The olds defending the students give of serious “greetings fellow obscenity chanters” Steve Buscemi meme vibes.
I’m very much with MIR. It’s okay to acknowledge that chanting eff at BSFS during the wabash is objectively crass behavior. And the admin (predictably) doing what they can to stop it isn’t unreasonable.
I’m certain that you understand that the “administration acknowledging” and the band leader publicly threatening to take away the wabash cannonball are two very different ends of the spectrum of response.
And while the administration’s attempts to “do what they can to stop it” are futile, I suppose it is important to some people for them to give the impression that they are not helpless (they are). I simply disagree that a merely symbolic gesture does any good, and firmly believe that it creates more of the same behavior they are attempting to eliminate.
So which is it? Is the administration helpless or tyrannical? If they stop playing wabash, they're tyrants. If they ask nicely, they're helpless. What are they supposed to do?
And not for nothing, this isn't a uniquely K-State thing. As much as the criticizers wish that they could point to this as an example of "k-state overreacting to protect their delicate sensibilities," this same episode happened at LSU with Neck (which doesn't get played anymore because the crowd ruined it). I imagine most universities/ADs would view this as a problem and consider stop playing the song as a last resort, just as K-State is doing. "Doing nothing" which, as far as I can tell, they've been doing for the last several years, obviously hasn't worked.
I don't think it's a given that the students will chant eff ku no matter what, given that this is a relatively new phenomenon. And if they do get the Wabash canceled and Wildcat Victory canceled and the Alma Mater canceled, well I think that would be pretty sad for a few reasons.
Bottom line is this, imo: the students chanting eff KU to the Wabash is a problem. The immediate solution is "ok that song doesn't get played anymore." It's pretty clear that if students don't like that solution, then they should solve the problem by reserving the chant to the appropriate times.