In a normal academic year, the beginning of February marks National Marquette Day, which is the day where faculty, students and alumni alike come together to celebrate Marquette, specifically through the big men’s basketball game. This year, the official National Marquette Day will be on March 6, but many students unofficially celebrated on Feb. 6.
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Barstool Marquette, an affiliate of the Barstool sports blog, recently posted on their Instagram a caption of an article that drew attention to two Saturday games Marquette will be playing in which the official Instagram caption was “Indeed #Feb6.” Some students, like Shannon Cone, a senior in the College of Business Administration, said she has treated this weekend’s game as if it is the official day with her roommates.
“On Saturday we had a reservation and we (watched) the game at Mecca which is across from the Fiserv,” Cone said.
Cone said that she thinks National Marquette Day is the one day that everyone can come together and celebrate the same thing.
“Especially because it’s a weekend, everyone clears their schedule for it,” Cone said.
Cone talked about last year’s celebrations, saying she had people over to her apartment where they had a brunch-like thing and then they all took an Uber to the game. Cone said she remembers it was snowing outside and how pretty it was. She said she also remembers seeing the whole stadium filled up with many viewers dressed in blue and gold.
Angel Webster, a sophomore in the College of Communication, as well as a member of the cheerleading team, remembers last year’s game, especially since it was her first National Marquette Day.
“I think my favorite part was the game because it’s adrenaline … It’s incredibly exciting and it’s so much fun to watch people’s faces especially and just seeing their pure and utter love for Marquette,” Webster said.
Webster said that even though there was not a large, set celebration, she thought people would still observe the unofficial holiday.
“I think it’s a little different this year because we don’t have anything to focus in on or bring us all together … I still think people are going to celebrate but I think it’s going to be a more secluded celebration,” Webster said.
Webster said she was still unsure if she will be celebrating one of the Saturday games as National Marquette Day. Angelina Marino, a first-year in the College of Nursing, said she planned to celebrate with her roommate this past Saturday.
“Me and my roommate were just planning for this Saturday (Feb. 6) to kind of do a little National Marquette Day … we’re just going to hang out with each other and just put on our Marquette gear, maybe take a few pictures together,” Marino said.
Though Marino is a first-year, she has heard of National Marquette Day before, especially since she has an older sister who is a senior at Marquette.
“I’ve always seen in the past that she’s hung out with friends on that day and they put on their Marquette gear and go to a basketball game,” Marino said. “I just knew it was a really fun day where you got to celebrate the school.”
Marino said she knew she wanted to go to Marquette, and in coming here, she was particularly excited about National Marquette Day.
“National Marquette Day was always something that I was really excited to one day be able to experience … it was something that looked like a ton of fun and I would be really happy to be part of,” Marino said.
Marino said she thinks it is a day where Marquette students get to be proud of their school and come together to celebrate being a part of it.
This story was written by Ariana Madson. She can be reached at [email protected].
