What unites can also divide

The State of the Union Address is, almost by design, a politically polarizing event.
Yet during President Donald Trump’s sixth joint address to Congress, America was given a glimpse of something seldom seen since the dawn of the Internet Age: a concerted act of togetherness in the Capitol Chamber.The U.S. Men’s Hockey Team, still high on their gold medal match victory over Canada, came streaming into the House Gallery to a thunderous standing ovation from the President, senators and congresspeople of both parties and most notably, four Supreme Court Justices. 
While there were certainly prickly moments surrounding the politics of American Olympic athletes—and the dissenting members of Congress—such displays of bipartisanship are sorely missed in American society.
Such displays struggle to translate, even among the students of Willis Hall. 
Both boys and girls indoor teams won their respective conference championship, with the latter winning their first in school history. Besides a social media post about the teams, though, they have not received much acknowledgement online and in person.  
However, during the Winter Olympics, the students of Willis Hall were buzzing with excitement. Whether it was because Alysa Liu won gold for America after almost 20 years in women’s figure skating or maybe the aforementioned men’s and women’s hockey team both winning gold. Students and teachers connected because they all felt the same rush of emotions when watching the different athletes compete under the red, white and blue.
In a survey conducted by the Willis Hall Herald, nearly 61 percent of Upper School students believed that watching the Olympics made them feel more united with people they usually don’t agree with. So it would not be bizarre to assume that, at least for the Upper School students, there is a correlation between sports games and unification.
Or, at least, it should be that way. In the same survey, 48 percent of Upper Schoolers feel some level of unity with their fellow students, while 22 percent sense disunity and a whopping 30 percent are neutral. 
There’s a clear disconnect between the macro and micro level of sport, and certainly so within our own athletic accomplishments. 
A part of the reason is because the Olympics are more grand in just about everything. It’s more special because it happens once every four years and is highly televised. If something is pushed more in the public eye it is bound to get more attention.
This is true of Willis Hall. Teams such as the football team, who tend to be heralded far more often, bring more excitement and unity, even for an ordinary game. Even though the football season has passed, it is still arguably more relevant than many winter season sports. 
Unity in our country doesn’t always translate to unity on campus.
There is more than enough evidence to support that assertion.