During the home boys basketball game against Heights on Jan. 10, members of the Panthers’ student section were kicked out due to inappropriate comments.

The student section is no longer allowed to do the chants that they had done previously.

Sophomore Morgan McComas was shocked by the news.

“It’s all about school spirit,” McComas said. “Without the student section who is going to cheer for the basketball players?”

What most fans might not know is that the Kansas State High School Activities Association (KSHSAA)  has a rule that regulates fan behavior.

“As a member school, we are asked to support that and enforce those rules. They’re very specific. The chant, ‘Airball! Airball!’ — you can’t do it,” principal Tim Hamblin said.

Although some things in this rule may seem minor it is still the administration’s job to make sure that these rules are followed.

“You’ve got society over here saying, ‘that’s not that big of a deal’, but you’ve got a rule that says you can’t do it,” Hamblin said. You also have an administrator who has got to enforce their rules so that these people are going to get trophies that these people are going to give out,”

This rule has been broken many times during this winter season.

Sophomore Syrah Caughron also thinks that students will still come together for the student section.  

“It’s not benefiting them,” Caughron said. ”I think that they can’t really hold back the students from going.”

Many students are upset by the new rule because they feel it is what makes the games exciting.

“If there’s no student section, no one is going to go to the games. It just won’t be fun,” sophomore Abbey Simonsen said.

Caughron feels that the school pushes student activities, so why not allow the students to participate.

“The students have fun there and the school wants the students to be involved in the school,” Caughron said.  

“Now, my understanding from the assistant principals — every Monday Morning we debrief of the week’s events — is that the student section during winter sports has exhibited more direct violations of Rule 52 than we’ve had in a long time,” Hamblin said.

“The athletic director and assistant principals that supervise the games have told 4-6 students what the problem was, and that they needed to correct it, not continue, and if they didn’t they were gonna be asked to leave.

There were conversations with parents after the event, but it resulted in a positive outcome.

“It is my understanding that (athletic director Russell) Baldwin met with the parents of those students last week, and I believe he is going to allow them to return with some limits,” Hamblin said.