Kerfuffle in the Kennel: After Gonzaga responds to allegations of hazing, student fans are divided on electricity of Kennel Club

For four decades, Gonzaga University’s Kennel Club has had one goal for each and every home game: be loud.

And since 1984, the electric fans that make up the university’s largest student -run club have done exactly that. Booming chants. Swaying masses, rocking the bleachers back and forth. The energy of 1,200 Bulldog backers has stayed consistent, starting with a 1980s era marred by mediocrity, to cinderella runs in the 90s and to today, where the Zags are a perennial hoops power.

Jay Hillock, Zags coach between 1981 and ’85, once said the Kennel Club accounts for an extra six to eight points per game for the Bulldogs.

But some in the electrifying frenzy of students believe the wild delirium of the Kennel is a bit muffled after the university took “corrective action” against some Kennel members earlier in the season due to student conduct violations.

Some undergraduates are saying nothing has changed, while others approached at the team’s last home game of the season seemed sworn to secrecy.

Dan Nailen, the assistant director of media relations for Gonzaga, issued a statement from the university in early February detailing how the Kennel Club was “found responsible for hazing and alcohol policy violations.”

“The University investigated and appropriate corrective action is being taken under the Student Code of Conduct,” Nailen said in a written statement.

But who and how many people were punished , what happened and how the potential absence of certain students will affect the Kennel Club’s final trip to Vegas for the West Coast Conference Tournament remains a mystery.

Sophomore Cade Spencer said he doesn’t noticea drop -off in Kennel energy every game.

Fellow sophomore, Colin Korver, the cousin of retired 17-year NBA pro Kyle Korver, said the lack of enthusiasm in the Kennel goes beyond the students punished for hazing.

“Maybe it’s attributed to Clash Royale,” Korver said, referencing the mobile strategy game with close to 40 million monthly players. “Because everyone’s on their phone or something or scrolling, and they’re sitting down when they’re not supposed to. It’s definitely unnerving to have to get people to stand up when there’s a game happening.”

Spectators at the Zags’ final home game of the season on Feb. 25 against the Portland Pilots might not have noticed much change. There was still a mass of jubilant, gyrating fans. There were still coordinated chants and cheers. Above all else, there was noise. Lots and lots of noise. So what’s different?

According to five students, including Spencer, Korver and Korver’s sister, Liana, the issue is with the lack of organization within the student club. Four out of the five of them were planning to go to Las Vegas for the WCC tournament where Gonzaga will play Monday evening. As for the hazing “incident,” they claim the university is sweeping the details under the rug.

“I kind of understand that,” said Kristian Rorvik, a senior at Gonzaga. “But at the same time, I think that collectively, the student body has noticed there’s been a change, but they will not tell us.”

Others disagree completely. When Kennedy Child was asked if the Kennel Club’s energy had dissipated, a student passing by yelled, “Hell no, and you can quote me on that,” before disappearing into a crowd.

Child, a senior at Gonzaga, said she feels their cheers aren’t as coordinated as usual. Tickets for the WCC Tournament usually are given out in January, but this year, they weren’t distributed until February. She called the energy level in the Kennel similar to most years, but not quite normal.

Kenny McKerlick, who graduated from Gonzaga in 2008, attended the Portland game late last month. Faced across the arena from the roaring Kennel Club, he said the front row isn’t quite what it used to be and that the corners of the Kennel used to be just as rambunctious as the middle.

Usually to start the season, the Kennel is very excitable, he said, but the crowd thins out a bit as the season progresses. Even with a little less people, he said the fan enthusiasm seems equivalent to most years.

Bob Weisbeck and Bill Vauvel graduated from Gonzaga in 1981. Vauvel, who lives in Texas and goes to games at the University of Texas, said the energy in the Kennel is way better than it is in Texas’ student section.

“It goes in waves,” Weisbeck said, in reference to the Kennel’s energy. But he noted the energy was much better at the Portland game, which doubled as senior night, than it was at the previous home game against Pacific.

Adorned in red, white and blue overalls, freshman Connor Hitchcock saw senior night as roughly equivalent to the Nov. 11 game against Creighton. He rated the energy level on Feb. 25’s matchup against the Pilots a 9.5 out of 10.

Patrick Link, a sophomore at Gonzaga, said the Kennel was normal, but maybe slightly quieter than normal for senior night.

“It’s usually so electric you can’t hear the person next to you,” he said.

It seems like every Zags fan you ask, whether they’re a senior or a freshman, has different thoughts on the current state of the Kennel.

For the Korver siblings and Rorvik, much of the burden of uplifting the Kennel Club rests on the shoulders of the senior class. They feel as if their class is the sole reason why energy still resonates in the McCarthey arena, even when many students may be electing to play Clash Royale instead.

“I feel like it’s easier to leave early when there’s no hype,” Irvine said. “And the Kennel Club was, like, hyping people up, but more efficiently last year, and keeping people around better for longer.”