By KRIS VENEZIA
STAFF WRITER
At Boston College, students and alumni pack the Flynn Fund parking lot with grills, drinks and school spirit three hours before kick-off. Members of the BC community continued to whoop, holler and tailgate throughout last season, even with the team’s uncharacteristic 2-10 record.
Fordham University does not share the same tradition as its Jesuit counterpart, but a few members of United Student Government are working to change that.
Sera Yoon, FCRH ’14, is the president for the FCRH Class of 2014. She is part of a group that is in the preliminary stages of establishing tailgating for students in the A Lot space.
She said USG really wants to improve school spirit on campus.
“Sporting events are a great way for people to come together, so we thought that’s something we want to look into,” Yoon said.
Fordham University parents, guests and alumni currently have the ability to tailgate in A Lot. People who want to visit the parking lot for tailgating, however, need a vehicle.
Michael Watts, GSB ‘15, works with Fordham Athletics and broadcasts Fordham football games on the radio for WFUV.
He said promoting student tailgating alongside alumni will give games a more exciting atmosphere.
“It would add to the Fordham football experience for both students and alumni by making a Fordham game a day long experience,” Watts said. “Tailgating is part of the game day experience at most schools, and it should be one at Fordham.”
The A Lot has been open to large student events in the past, including a concert at last year’s Spring Weekend featuring DJ 3Lau.
Of course, hosting a concert with students packed together is different than filling a parking lot with vehicles, grills, alumni, students and cornhole.
Alanna Nolan, assistant dean for Student Leadership and Community Development, is working with USG on the initiative. She said limited space at the Rose Hill campus is one of a few obstacles to the tailgating proposal.
“A number of challenges would be presented by tailgating of the kind seen at some other schools, including space, the organization and investment that would need to go into the event and the requirement that it be set up to assure that underage drinking is not permitted,” Nolan said.
Syracuse University and Boston College have similar challenges when it comes to tailgating as both schools have less space than other college campuses around the country.
The schools’ websites advise fans who want to tailgate to show up around three hours before kick-off to ensure a good spot.
Sera Yoon said she is currently in the process of reaching out to schools like Syracuse and Boston College to see how they handle tailgating obstacles.
“[USG] looked at how [other universities] approach tailgating… If they have written records of how they approach policies.” she said. “To continue our research we are going to try and call sports programs to see how they get people together and what they do for tailgating events.”
Joe Lynch, FCRH ’15, has tailgated for UConn and Army football games with friends and family.
He said the environment at those schools before games was better because of the tailgating experience.
“It builds up the vibe of the game, and it makes you more excited about having a football team,” Lynch said. “You also get bomb food.”
“We pull out the grill, set up camp, start grilling and play some stupid parking lot games and my parents drink [alcohol]. Then you watch the game, while digesting your food.”
Dean Alanna Nolan said she will continue to work with USG to turn this initiative into a reality.
“Tailgating in its purest form that will allow for the entire student body to participate and pose to be a challenge,” Nolan said. “I am hopeful we can work together to develop an alternative program that will encourage school spirit.”
