BOSTON -- Boston University fans had better watch their language.
Under a new campus policy, anyone caught swearing or taunting the opposing players with racist or sexist chants during games face ejection, and repeated offenders could even be banned.
Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore said the new rule followed a stream of complaints about students' behavior at hockey games, particularly their swearing. Even NCAA hockey officials, who have probably heard it all in their jobs, have complained, he said.
"We wanted to make clear that games should be spirited and lively," Elmore said Monday. "But standing and shouting obscenities does not have a place. I don't equate school spirit with the yelling of obscenities."
Elmore said stadium ushers would enforce the policy.
The policy is based on similar rules at other schools, including the University of Wisconsin and Ohio State University, said Boston University spokesman Stephen Burgay. He said a lawyer examined the policy and determined it would not violate the First Amendment.
Some students weren't ready to believe it.
"That's terrible and an infringement on our freedom of speech," Kendall Lyons, an 18-year-old sophomore who said he often takes part in the chants, told The Boston Globe. "Sports won't be fun anymore."
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
