It’s no secret that school spirit at DePaul is scarce, if not non-existent. Even the seemingly biggest sport here — in the absence of a football team — basketball, fails to cultivate support, in large part because of an unhopeful men’s team and the apparent disinterest in the success of the women’s.
Attendance rates increased by 15 percent since the 2013-14 season, but still, Allstate Arenaonly hosted an average of 2,200 people per game last year, according to public records, and DePaul’s McGrath Phillips Arena regularly fails to fill its small, 3,000-seat capacity.
But occupying the court in McGrath three, sometimes four or five nights a week is a squad of women and men who might have enough spirit for the lot of us: DePaul Cheer, an 89-year-old organization.