School Spirit

Cal Poly has a healthy sense of school spirit. We have no intense rivalries to match the likes of Stanford and Berkeley, but students (especially those in technical majors) are proud of the Cal Poly name. Most have some sort of CP paraphernalia, whether it is a bumper sticker, a T-shirt, or the increasingly popular gym shorts with “CPSU” written conspicuously across the back.

However, students aren’t afraid to complain, either. If something is wrong, you can bet complaints will be heard until something is done about it. More pride is generally attached to certain majors than colleges. For example, the IT students obviously identify more with their major than the College of Business, which they come under. At the moment, they are fighting to move to the College of Agriculture.

In all, Cal Poly students feel secure in the school’s identity. Secure enough that they don’t need to make a show of “school spirit” by putting down other universities, and secure enough that they don’t feel like traitors if they make a complaint now and then. Cal Poly has enough of a reputation that going here is justification enough.