Finding commonalities between opposing parties has become a rare luxury that grows more difficult by the day. Political affiliations cause many to feud over every insignificant detail of our lives, race and culture gaps continue to grow, and mankind has become obsessed with competition, even at the expense of a unified community.
We live in an increasingly dichotomous society, and remaining truly neutral becomes an impossibility as time passes. In opposition to this unsettling trend, Brigham Young University is blazing the path to greater unity, and its mission was beautifully displayed when the Cougar football team hosted Kansas State University with its fans and alumni for a weekend football game.
“I think that it’s critical for us to be different. To have things that we do that are distinctive,” Shane Reese, President of Brigham Young University, explained in a recent Q&A focusing on how BYU’s athletic department helps spread the school’s mission. Territorial lines are constructs of division, tearing the seams between individuals.
In so many ways, sports are a caricature of intersocietal competition; exaggerated emotion is boldly displayed on every face—both participant and observer alike—with allegiances proudly declared on t-shirts, poster boards, and even face paint. Everyone involved takes a side and registers themselves as affiliates of their chosen team.
BYU doesn’t see athletics as a time to magnify our differences. Rather, they elect to compete as a tool for sharing what makes a life built upon the gospel of Jesus Christ, a life focused on restoring unity—not building up borders of disdain.
These territorial lines are constructs of division, tearing the seams between individuals who have more in common than they may allow themselves to realize. Let me be the first to admit that I’ve occasionally allowed my allegiances to plant a seed of loathing directed toward my neighbors who share differing beliefs, and my athletic fanaticism is no exception (you may have deduced that I’m a BYU fan by this point, and if so, you deserve a gold star).
I like to take a Venn Diagram test to improve my perspective. When comparing, I learn that when describing members of two allegiances—continuing with a sports analogy—I can find innumerous similarities that cause the differences to look like a drop in the pan. Take fans of bitter in-state rivals, BYU and Utah, for example.
Similarities: College sports fans and Beehive State residents, founded by Brigham Young, are passionate about their teams and members of the human race.
Differences: Blue, Red.
This is not a Harry Potter-esque “neither can live while the other survives” relationship. Unlike Lord Voldemort and the titular Harry, these foes can coexist. In truth, we are all stronger and happier together.
In line with its mission, Brigham Young University’s recent example as they hosted Kansas State University for a Saturday football game set the perfect template for how to bridge the invisible gaps that separate us. This template is a blueprint for erasing the illusion of division and replacing it with friendliness, respect, and, most of all, brothership.
In three simple steps, BYU welcomed its visitors, found commonality, and left opposing fans with a positive experience and view toward the school, its mission, and its people.
Step 1: Forget Our Differences
Our diversity makes us beautiful, but our similarities make us a family.
Many hold pre-conceived notions regarding those we don’t fully understand, but as previously discussed with the Venn Diagram test, affiliation is not the keystone of identity. Stereotypes are a barrier to unity, and to assume that you can know a person before being properly introduced is a fallacy that can only promote stronger division.
As Kansas State fans filled the visitor’s section of LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah, many noted how welcoming and friendly the BYU faithful behaved while interacting with their purple-clad guests. Of course, visiting fans are always welcome at any football stadium, but respectful behavior is not a given when emotions reach a boiling point during the heat of competition.
Simple implementation of the “Golden Rule” is key to forgetting differences, as a shift in mindset allows us to act in accordance with how we would like to be treated if we swapped places with our peers. True to form, many who made the trip to Provo have retrospectively noted a lack of negativity directed toward Kansas State as an institution, team, or fanbase.
Even Avery Johnson, K-State’s quarterback, described the environment in LaVell Edwards Stadium as peculiar. “That was probably one of the weirdest environments I’ve been a part of,” Johnson recalled after the final whistle blew. “It was like their fans were encouraging, almost. Most of the time, the fans try to heckle you or say bad things about you before the game. But all their fans were encouraging.”
Step 2: Offer an Olive Branch
BYU set the tone by taking the first step with kindness toward Kansas State supporters—many of whom were enjoying their first trip to the Provo campus.
As pre-game performances and traditions were in full swing, the Cougar marching band took the field to play for the sixty-four thousand attendees, packing tightly into the above-capacity stadium. In a shocking turn for many K-State supporters, the band turned to the visitors’ section and played the away team’s fight song, “Wildcat Victory.” While this seemed to be a small gesture for those who regularly attend BYU home games, the motion impressed and delighted the visitors. As the game continued, the visitor’s section was unexpectedly gifted complimentary BYU Creamery ice cream.
These simple offerings were a reflection of BYU’s motivation. By making an effort beyond what their peers consider “typical,” the university showed its guests that Provo is a special place.
Is Brigham Young University’s mission based on musical numbers or ice cream? The answer is no, despite what you may have been led to believe at Family Home Evening. Their mission is a bit more significant than these items alone, but spreading a message of love and understanding without first acting upon those beliefs would feel hollow.
Though they entered as enemies, the result of the football game was insignificant when the goal was to create a lasting positive impression. As one Kansas State fan noted on X, “I’m not supposed to like [BYU] right now, but they’re making it VERY difficult.”
Step 3: Part with Increased Respect
The moment that we part ways as friends does not have to be the end of a positive interaction and even this concept was perfectly enacted by the BYU fanbase. Once the final whistle blows and the players load onto their team bus, an interpersonal bridge will require intentional care and attention in the future.
BYU supporters and alumni are already paying it forward. Competition was never the most important aspect of athletics.
Johnson failed to score any touchdowns during his team’s defeat at the hands of BYU, but having learned about the opposing quarterback’s attempt to do something greater, many Cougar fans have pledged very generous donations in such a large sum that the fundraising goal quadrupled from $20,000 to $80,000 in under a week.
Competition was never the most important aspect of athletics, just as religious or political affiliation should never be about earning moral points at the expense of others. Johnson saw an opportunity to use his talents for a greater cause than what we see on the field of play, and seeing fans donate to this cause—regardless of their loyalties—leaves a lasting impression.
“We want to go on that field, and we want to be competitive, and we want to hit people as hard as we hit anyone else, right? We want to be out there really digging in and competing hard. That’s an important part for the mission of the university to shine,” Shane Reese continued on how BYU athletics funnels into the university’s greater mission. “It doesn’t shine if we’re not competitive on the football field, but it doesn’t mean we have to do it the same way everyone else does. And I love what happened last year. I saw hearts changed and at the end of the day, if we’re going to be an institution that says that we are believers in Jesus Christ and we follow Jesus Christ. It’s got to manifest itself in the classroom. It’s got to manifest itself on the football field.”
Can we forget about malice, hatred, and prejudice for a moment in favor of reinforcing the strings that tie us together? As followers of Christ and believers in a better world, we should see no excuse for actions or thoughts that are contrary to the life and example of the Savior. Period.
Though the stakes are lower in the sphere of athletics, the implications are massive if we allow ourselves to entertain division for the sake of meaningless competition. No matter the result on the field, the world will continue to spin. We can all learn from the example of the BYU football program, and use this template to establish a culture of unity on our smaller, more personal scale.
