You’ve all heard the jokes about UBC and SFU. I know you have — they’re written all over every bathroom stall in the school. Here’s my personal favourite: “What do SFU and UBC undergrads have in common? They both applied to UBC.”
There are hundreds more just like it. Some portray UBC kids as snooty and self-centered; others take SFU’s history as a liberal arts stronghold as evidence of our status as dirty, unkempt hippies. Since my first day at SFU, I learned to furrow my brow and shake my head disapprovingly at any mention of UBC. It’s like an initiation ritual.
“I think having a rivalry with SFU is part of our identity as a campus community. Every institution needs their rivals, right?” – Thea Rodgers, UBC Student
The competitive spirit between the two schools goes far beyond the undergraduate community. Our sports teams — particularly the Clan and UBC’s Thunderbirds — have a rivalry whose roots are deeper than most. Look no further than the Shrum Bowl, a yearly showdown pitting the two against each other for a trophy, not to mention bragging rights. It’s been held on and off for 33 years, with SFU leading UBC 17–15–1.
Business majors will also be familiar with the rivalry between Beedie School of Business and UBC’s Sauder School. Barbs are often traded over which school is “better,” and a quick search on Google will turn up endless forum disputes on the subject. (I read these things so you don’t have to. Seriously, who posts in those threads?)
The Peak has even gotten in on the fun, sparking a friendly competition with UBC’s student paper, The Ubyssey. Our two papers may or may not have participated in a dance competition at a journalism conference earlier this year.
“I think there is an anti-SFU sentiment that persists, maybe even for students who have never even been to SFU before,” says Thea Rodgers, a UBC undergrad. “I think having a rivalry with SFU is part of our identity as a campus community. Every institution needs their rivals, right?”
But what’s behind this rivalry? Is it really based on a belief that either school is inferior, or is it just a product of our proximity and our comparable status among Canada’s top schools?
Most likely, a little bit of both. I’ve had my fair share of arguments with fellow SFU students who genuinely believe every single UBC stereotype there is — that they’re all rich pricks, that the teachers are snooty and inaccessible, that the campus is full of sexist dudebros who throw biweekly keggers and spout rape culture slogans. (Okay, that did happen that one time.)
It’s baffling to me that people can fall hook, line, and sinker for these kinds of generalizations. Really? Everybody at UBC is like that? I don’t buy it.
I’m not trying to say that a little scholarly competition is a bad thing. Hey, if it gets us working harder and helps us muster up a little school spirit, what’s the harm? But there’s something a little disconcerting about dismissing an entire university’s worth of students, teachers, and faculty because of a “traditional” rivalry.
Out of all the people who actively dislike UBC or SFU, what good reason do you have? Have you actually taken classes there, or met more than a handful of people who go there?
Yeah, I didn’t think so.
Truth is, most of the hostility between our two schools is left over from people who’ve long since graduated, passed down from generation to generation until we’re not even sure why we hate each other anymore. But we keep butting heads, pretty much just for the sake of butting heads. No small part of it is jealousy, I’m sure: no one likes to think that they chose the wrong university, or that their school is worse than the one just 30 kilometres away.
Now, I’m not going to lie. It’s hard to deny that glimmer of happiness, and subsequent pang of guilt, I feel whenever SFU beats UBC at something. Maybe it’s irrational — like when a friend gets passed over for a promotion, or when you beat your significant other at a video game.
But as much as no one on either side of this feud would like to admit it, both schools ultimately have their ups and downs. There are good reasons to go to both, and barring some gigantic change in the next decade or so, there always will be.
University is ultimately what you make it, and you’re bound to get a wide range of opinions from people who go to both schools. When I applied for SFU, I was told there would be no community, and yet I’ve met some of the best friends I’ve ever had at The Peak, one of the closest knit communities I know of at any university.
UBC may claim to have more prestige — they do tend to place higher than us in most university rankings — but it’s not about that, at least not entirely. It’s about what you do to make your university experience the best it can possibly be, no matter where you’re studying.
So, in light of all this, I’m extending the olive branch: why can’t we all just get along, guys? Can’t we unite over some common enemy — say, Quebec, or Ontario? As far as I’m concerned, a house divided cannot stand. UBC and SFU should team up. What’s standing in our way? A dusty old history of half-hearted insults and a football rivalry? Together, we can make the West a force to be reckoned with.
