School Spirit

Because it's a commuter campus, the U doesn't have a great deal of school pride. But for those involved with on-campus organizations, the pride swells dramatically. If you see people wearing U of U paraphernalia (hats, shirts, and the like), chances are they were given it for being a student senator or something. But this is typical of the state-school experience. Because of the U's rivalry with BYU, which is owned by the LDS Church, many non-Mormons on campus equate pro-U sentiment with anti-Mormonism, and by the same token, many Mormon U students actually feel greater association with BYU than their own school. But you usually only see this the week preceding the BYU-Utah football game.