It’s common for USI students to wear T-shirts from other universities – Purdue, Indiana, Louisville, Western Kentucky and Ball State University – due to being in close proximity to so many Big 10 schools.

Student Government Association (SGA) will give students a USI shirt in exchange for their shirts from other universities beginning Monday. The swap can be made throughout the week from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. beside the temporary bookstore on the ground floor of UC East.

“When you walk across campus, you’ll see some USI (shirts), but you also see a lot of other schools,” said Sarah Krampe, current SGA president. “We want to see more USI. We think this is a way (students) can show their allegiance and passion for USI.”

The goal is to swap out all 500 shirts, but the USI shirts can also be purchased for $3.

Krampe said a main reason for students wearing other university shirts is because students support athletic teams from these schools.

“It’s important to support our athletics,” she said. “Students will say they want a football team – it’s something that is continually brought up. If we aren’t seeing the support at current athletic events, how can we know that the support will be there for our football team?”

She said several USI athletics are performing well, especially the baseball and basketball teams.

Sophomore Brooke Harmening, pitcher for USI’s softball team, pitched a no-hitter against Wisconsin-Parkside last month – and that wasn’t her first.

In 2010, the USI men’s baseball team won the national championship.

But sports do not make up the only reason students should be proud of USI.

Despite having more than 30,000 alumni, Krampe said she doesn’t see nearly as many USI license plates as she does ones from the University of Evansville.

“If you’re earning a degree from here, that should really hold something more to you than just the degree,” she said. “The name behind the degree is really important. If you go out to a job interview and say that (you) have a degree from USI, if that doesn’t mean anything to you, why should that mean anything to an employer?”

When Krampe goes to interviews, she wears her USI pin because she is proud of being from this community.

“You should feel proud of your school because collectively, if we are all doing what we can to make the USI name better, it’s going to help everyone,” she said.

Junior marketing major Zack Mathis will use the upcoming T-shirt swap to add to his collection of approximately 25 USI shirts.

“(USI is) a fantastic school and fostering more school spirit only improves our campus atmosphere,” he said. “The quality of our organizations, professors and courses is incredible.”

He said USI professors’ availability and willingness to help students can be a rarity among universities.

“They truly enjoy student life and provide many avenues to help us improve it,” Mathis said. “I love it here. Showing off your school spirit encourages a better school atmosphere and helps raise more school spirit. It’s a positive feedback cycle.”