Since the start of the Spring 2026 semester, students from the Northeastern New York City Scholars cohort have traveled to Long Island to see NU’s basketball team play against Hofstra University, attended a soccer clinic organized by the NYC Scholars program and started the MMC-NU Flag Football Club. Other events like the NU Hockey Beanpot livestream at Found Study Turtle Bay and the NYC Scholars field trip to a Brooklyn Nets game have allowed NYC Scholars to spectate sports with their classmates. These athletic offerings can facilitate student involvement and school spirit, but may also raise questions about what a changing sports landscape means for the MMC community.
Athletic opportunities bring NYC a small taste of NU Boston’s sports culture as a campus with nineteen Division 1 teams and seventeen active intramural sports leagues this semester. In the NYC Scholars “Community Forum” meeting at the beginning of the semester, leaders of the program announced the upcoming excursions and clinics, explaining that athletic opportunities had been highly requested by NYC Scholars during the first semester.
Students cite increased involvement and school spirit as benefits of the sports offerings. First-year economics major Penelope Chew said, “Sports are just a great way to build community and school spirit. People can have fun with their friends and play games and be more active.”
As a small liberal arts school, MMC has little precedent for competitive field and court sports like basketball and hockey. Some students question whether the D1 designation under NU will impact the student body at all but sentiments remain neutral to optimistic. “I can’t speak for everyone at the school, but I think most people are not really sports fans, just based off what I can tell. But I probably would watch [a game] once, just to see how they play,” Sophomore Matthew Sarelli said.
On the contrary, some MMC students expressed excitement about the prospect of campus athletics and feel that cheering on one’s own school with classmates, even just on TV, could fulfill an aspect of community that Marymount currently lacks. First-year psychology and acting major Gabby Lepore said, “I am kind of jealous of my friends that still get the Friday Night Lights. We don’t have those functions that bring us closer together through sports.”
A study by Stacy Warner and Marlene A. Dixon supports the notion that sports build community. It identifies “Common Interest, Leadership Opportunities, Voluntary Activity, and Competition as the most salient factors impacting [sense of community] for sports club participants on university campuses.”
So far this year, sports programs offered by NU have only been available to NYC Scholars, causing some MMC students to wonder when they might be integrated into these experiences. “We see it. We hear that there’s events going on and we’re not invited,” said first-year Natalie Rose Williams.
Across the board, students believe that sports activities can foster school spirit and camaraderie between NU and MMC students – but only if students from both schools are included.
“I think it’s less about the sport and more about the community aspect,” said first-year MMC acting major Rachel Rivera. “If we continually separate there will be a constant segregation. These clubs and intramural societies are where we connect.”
Northeastern students also see a benefit in including both schools. First-year business administration major Janie Vidovich said, “It would be really interesting to see more Marymount students and Northeastern students coming together more often, and just supporting a team.”
The merger also creates an opportunity to extend Northeastern’s athletic infrastructure beyond Boston. MMC students suggested taking advantage of the school’s strong dance program with an NYC campus cheer and/or dance team. NU has a cheer team and dance team that perform at basketball and hockey home games but some MMC students propose that an MMC-based team, like the existing dance team, The Throne, could perform at away games and tournaments local to the NYC area.
“If there’s a basketball team, then there’s basketball cheerleaders. There’s so many dancers here. So many people would do that,” Williams said.
Northeastern officials were unable to comment on post-merger plans for athletics in NYC. As MMC and NU move closer to merging, MMC students have a growing desire to be included in NU’s program offerings.
Rivera questioned, “When will we actually all just be Northeastern and get over this conversation?”
Though the future of sports on campus remains unclear, MMC students can currently join intramurals like the Flag Football Club and attend events at Found like watch parties.
As NU and MMC further integrate, student body consensus reflects Penelope Chew’s words: “Let’s all play sports together.”
