Cheerleading at Eastern Tsuga College

Cheerleading at Eastern Tsuga College
Type	Student sports club
Founded	Fall 2024 (revival); original program mid-twentieth century to mid-1980s
Leader	Haley Wegner and Whitney Cavendish (co-captains, founding year)
Headquarters	Eastern Tsuga College
Affiliation	Eastern Tsuga College
Members	Haley Wegner, Whitney Cavendish, McKenzie Walsh, Becky Morin (founding members); recruitment capped
First appearance	Comply

About

Cheerleading at Eastern Tsuga College dates back to the mid-twentieth century but was disbanded in the mid-1980s following the Strawbridge Cheerleading Incident with rival Strawbridge College. The ban lasted more than a decade and left a noticeable gap in school spirit. Multiple revival attempts over the years failed when their student organizers graduated. In Fall 2024, four freshmen successfully relaunched the program as the ETC Cheerleading Club, establishing bylaws designed to keep control in the founding members' hands for all four years of their college careers. The club's faculty advisor is Dr. Renee Vance of the Kinesiology department, who was herself a member of the ETC squad during the period of the Strawbridge incident.

History

Original program (mid-twentieth century to mid-1980s)

ETC had a cheerleading program dating back to the mid-twentieth century. It was a legitimate competitive and performance program with the kind of internal culture that produces the Whitneys and Haleys of the world: driven, status-conscious, and tightly controlled by whoever held the top spots. Dr. Renee Vance, now a Kinesiology faculty member, was part of the squad during this era.

The program was disbanded in the mid-1980s following an unspecified incident involving Strawbridge College. The administration imposed a ban on all cheerleading activities. The details of the incident have not been established in canon, though its aftermath was significant enough to end the program entirely and sustain the ban for more than a decade.

Failed revival attempts

Multiple efforts to revive cheerleading at ETC in the years following the ban failed to take hold. Most dissolved when the students driving them graduated, leaving no institutional continuity. The gap in school spirit was noticed but never successfully filled until 2024.

The 2024 revival

In Fall 2024, four freshmen co-founded the revived ETC Cheerleading Club. The group came together through prior competitive experience and an existing friendship between two of its members. From the start, the founding four approached the revival as an organizational project as much as an athletic one. They established bylaws requiring freshman-only membership for the first year, ensuring collective control of the club's direction for all four years of their time at ETC. Recruitment was capped to maintain exclusivity and limit competition for leadership from within.

When selecting a faculty advisor, Haley Wegner and Whitney Cavendish were deliberate. They wanted someone who would sign the paperwork and stay out of their way. Dr. Renee Vance was the right fit: invested enough to say yes, experienced enough to know what she was signing up for, and clear-eyed enough about ETC cheerleading history to have no interest in drama.

Faculty advisor

Dr. Renee Vance is an associate professor in the Kinesiology department and the ETC Cheerleading Club's faculty advisor. She was a member of the ETC cheerleading squad during the era that included the Strawbridge incident. She was, by most accounts, exactly the kind of cheerleader Haley Wegner and Whitney Cavendish are now: polished, competitive, and focused on being in charge.

Whatever the Strawbridge incident was, it shaped her. She agreed to serve as faculty advisor because she believes in the program in principle and remembers what it meant to her. She stays at arms length not because she doesn't care but because she has no interest in reliving the politics. Her involvement is currently limited to signing paperwork. Whether that changes as the club's story develops is an open question.

Founding members

Haley Wegner

Haley Wegner is a co-captain and the protagonist of Comply. She was Cheer Captain at Cordish High School before arriving at ETC. She and McKenzie Walsh were the Cordish High contingent of the founding group and the original driving force behind the revival effort.

McKenzie Walsh

McKenzie Walsh is a founding member and former Cordish High cheerleader. Her summer camp counselor friendship with Becky Morin was the social connection that brought the full founding group together, bridging the Cordish and East Willingham sides of the squad.

Whitney Cavendish

Whitney Cavendish is the other co-captain. She was Cheer Captain at East Willingham High School, whose team narrowly defeated Cordish High in the 2023 conference finals. She had a habit of reminding Haley Wegner of that victory, which created initial tension between them. With some diplomatic negotiation, and a shared understanding that the revival required both of them, they agreed to set the rivalry aside and serve as co-captains. Her brother, Martin "Marty" Cavendish, is a fellow ETC freshman and member of the Order of Aetherion.

Becky Morin

Becky Morin is a founding member and former East Willingham High cheerleader. Her summer camp friendship with McKenzie Walsh was the bond that made the four-person founding group possible. She is not the same character as the Becky referenced as a regular at Eli's Dive Bar (Avery's Social Club).

Club structure and bylaws

The founding members established bylaws reflecting their intention to maintain control throughout their time at ETC. Key provisions include a freshman-only membership requirement for the first year, a capped recruitment process based on a ranked list of potential members selected for personal compatibility and leadership fit, and a co-captaincy arrangement between Haley Wegner and Whitney Cavendish for the founding year only. After the first year the full squad will vote on a permanent captain.

The structure is less about building a program and more about building one on their terms. The four founders are ambitious and aware of it.

Connection to the SSU

The cheerleading club revival is the social and organizational context within which Haley Wegner's story in Comply unfolds. It is the reason she enters Delacroix's Tomes and Treasures, and the framework within which the effects of The Anklet of Inevitable Accord play out across her freshman year. Dr. Vance's presence as faculty advisor connects the club's 2024 revival directly to the unresolved history of the mid-1980s incident, which has not yet been fully explained in canon.

Canon notes

• The specific details of the 1980s Strawbridge incident have not been established
• The exact duration of the original ban has not been specified beyond "more than a decade"
• Whether the club competes against other schools or functions purely as a performance organization has not been established
• The full membership roster beyond the four founding members has not been established
• Dr. Vance's full background and her specific role in the Strawbridge incident have not been established
• Whether Dr. Vance's arms-length involvement will change as the club's story develops has not been established

Related articles

• Haley Wegner
• Eastern Tsuga College
• Strawbridge College
• Comply
• Making the Grades: Allie's Descent