The College Fix

UPDATED

One of most hostile college football rivalries in the nation just got a little bit … nicer.

The University of Nevada-Reno will not let students wear “FUNLV” T-shirts to the “Battle for Nevada” game against the University of Nevada-Las Vegas on Saturday in Reno.

FUNLV stands for f*ck UNLV, and students wearing the shirt – a staple at previous games – won’t be allowed into the stadium unless they turn the shirt inside out, a campus official told The College Fix on Thursday.

“There is language on the back of the tickets that states ‘management reserves the right to refuse admission or to eject any person whose conduct is deemed disorderly, illegal, obnoxious or offensive,'” a UNR official explained in an email.

(UPDATE: On Friday, after the story published, UNR campus officials contacted The College Fix to revise their original statement regarding the controversial T-shirts, saying: “The University of Nevada, Reno and Intercollegiate Athletics would like to address the FUNLV and FUNR T-Shirts. As protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, the shirts are a freedom of expression. Fans wearing the shirt will be allowed into the game. All fans are encouraged to make tasteful choices and exhibit good sportsmanship.”)

The T-shirt brouhaha comes as student and administrative leaders at both schools push for a kinder, gentler rivalry between the two universities instead of the heated one that has dominated the silver state for decades.

“The day of the Nevada Wolf Pack-UNLV Rebels game is like a holiday to the students of the state of Nevada,” reports SB Nation. “Nevada students wearing blue FUNLV shirts and UNLV students wearing red FUNR shirts. Nevada views UNLV as the annoying red headed step child of the state, while UNLV views Nevada as northern hilljacks from an uncultured part of the state.”

As recently as August there was excitement over the shirts.

“The beginning of the year is … the perfect time to sport our favorite ‘FUNLV’ graphic tees,” wrote student Ali Schultz in a UNR Sagebrush campus newspaper op-ed.

Examples pictured on a FUNLV Facebook page include T-shirts that say: “FUNLV – Making the Rebels our bitch since 1969” and “Here comes your 6th year of a beatdown.”

At one point the UNR student government did print and sell the shirts, but that stopped six years ago, and in its place came a push for a more sportsmanlike rivalry, according to a campus official.

The FUNLV Facebook page has not been active since 2012 and the online funlvstore.com is defunct.

“No one is making FUNLV T-shirts this year,” reports the Reno Gazette Journal, adding the universities are instead pushing “a positive fan experience on social media using the hashtag #WeAreNevadans.”

The presidents of the respective universities, as well as the student body presidents, filmed public service announcements calling on students to “keep the fight on the field.” The videos are being pushed out through social media.

“We are encouraging elected officials and local media to help spread this messaging out in the community,” a UNR campus official told The Fix, adding the student government also printed alternative, and less vulgar, T-Shirts for students to don.

Even UNR football coach Brian Polian has chimed in.

“I don’t need the FUNLV T-shirts and those chants and that stuff,” Polian told Reno Gazette-Journal. “We have to be a family atmosphere. People ought to be able to bring their kids to the game.”

In an email Saturday to The College Fix, UNR student Ali Schultz said she does not agree with the crackdown on the FUNLV shirts.

“In all honesty I think it is ridiculous,” she said. “It is reminiscent of highschool dress code. As a native Las Vegan I have many friends that go to UNLV that come up every year for the game. They are excited for the rivalry and so are we. Some UNR students would agree that this is the best time of the year.”

“Banning T shirts isn’t going to end fights at the games or trash talking, it is only going to take away from the fun rivalry we all as students look forward to every year.”

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