At 1,450 students, Guilford traditional student body is smaller than that of many public high schools. Ye still there are the jocks and the stoners, the cheerleaders and the art students. When you have a bunch of young adults living and learning together in a relatively small community, there will be rifts and cliques.

There has been a lot of talk among students here about one particular rift — the student-athlete divide.

If you were to walk around campus and ask members of the Guilford community to describe the type of students we have, you are probably going hear categories like hipsters, hippies, and athletes.

Cliques are not necessarily the ultimate evil, but when is it that they become an issue?

“I think there are definitely a lot of different groups,” said sophomore Geoff Merwin. “When I came to Guilford my freshmen year I noticed that there was this kind of sense of the ‘traditional’ Guilford student — hippy — something kind of along those lines.”

This divide does not appear to be intentional — it seems to just form on its own. With that being said, it is hard to define what the divide between Guilford students and student athletes actually is.

People hang out with those with whom they have common interests, so naturally athletes are going to hang out with their team members — and there is nothing wrong with that.

It becomes an issue, however, when the different cliques are not interacting. That is, where the divide comes into the picture.

“I think anytime there is separation between two different parties is when there is a misunderstanding between each other,” said Sports Information Director/Assistant Director of Athletics Dave Walters. “A way to breach this gap is to share experience.”

Getting past the mentality “you’re just a dumb jock” or “you’re just a dirty hippy” is hard. Not to say that everyone thinks this way or that it strongly affects the social dynamics, but the divide does linger among peoples’ mentality of who their friends are and whom they spend their time with.

An issue arises when the mentality becomes “us vs. them.”

If you wanted to witness an example of the divide firsthand all you would have to do is look around the cafeteria. You will see many different groups scattered about — identifiable groups that generally sit together.

The divide is hard to define, yet it is definitely prevalent on campus. People seem reluctant to talk about it when asked formally. However, in everyday conversation the topic does come up.

“I haven’t noticed anything too bad — like a huge divide,” said sophomore rugby player Nelson Rubal.

Other students give similar responses that leave something to be desired: the truth, maybe? Why do people feel the need to sensor their responses?

“I don’t think it’s something that can be easily changed,” said sophomore Marissa Bowers. “There is a spectrum to where athletes and non-athletes mingle, but primarily there is still that group difference and people will naturally flock together whether it is on purpose or not.”

Certain students have experienced this first hand, such as sophomore lacrosse player Rebecca Marasco.

“When I was a first-year last year there was like a different dynamic — we were more in the athletic side of things and felt excluded,” said Marasco.

Some student athletes feel unaccepted when sporting their athletic attire, such as sophomore basketball-player Shelly Barker.

“If I’m dressed in normal clothes I feel more accepted and that people are more willing to listen to what I have to say,” said Barker.

Do we need to bridge the gap? The general response has been yes. But the real question remains: how?

“At an event last night, there were groups of athletes and non-athletes that seemed to be pretty happily interacting … via beverage,” joked Bowers.

There are more values-based ways to interact; the community should support them

“Guilford is one big community, we shouldn’t necessarily be one way or another,” said Merwin. “(But) we do have some core ideologies that students should always strive for, no matter what their other groups say and their interests are.”