Chop or flop: These Rutgers experiences have nothing to do with football, but they still 'chop' it up

In 2001, Rutgers University hired Gregory Edward Schiano as head coach of its football program. With Schiano came a one-syllable mantra that has reliably carried this University through the highs and lows of college football — chop.

Chop: a simple phrase that became our consolation during terrible football seasons and our battle cry during slightly less terrible football seasons. In 2022, Schiano is currently in his "reputation" era, and chop is more relevant than ever. Chop's meaning has evolved past football — it's come to represent perseverance, persistence and a light at the end of the tunnel.

You can use “chop” to describe the people, places and experiences you appreciate at Rutgers, or even the little moments of joy you may feel on a day-to-day basis. For example, I derive great joy from being a hater. And so, in this article, along with things at Rutgers that are chop, I will also be listing things that are "flop" — meaning subpar or yikes!

Chop: Seating arrangements on certain Rutgers buses

Rutgers buses with those quirky little seating arrangements in the back where all the seats are facing each other? Chop. This seating plan ensures that no one has to deal with the infamous wheel bump, and it provides bus riders the perfect environment to participate in a Socratic seminar together.

Extra chop points if you’re on a bus where there are just two random seats facing each other in the back, while the rest face forward, offering potential for a Rutgers meet-cute.

Flop: Busch campus

Busch campus is the armpit of Rutgers—New Brunswick. Every time I go to this campus (and I try to limit that as much as possible), I get lost between the hundreds of identical parking lots and buildings. The place is a brutalist M.C. Escher painting where the only escape is a REXB.

Additionally, Busch campus has no lighting at night, which means you’re stuck fumbling in the dark hoping you don’t run into a serial killer or worse — an engineering student.

Chop: Hidden Gems Literary Emporium

Hidden Gems Literary Emporium is a local, non-profit bookstore owned by Rutgers alumni Kaila Boulware and Raymond Cheley Sykes and their son, Truth Imanu'el Sykes. The owners are dedicated to increasing the accessibility of literature in the New Brunswick community and advocating for literacy. They’re currently trying to build their own mobile library (or book mobile), so if you can donate, please do!

Flop: Passenger straps on Rutgers buses

Passenger straps on Rutgers buses are the actual manifestation of the RU Screw — and probably the devil, too.

Number one: They don’t ever stay put. Every time the bus turns, they slide around in different directions and force you to either break your wrist trying to hold onto them or let go and have your entire body flung onto the people sitting in front of you.

Number two: Holding onto these straps means lifting my arm up in an already crowded space, which means I will spend the entire bus ride worrying that people think I smell bad, wishing I had put on extra deodorant.

Number three: They put you in a position where you have to make occasional eye contact with people sitting down, who are probably cackling over the fact that they’re not you right now.

Chop: Jersey Mike’s Arena on Livingston campus

Renaming the Rutgers Athletic Center as Jersey Mike’s Arena was a stroke of genius. The juxtaposition between the down-to-earth “Jersey Mike” and the gravitas and epicness of “arena” is striking — yet somehow perfect? This name change represents Rutgers’ commitment to being camp, and I can only salute that. Next, I’m lobbying for the Wawa School of Engineering.

Honorable chops

More things that are chop: Speed Queen, the mail delivery system, the tunnel that connects the East and West Academic Buildings on the College Avenue campus, Kilmer’s Market on Livingston campus, the Rutgers women’s soccer team, cherry blossoms in the spring and the little gates that lead to Hegeman and Pell Halls on the College Avenue campus.

Honorable flops

And more things that are flop: Rutgers calculus classes, the lack of air conditioning in many residence halls, the Rutgers Business School's giant sky bridge (what are we going to do if someone falls through?), Sakai and the Glee Club (I may be biased because I’m basing my expectations off the show Glee (2009)).

I would like to state that all of the things I listed and their designated categories are just my opinion — so you can have your own (incorrect) ideas about what’s chop and what’s flop.

This article is meant to be taken lightly and with humor, and I encourage you to explore what things you consider to be chop or flop, as well. Keep chopping!