With a campus of almost 16,000 students, every single one of them is considered a Grand Canyon University lope, but only the biggest fans are considered Havocs. Attending a school where our football team has been undefeated for the past 68 years is pretty impressive considering the fact that we don’t have a football team. For this reason, basketball is the season that us Havocs are looking forward to the most. The word "havoc" literally means “widespread destruction” and we do everything in our power to live up to that title. Visitors, whether it be the other team or families and friends in the stands, have no idea what they’ve gotten themselves into. We are the student section that will blow you away the very second you step into that stadium on game day.
The day starts out, walking to class where there are tents set up outside the arena with sleeping students who spent the night outside to be the first ones in line (AKA Camp Elliot). The majority of students all over campus are dressed in purple and GCU gear giving others the nonverbal signal that today’s the day. Inflatable basketball hoops are set up next to the student union all while the Havocs leaders yell over the mic telling students to come support the team. For the All-Access Havocs, they get first dibs on entry to the games and seats and still choose to stand in line hours before show time. I am one of them.
The line starts to form, growing longer and longer as the time for the game comes nearer. The sun slowly starts to go down, purple and white paint covers the faces and bodies of fans, and the anticipation starts to take over. Once we are finally let into the stadium, herds of Havocs run up the flights of stairs to claim the seats on the East side of the stadium.
Once the Havocs have arrived, so has the party.
Music blasts from the speakers within the stadium. The teams are stretching and warming up on the court while a sea of purple students gets just as pumped for the game as the players. Streamers fly as the bass drops, smiles go ear to ear, and the party has officially begun. Us Havocs go from the simplest things like basic cheers to completely staring and pointing at the other team’s bench in unison. This is exactly what we do right before tip-off; no one is allowed to sit until the Lopes put points on the board and if you’re in the Havocs section there most likely won’t be any sitting at all, we are nuts. We are committed to screaming our heads off for every second of the game. As a student section, we want nothing more than to create an environment that visiting teams hate playing in and that is exactly what we do. This is why we are considered the craziest student section in college basketball by USAToday. Now that we are NCAA Championship eligible as a school, the antics and devotion that the Havocs have for basketball season are at an all-time high.