The LSU Administration Is Trying To Take The Fun Out Of Tailgating

Harrison Lee10 years ago

The tailgating scene at Louisiana State University is one of, if not the top, tailgating location in the country. A sea of bourbon, Cajun food, and hot coeds.

However, the new Dean of Students, Maria Fuentes-Martin, is on the attack against it. She wants to take the fun out of tailgating with a set of proposed rules to ensure “safety.” TFM obtained a copy of the proposed new rules. Here they are:

Let’s break them down one by one.

III) Tailgates must end one hour before kickoff and everything must be cleaned before kickoff.

This is by far the most ridiculous new rule of them all. As an organization, you have a few options with this new rule: you can stick around, clean up, and miss kick off; you can make pledges clean up, head over to a nearby bar, continue to drink, put yourself in more danger off campus, then head to the game; or you can just head to the game and twiddle your thumbs for an hour. Spoiler alert: No one will choose options one or three.

This new rule doesn’t really curb the whole safety issue Maria wants. In fact, it might make students more inclined to heavily drink elsewhere with much less control.

2) Option 1: Organizations Get A 3rd Party Vendor To Serve Alcohol

On initial thought, this doesn’t sound like a bad idea. You get a bartender/vendor to supply all your alcohol. However, once you dive deeper into this option, you’ll see that the organizations must find a vendor that is pre-approved (there is currently only one on contract with LSU), and are responsible for funding the vendor. So let’s just make organizations shell out thousands of dollars every weekend there is a home game just so they can enjoy themselves.

3) Option 2: Communal Bar Area With Preferred 3rd Party Vendor

This is how LSU plans to get out of the budget crisis, IMO. Hey, let’s have the students pay this vendor we picked to get drunk and we’ll take a cut! They’ll never see it coming. Not to mention that the university plans on adding a drink limit and give you wristbands. You hear that? That’s the sound of LSU students taking their pre-game drinking habits elsewhere.

4) Option C: BYOB

Not a terrible idea actually. If you’re 21, you can bring your own stuff. My first thought was to conceal a giant Gatorade bottle of Everclear until I found out that, once again, the amount an individual can bring will be a specified amount.

Let’s hope that none of these rules actually pass. LSU held a town hall last night for their students to air their concerns. As you can expect, LSU students are not happy about this.

The administration is sending a clear message that it feels like it can parent college students, where flip cups are filled with Sunny D and fraternity tailgating is effectively abolished. They hide behind calls for “safety and accountability” when really what they want is control and conformity.

Keep fighting the good fight, LSU students..

Image via YouTube