Block O put cutouts of fans in the stands of the Shoe for the 2020-21 sports seasons. Credit: Courtesy of Block O
For every home football game at 7:45 a.m., eager Buckeyes donning scarlet and gray meet at Ohio Stadium. They spend hours laying out colored cards to create a design that will later be held up by students for the stadium and a national audience to see.
Now, that tradition has been put on hold.
Block O, the official student section for Ohio State athletics founded in 1938, is known for being the loudest and rowdiest in all of Ohio State’s arenas and stadiums, Dan Pitts, a fourth-year in operations management and logistics management and the director of the NutHouse, said. With visitors not allowed at sporting events, the group had to find a new way to connect students to Buckeye Nation.
“When we found out that we weren’t gonna be able to have any of our students sections, it was kind of taking the essential bread and butter out of our student organization, and we had to really be creative on how we want to go about this year,” Nick Wead, a third-year in economics and the president of Block O, said.
The group has held many new events this year, such as a Women in Sports panel and an Instagram Live Q&A with men’s basketball head coach Chris Holtmann, Pitts said. They also partnered with the Undergraduate Student Government, the Ohio Union Activities Board and mental health organizations on campus for “Tackling Challenges with Coach Day: Mental Health During a Pandemic,” an event held Feb. 25 where football head coach Ryan Day discussed breaking the stigma surrounding mental health and shared his own mental health struggles.
“We’re doing things that we’ve never really done in the past,” Pitts said. “We’re trying to branch out and become more than just a sports section.”
Wead said the group, which was voted best student org by Lantern readers this year, had two goals for the year: to establish a sense of community and uphold traditions. Specifically, he said they are working to make sure that the next generation of Block O members will be invested in the organization.
This year, Block O implemented mentorship groups, Wead said. With each member of the board heading a group of eight to nine freshmen or new members, Yusty Sanchez, a third-year in new media and technology communication and football director for Block O, said this new opportunity aims to give freshmen a sense of normalcy this year.
“We made a really big emphasis on the quality of life with students and just being there for everyone,” Sanchez said. “I think the most difficult part of this pandemic is, especially for the freshmen, they don’t really have an understanding of what Ohio State is like in a normal year.”
Gretchen Rudolph, a fourth-year in Spanish and communication, said she joined one of the groups as a senior because she wanted to make new friends.
“I think that that’s been helpful not just for freshmen but for transfer students or people just trying to get involved or even me as a senior that’s been involved, and I think it’s fun to make friends,” Rudolph said.
In such an abnormal year, Wead said the organization has seen unwavering participation.
Pitts said he normally receives about 12 applications to be on the NutHouse committee –– members who set up pregame and clean up after, assist in administrative duties and boost overall morale during basketball games. This year, he received about 25 applications.
The group was able to continue some traditions, such as their card stunts which began with the club’s founding in 1938. Sanchez said at the beginning of the year he had members submit photos of themselves, which were later compiled to make a larger picture of the stadium for a virtual card stunt. When the university allowed student organizations to meet in-person with groups of 10 or fewer Sept. 23, 2020, the card stunt tradition was able to revert back to in person.
Rudolph said they designed the stunts during the week and on the Friday before every home game, groups of 10 members would go to the stadium, count all the cards and tape them down in place. On Monday, they would go back to the stadium to take down the stunt and get ready to start the process all over again.
However, they were restricted from setting up stunts Nov. 12, 2020, when the university prohibited student organizations from meeting in-person altogether. Rudolph said she was upset she would no longer be able to go into Ohio Stadium and get that taste of normalcy.
After graduation, Rudolph said she will continue to attend as many sporting events as possible, but it won’t be the same.
“I’ll miss kind of like that special insider thing,” Rudolph said. “It’s kind of like that more intimate connection with the team you’re not going to get just as like a general fan.”
Pitts, a two-time director of the NutHouse, said it hurt not being able to lead the student section during his senior year. Yet, the sense of community built through Block O is enough to make up for the lack of sports, Pitts said.
“I’ve met some of my best friends here at Ohio State through the NutHouse specifically. So leaving those people will be tough, but I know that I’ll be friends with them for a very long time,” Pitts said. “Block O’s a great time.”
Editor’s note: Gretchen Rudolph has previously freelanced as a photographer with The Lantern.
