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Tuesday, 24 April 2007 |
Raley tailgating changes unfair to student fans
Saturday afternoons in the fall provide an irreplaceable atmosphere for Appalachian State University football fans.
From day-long tailgating and fans packing the stands at nearly 140 percent capacity, to the football team’s winning ways, a home football game at Appalachian is truly one of a kind.
However,
The Appalachian believes handing over the majority of Raley Lot to
Yosef Club donors will seriously compromise this atmosphere.
This seems like another example of how the changes being made by the
athletics department are more catered to alumni and less to students.
For example, the renovations to Kidd Brewer Stadium are providing
numerous rooms for Yosef Club donors and influential guests but are not
providing any additional seating for students.
This trend seems to have been carried out of the stadium and into the parking lots.
Raley Lot, especially for the past two championship seasons, has been a haven for students to show their team spirit.
It is wonderful that alumni and students can tailgate cohesively among Stadium, Edwin Dunkin and Raley lots.
Next season, this will not be the case.
Athletics Director Charlie Cobb said no matter what changes are made, nobody will ever be 100 percent happy.
While this is true, students – who provide the foundation for the
excitement during the football season – are taking a back seat more and
more.
A solution to next season is for students to use Greenwood Lot instead of Raley for their tailgating zone, Cobb said.
This is a logical solution, but it should have been extended to alumni
first, especially since students have already been using Raley as their
tailgate zone in previous seasons.
The large amount of alumni interested in attending Appalachian State
games is great. It’s even better that these alumni will be able to
enjoy a game inside a newly renovated stadium.
However, students are just as important.
What is a football game where the stands are filled with alumni rather than students?
The same philosophy holds true with tailgating.
Students have been the backbone of school pride – even before the Mountaineers’ back-to-back national championships.
Students deserve to be treated with more respect and attention when changes are being made that will affect them.
Handing over Raley Lot to alumni donors is not the end of the world in
terms of the game-day atmosphere. It is, however, disappointing and
disheartening for students who have been there through thick and thin.
The athletics department needs to keep in mind that sometimes the best decision should be based on pride instead of purse.
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