In case you've been living under a rock for the past week, Penn State suffered a devastating loss to Ohio State this past weekend during the White Out game.

Yes, even this theatre major with absolutely zero interest in football is aware. When half your floor comes back to the dorm at midnight shouting and slamming doors, you know that something bad has occurred. I personally did not attend the game and was not in the stadium when it happened, so I can't attest to anything. That being said, I also was not in attendance for the halftime show that has recently garnered some rather unfavorable attention.

While I was not in the stadium during the "halftime show of the century," I did have the privilege of hearing the musical theatre students rehearse their performance at multiple points over the past month. Yes, they have been rehearsing since the beginning of the semester for this once in a lifetime opportunity. I sensed their excitement and was genuinely excited for them to have this experience. Knowing the talents that they had on board directing and executing this performance, I knew it was going to be a good one.

Look, the Penn State Musical Theatre program is NATIONALLY known. They have produced and continue to produce phenomenal performers that go on to pursue amazing careers. Most recently, FUSE Productions hosted three Penn State MT alums for their production of "Chess: The Musical." One of the three alumni brought back is Natalie Weiss:

Need I say more?

The hype surrounding the halftime show leading up to the actual performance was A LOT. And rightfully so. When one of the top 5 musical theatre programs in the country is going to perform with the freaking Penn State Blue Band, you know it's going to be good. All over social media were sneak peeks of the performance in the week leading up to it; I was almost tempted to actually try to secure a ticket to the game JUST to see the halftime show.

Almost.

Then I remembered YouTube was a thing and that knowing the School of Theatre, it would definitely be recorded for us to view later.

Look, I'm not a football person. Never have been. Probably never will be. But I respect people who are. I respect people who play. It's not easy. They have practice. They have school. They're balancing a lot on their plate, just like any other college student. Just like I respect programs that aren't my own, I would hope that people would return that respect.

Then the halftime show started.

All over Snapchat and other social media sites I began to see the videos pour in. Negative reactions and feedback to the halftime show. The culprits? Kids who have probably never sat through a theatrical experience in their lives now being subjected to a halftime show filled with "Hamilton," "Jersey Boys," and "Hair." Their videos that they posted on Snapchat and other social media sites were nothing more than a bunch of immature kids mocking the performers. I rolled my eyes and skipped through it. I'm no stranger to immature kids who can't or don't want to respect theatre. Got that all the time in high school. Moving on.

But Saturday night wasn't the end of this. Not by a long shot.

Two days after the game and after the halftime show, an article popped up on Onward State.

Yes. THAT article.

https://onwardstate.com/2018/10/01/halftime-show-o...

An article written by a Penn State student about her fellow students.

Included in the article is a video much like the ones I viewed Saturday night on Snapchat, showing students in the stands making fun of the performers as they had the time of their lives on the field.

The writer, Ms. Elissa Hill, is a senior Public Relations major and the managing editor of Onward State. A self-proclaimed "expert on all things ice cream," Ms. Hill wrote this article with one goal in mind: humiliating the students involved in the halftime show.

A very low and cheap shot.

The article is currently listed as the #2 Trending Article on Onward State, no doubt as a result of the flow of traffic to the website since the article has been shared numerous times over social media over the past day and a half.

In her article, Ms. Hill claims to "love" musical theatre. I don't buy it. Someone who "loves" musical theatre and the art form doesn't write articles tearing down fellow students who have rehearsed hours upon hours for an amazing opportunity granted to them by the University.

Shame on you, Ms. Hill.

And shame on the countless number of students who laughed and jeered at the Musical Theatre students performing Saturday night. That says a lot about you and about your character. When I came to Penn State, I assumed that I was joining a community filled with people who had integrity, who had maturity, and who had respect for others.

I hope I'm not wrong.

I believe that the fact that this article was written poses a bigger problem here at Penn State. Have we hit such a low as a society and, more importantly, as a generation that we take to social media to publicly humiliate our peers? I believe, given the chance, none of these students criticizing the musical theatre students would dare do it in person. Better yet, I believe none of these students would have the guts nor the talent to take to the field in front of over 111,000 spectators and do what the musical theatre students did.

To be clear, I am not a musical theatre student. I am a BA Theatre Studies major, which is the smallest major in the entire School of Theatre. So small, there are only two of us. At the beginning of the school year, the majority of the students were not even aware that my major existed. Some still aren't. However, my background is in musical theatre. I have the experience to back it up. But I chose not to pursue a BFA in Musical Theatre because my interest in becoming a theatre educator for our youth became more important.

I've been a wallflower both on campus and in the School of Theatre for the most part over the past month, seeing how things work. I don't claim to know everything about Penn State or how this community operates.

We, as a community, need to show respect for programs that are different from our own. We, as a community, need to show respect for people whose interests may be different from our own. We, as a community, need to do better.

Because at the end of the day, it doesn't matter what your major is or where you live or where you come from.

We are ALL Penn State.

And in case you still have absolutely no clue what I'm talking about, here's a video of the Blue Band's performance with their special guests, the Penn State School of Theatre Musical Theatre program, fellow students and artists that I am PROUD to go to class with and work with every day: