After its rookie year, the athletic fan club BrowNation is still going strong, according to founder Moses Riner '08.
"We got about 130 to 150 people signed up at the Activities Fair, and we're splitting up the membership and rewards program this year to make it more appealing to the broader student body," said Riner, who is still manning his position as "co-chancellor" of the organization along with Christian Seale '09 while studying abroad this year.
He said he will most likely return to Brown to complete his Master's degree in the Program in Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship Engineering next year. A transfer from Duke, Riner modeled the program after the Blue Devils' Inferno Club, and as a result of his efforts, membership reached close to 300 last year.
"Yes, we want to encourage people to go to games," Riner said. "But Brown's also such a huge, diverse group of people, so you ask yourself - how do you bring everyone together? Athletics is one way to do that."
Now, instead of paying the $40 membership fee this year, any student is welcome to join and be a member who participates in tailgates or charter buses to away games that BrowNation might organize. Students can pay $40 to start accumulating points at games to earn over $200 worth of merchandise. You can earn a point for each game you attend, and for each friend you get to sign up. Prizes for the fall include a t-shirt, fleece jacket and hoodie, and gifts planned for the spring are windbreakers and water bottles.
"For $40, it's a pretty tremendous deal," Riner said. He added the group was "trying to get money to subsidize the membership fee eventually."
Students can join the Facebook group online for the updates on member events, and they can also look for the BrowNation tables at the following events to sign up, get a free t-shirt and earn their first points right away. And more importantly, they will be showing their support for the Bears and coming together as a community, just as Riner envisioned.
