On the first day of school, freshman athletic training major Robbie Guiliano rode his green Razor scooter named Chives to class. He scooted all the way up to his desk from his dorm and with his teacher in a fit of laughter, he sat down as if this were a social norm.
Guiliano is part of a group of freshmen who have been riding around Otterbein’s campus with Razor scooters.
Freshman Danny Collins, whose major is undecided, said he was the first of the group to bring a Razor scooter to college. He has been riding since about fifth grade.
“People started riding my scooter around,” Collins said. “Then people went out and started buying the scooters.”
He said he did not intend to make a group.
“It just happened. Things just fell into place.”
The scooters come with a price tag that suits a college student’s budget. Whereas bikes are usually priced in the hundreds, these scooters cost about $25.
Guiliano got his Razor scooter at Walmart.
“You can get the solid-colored scooters for $25, but if you want glow-in-the-dark wheels or a bell, it costs more,” he said.
The group has an array of scooters, each revealing the individual personalities of the riders, who often give the scooters nicknames.
Freshman athletic training major Marcus Willis owns a silver scooter with red handles named Delilah. Tyler Crowe, also a freshman athletic training major, has a scooter named Boardwalk Cruiser that has large wheels and a bell. Collins’ red scooter is named Nicole, while the scooter belonging to Adam Kolevar, freshman business management major, is nameless and has glow-in-the-dark wheels.
At first they called themselves the Scooter Gang, but as their numbers and popularity started growing, they found that the Scooter Squad was a better fit.
“The name ‘the Scooter Squad’ just rolls off the tongue better than ‘Scooter Gang,’” Willis said.
The Scooter Squad has about 12 members and continues to grow.
“We are even getting our first girl initiated into the group,” Guiliano said, referring to freshman art education major Megan Mills.
Megan Mills is jumping in on the fad because she said finding a parking space is too hard.
“Rob put the idea in my head,” she said. “I thought it was kind of stupid because it’s a kids’ toy.”
The idea seemed much more appealing after she had to make the 15-minute journey to the Art & Communication Building.
Collins created a Facebook group called the Scooter Squad and started using the hashtag #ScooterSquad on Twitter.
The scooter fad doesn’t appear to be happening on other campuses.
Mike Cassidy, a senior business major at Ohio State University, said he has not seen a group of students riding scooters around.
“There is a group of uni-cyclists at Ohio State and some longboarders, but I have not seen anyone on scooters,” Cassidy said. “It is a lot cooler than longboarding, though.”
The group has received some criticism from other students on Twitter, but not everyone on campus shares that opinion. Freshman Allie Schlemitz, an early childhood education major, said she feels indifferent about the Scooter Squad.
“It’s just something that you do not see every day,” she said. “I am sure it’s easier than a bike because you can just take it up to your dorm instead of locking it up outside. I haven’t used a scooter since I was 12, but whatever gets you from Point A to Point B.”
Sideways glances from bypassers on campus seem to have no effect on the group.
“We are used to it,” Willis said.
The riders enjoy going on night rides, and they also like to do tricks on the scooters, including the bunny hop, where the rider places both feet on the scooter and hops. Another common trick is gapping the stairs, where the rider jumps up the stairs.
The group used to hold scooter derbies in dorm hallways. Many of the members face-planted into dorm doors and crashed into drinking fountains, ultimately getting the scooters banned from dorms.
Wherever the riders scoot around, they always repeat the same catchy phrase: “We ride around, we scooting.”
