r/gatech

First I want to note that I do know that GT and UGA were originally rivals back when GT was in the SEC

So I graduated from UGA last year and went to GT for grad school. I was raised in a UGA household, going to games and all that but I never knew GT considered us their rival until maybe my sophomore or junior year. Sure, I heard comments from GT fans here and there but I thought it was just like normal sports banter like if we were playing Kentucky or something. Then a girl I went to highschool with reposted something a GT meme acct posted about UGA and that was the first time I realized they didn’t like us. I still didn’t realize the extent of it until I started going there.

Now I have insider information 😭What prompted this post is that I mentioned to someone that I went to UGA and the vibe shifted and they told me I had received a “piece of toilet paper from UGA”, I guess referring to my degree. Like ok whatever, id prob talk shit to someone from UF but idk if id let it ruin the conversation… but thats different because we are rivals.. I’ve been at GT for a year and it was my shock that this school, which is known more for their engineering program than football, HATES georgia. I mean I didn’t know it was their MOTTO. At orientation they were trying to hype us up saying “To hell with Georgia” and I was sitting there thinking “why are we talking about Georgia??”

Any time I bring up being a UGA alum, I get people literally upset. Even professors. Over the summer when it was just grad students and faculty, I wore a UGA tshirt on accident and a professor told me that I needed to burn my shirt.. now he calls me “Georgia” in passing- mind you, I’ve never met this professor nor do I know his name.

I think the one-sided rivalry is embarrassing tbh. It almost gets to a point where it’s just flat out bullying. When I tell people here that it’s one-sided they’re surprised but I genuinely think no one at UGA gives two rats asses about anyone at GaTech.

I feel compelled to share some thoughts that I have about the new digital BuzzCards. I think new students should be issued a digital BuzzCard with the option to get a physical one and existing students should be allowed to get a digital BuzzCard, without giving up their physical one. Some reasons:

1. Digital does not work everywhere yet. While they are working on transitioning all BuzzCard scanners to be mobile friendly, this is not yet the case. So at least during the transition new students should be issued physical BuzzCards.
2. There are some spaces where digital does not make sense. Exams and quizzes come to mind where students are told to put away and turn off their phones. Then, after the exam is completed, students are often asked to scan their BuzzCards. However, if their BuzzCards are on their phones, they will need to turn on their phones during an exam in order to leave, which could cause delays to those trying to leave and disruption to those still taking their exam.
3. There are times when your phone is not available, leaving you without a BuzzCard. Yes, even if your phone runs out of battery you can access it sometimes, but it’s not as reliable as a plastic BuzzCard.

I concede, there are some good points in favor of digital: convenience of it being on your phone, the environmental impact of physical cards, and the card is more secure digitally. Maybe I am just nostalgic for the physical cards being a unique representation of your time at Tech. However, at least for the time being I think students should have the option to keep both.