The UAAP board just announced few major changes for this year’s season. Though a lot of people are looking forward to see Momoland and other celebrities in their 81st season’s opening, the game changer was their decision to limit the teams’ drum squad. They have decided that five bass drums are now down to 1 and the three snare drums down to two or one. According to the tweet of Team Ateneo OBF, UAAP officials found the drums to be too loud and noisy. But students and alumni who aim to protect UAAP culture are not taking the matter sitting down.

Us, on the other hand, are just dumbfounded. Drums are supposed to be loud in the first place. What do they hope to accomplish with this new rule?

We might be confused, but UAAP fans are furious. The new rule sparked an uproar within social media accounts of not only supporters of the drum squads, but also the official UAAP drummers page as well. #StandWithTheUAAPDrummers was the single post that the UAAP Drummers page made about the matter. That single hashtag from the drummers’ page started an influx of tweets and posts from fans of UAAP showing their support for the unsung heroes of the local varsity culture.

All of them rally behind the drummers by reasoning out that there is no UAAP without them. And they’re right. The drummers are at par with the athletes that everyone are cheering for. UAAP drummers undergo intense training and even go so far as performing’till they literally bleed out. We cheer for athletes, but the crowd’s roar is because of the pep team and the drummers’ energy. Here are some posts and tweets from UAAP fans that are upset about the boards’ decision:

https://twitter.com/clarissetongson/status/1033667863607799809

momoland and other celebrities are opening for the season meanwhile the drummers are just being disregarded at this point this 1 snare 2 bass policy is bullshit. hindi na nga nabibigyan ng enough acknowledgement yung drumming community ineechapwera pa #StandWithTheUAAPDrummers

— wary (@warysanchhh) August 26, 2018

UAAP Culture is rooting for your school with so much pride and honor by shouting your loudest cheers along with the crowd, pep, and drummers. UAAP hype wont be the same if you’ll take away the excitement of every game brought by the drums and cheers. #StandWithTheUAAPDrummers

— Jeff Canda (@jeffjerardcanda) August 26, 2018

What confused and infuriated fans the most was the boards’ reasoning. It was simple, but it was also stupid beyond all belief. Drums are supposed to be loud. And while we’re at it, aren’t UAAP games supposed to be loud too? It’s not a lecture hall, it’s to show school spirit which is the main point of these games in the first place. This isn’t a solid reason at all to irradicate the squad’s numbers. They are an important part of the UAAP culture. That’s supposed to be the main focus of the board.

The UAAP board hasn’t made any further comments on this major decision. But until then, fans of the varsity games are shouting their concerns as loud as they can, just like how the drummers empowered them too during the games. All of this in order to protect that sanctity of school spirit and a damn good university game.

Photo from Inquirer.net

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