The Dawg Pound is the RSO defined as the leaders of the student section at SIU athletic events. They lead all of the cheers during games, even though they usually follow the direction of the Marching Salukis at basketball games. What often goes overlooked about the Dawg Pound Executive Board is the amount of hard work and dedication that goes on behind the cheers, which I followed around for a month during the spring semester for School of Journalism instructor Julia Rendleman’s Advanced Photojournalism class.

According to Corey Crombar, the president of the Dawg Pound, the board’s schedule leading up to Saluki athletic events depends on the type of week that is ahead. He said that their schedules mainly consist of classes, office hours, weekly meetings in a designated room in the Office of Student Engagement and coordinating with the Office of Student Engagement to discuss upcoming events. The board also handles prop-making, which primarily takes place during football season and the beginning of basketball season.

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One main struggle that the board deals with is that some game days have great turnouts while others have many empty seats, particularly weekday athletic events. 

“Every now and then, you’ll get a really good turnout, but getting the students engaged is the hardest part,” said Dawg Pound President Corey Crombar.

Another struggle the board faces is generating new ideas after many are already in place. Dawg Pound Chief of Operations Zuzanna Gaik said that the biggest struggle for her is coming up with new ideas on the spot. “All of us have so many great ideas, and we sometimes clash heads,” said Gaik.

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Much of the Dawg Pound Executive Board consists of either freshmen or sophomores. Dawg Pound Vice President of Game Day Operations Katy Bernard did not let her freshman status stop her from joining the board this past January. She said being on the board as a freshman was a welcome surprise. “I was on a spirit group similar in high school called the Bell Group, and I was the captain, so I wanted to do something similar at SIU,” Bernard said.

At their stations in the student section and in certain areas of the student section as a whole, cheers tend to be carried too far at times during games. Some cheers approach the red line between rivalry and antagonism that has sometimes led teams to exchange words and, on some occasions, to more physical situations. But in recent years, the Dawg Pound board has taken it upon itself to help address that issue.

“Our board and our committee have been looking out for vulgar language or anything that could be considered too far. I’ve been very stern with them and very firm in my belief that we should not be going too far,” Crombar said.

“We try to explain to our board and our committee what they can and can’t say,” Gaik said. “You know, they’re in public and there’s children around, but if it’s anyone outside of us, we try to tell them to watch their language.”

Crombar said that being on the Dawg Pound Executive Board has ups and downs, but it is a fun experience overall.

A personal note for the Dawg Pound Executive Board: Thank you, Dawg Pound Executive Board for helping me with my photojournalism class and for all that you do for the club, the university and the community of Carbondale! The Saluki Nation appreciates all of you!

Staff Reporter Jason Isele can be reached at [email protected] or on Instagram @iselephotography

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