where this may hurt team chemistry, the size of the team allows the team to have many more connections within the Colby community. Community service has always been a large part of the Colby football culture, and football culture in general. With the sports overall popularity, the Colby Football team is seen as almost a leader within the community due to its widespread connections allowed by the large team as well, and this sense of leadership and selflessness has a large impact on the Culture on campus as well.
Colby has a numerous amount of cultures involved within its community, making its identity hard to define. There is an apparent disparity between the non-athlete and athletic culture at Colby, but there is also a significant divide between team cultures, specifically Lacrosse and Football.