One would have to be nearly blind to not have seen the new and widely popular black or white Hill Crew t-shirts around campus. Many Gusties may be asking themselves, “What is The Hill Crew?”
Now at approximately 600 members and counting, The Hill Crew is a new Gustavus fan incentive program on campus. Junior Brady Kelley and Senior Casey Lindquist began the planning process for this new student program last fall.

The Hill Crew’s purpose is to create a friendly, sportsmanlike environment at all Gustavus sporting events.

“We are trying to get more fans at all sporting events, not just the main ones, like Football or Hockey. We want to turn the atmosphere of all Gustavus sporting events into a place that people want to be on campus. We want to make sports the thing to do around here, even if you don’t necessarily know what’s going on in the game,” Kelley said.

The Hill Crew has an eight person board, consisting of all Gustavus students and one administrative leader. The leader of the board is Assistant Volleyball coach Cassie Weaver.

“I was brought on to the athletics staff last year to be the assistant volleyball coach and to create a fan-incentive program here at Gustavus. I spent the majority of last year researching and learning about fan-incentive programs and what types of promotions have been successful at other colleges. This summer has been mostly organizing all of the promotions and activities that we are going to implement this fall and the remainder of the year,” Weaver said.

Weaver hopes that the organization will help separate Gustavus athletics from the rest of the MIAC and potentially all of the Division III playing field.

“My hope is to not only see members of The Hill Crew at athletic contests, but be involved by cheering and creating a super loud and crazy fun fan section” said Weaver.

The Hill Crew has been tabling to recruit members outside of the cafeteria and also at sporting events in the recent weeks.

To join The Hill Crew, there is a fee of $10. When a new member joins, they are handed two Hill Crew t-shirts and a bracelet. Members of The Hill Crew can also enter drawings and contests at Gustavus sporting events.

“If you are part of The Hill Crew, you will be able to write your name in the drawings for the giveaways and games at halftime to be able to win a sweet prize,” Kelley said.

Along with these great incentives comes a responsibility to display good sportsmanship at all sporting events.

“We are trying to get more fans at all sporting events, not just the main ones. We want to turn the atmosphere of all Gustavus sporting events into a place that people want to be on campus.”
—Brady Kelley

“We are trying to promote better sportsmanship around school and at games. We want to cheer on our team, not demoralize other teams” Kelley said.

Any Gustavus student can join The Hill Crew. Many students join for a multitude of different reasons.

“I joined because it seemed like an active way to become even more involved in the community here on campus” Sophomore Sabrina Repke said.

With there being two different colored shirts, color coordination for certain events is sent out via social media, as well as word of mouth around campus.

“On our Facebook page, we’ll put down whether we’re wearing white one night or black the other night. We actually have a Twitter and Instagram to follow now, too,” Kelley said.

T-shirts were actually sold out within three days of tabling outside of the cafeteria. “Our goal was to sell 300 out of the 500 shirts we ordered, and we SOLD OUT within 3 days,” Weaver said.
More have been ordered and are set to be in soon.

This new and fun organization made for Gusties by Gusties is only going to get bigger and better. Whether or not you love sports, The Hill Crew is definitely for you.