It Pays to Pay: The Orange Krush at the University of Illinois

The Orange Krush, the student fan group for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign men's basketball team, is examined in relation to boosterism, race, and socioeconomic status. Socioeconomic status is implicated to be a barrier to joining the student group. One student, one alumni, and one leader of Orange Krush were interviewed for their experiences with Orange Krush. One theme that developed was that Orange Krush is valuable because of both its fun and prideful enthusiasm at games and its impact through charity. Another theme was that students must dedicate a lot of time to be in Orange Krush but raising the money to join might not be worth the time. Several suggestions are provided to help lessen barriers to joining Orange Krush. There is much room for growth in literature regarding student fan groups and accessibility to students that would allow for generalization of data and rich information on student experiences.unpublishednot peer reviewe