Jenny Swope
Title:
Spike Squad
Major:
Biological Science, Pre-Med
Year:
Class of 2024
Hometown:
Chattanooga, TN
You could look at Jenny Swope and see a walking contradiction.
Decked out in her full game day regalia, you’ll see a conservatively dressed student in braided pigtails and a bright red cloak, but you’ll soon also notice the claw marks painted onto her face—oh, and the spiked football pads. On Saturdays in Athens, she is a fierce, diehard Bulldogs fan. But during the week, she’s a straight-A student, volunteer tutor, cellular researcher, and aspiring doctor.
To Jenny, a biological sciences and pre-med student from Chattanooga, none of this is a contradiction. It’s just who she is.
Jenny grew up a Bulldog fan, going to games with her family or watching them on TV. And when her mother offered to buy her a dress for game days as a student, Jenny declined. She wanted to wear Spike Squad gear instead.
The Spike Squad—those passionate fans wearing spiked pads—is a student organization whose members apply and audition to get in. Tryouts include a quiz about your knowledge of college football, but also pitching a character to dress up as. Beyond just wearing spiked football pads, each member embodies a slightly different character: a Mad Hatter, a firefighter, Hulk Hogan. The more bizarre the better.
“Instantly tears were rolling down my face, and I looked at my friends and they were all crying,” she says. “I never would’ve thought I would be at a national championship, and I was surrounded by my best friends.”
Jenny Swope
Spike Squad
Jenny pitched Little Red Riding Hood, a character that shows off her “girly girl” side, as she puts it, while also displaying her ferocity. She got in and has since served on the organization’s executive committee as secretary and then president.
Her Spike Squad character has evolved over the years. At first, she just used red lipstick for the facial scratch marks. But then it became more detailed and more chilling. Jenny studied up on gore makeup. Now, her makeup routine includes liquid latex, eye shadow, and a few drops of fake blood.
It takes about an hour to complete the full effect. But it’s not exactly easy to remove, which has created some awkward moments.
A few times, she’s had photo shoots right before class without enough time to scrub off her makeup. Walking into a classroom and looking as if you’ve barely escaped a horror movie tends to turn a few heads.
The time spent getting ready isn’t the only way Spike Squad members show their dedication.
The group doesn’t get free football tickets or even preferred seating. They go through the same system as other students. They arrive at the gates long before Sanford Stadium opens so they can charge to the front row of the student section. The hours spent waiting together means the members really get to know each other.
When she’s not cheering for the Dawgs or maintaining her 4.0 GPA, Jenny also volunteers with the Thomas Lay After School Program, which connects UGA students as mentors and tutors to Athens-Clarke County students.
On campus, she does research in the lab of Dr. Walter Schmidt, a biochemistry and molecular biology professor at UGA and a Georgia Cancer Coalition Scholar. Jenny studies two yeast proteins at the cellular level to better understand how they function and if they might advance medical research.
“I have gained a lot of independence and accountability,” she says of her undergraduate research experience. Most of her research is performed on her own, with graduate students available if she needs some help. “I have my own project. If I mess up, it’s on me, and I have to be accountable for that.”
This year will be Jenny’s last on the Spike Squad. After she graduates, she’ll go to medical school, and she’s considering becoming a transplant surgeon. The senior is embracing her last hurrah with the Spike Squad after an unimaginably challenging year.
In January, Jenny’s mother went into hospice care. She died in February.
Rather than take time off, Jenny resolved to finish the semester, take the MCAT for medical school, and serve out her term as Spike Squad president. She believed her mother would want her to stick to her dreams.
The squad was there to support her along the way. They raised funds for gift cards and launched a meal train as Jenny kept up her workload and grieved.
“I felt like I had this whole community around me, helping me,” she says.
This fall, she’s eager to suit up again in the spike pads amid the fanfare at Sanford Stadium. The best part of joining the squad, she says, has always been the freedom to “cheer without any judgment.”
“Sports are special because they bring people together,” she says.
Jenny was able to attend the 2021 national championship game after a flurry of donations helped send the Spike Squad to Indianapolis for the Bulldogs' first title in over 40 years.
“That was such a fun and unexpected thing,” she says.
She can still picture being at Lucas Oil Stadium late in the fourth quarter when Kelee Ringo picked off a Crimson Tide pass, dashed toward the end zone, and all but sealed the Dawgs win.
“Instantly tears were rolling down my face, and I looked at my friends and they were all crying,” she says. “I never would’ve thought I would be at a national championship, and I was surrounded by my best friends.”
