Greek Tailgates Fall Flat at University of Maryland

By Adam Barry on December 1, 2013

On-campus tailgating is a time-honored tradition for college students, but the University of Maryland has little structure in place to get students in fraternities and sororities to come on campus and get to the games.

In the past, students have congregated in the backyards of houses in Old Town College Park to engage in tailgating activities, though few made the almost two-mile trek to Byrd Stadium to watch the games.

Underage drinking and low attendance at games by members of Maryland’s Greek life prompted the university to establish on-campus tailgates, where behavior could be monitored and students could be safer.

For safety concerns, the school limited the amount of alcohol students could bring while also eliminating hard alcohol, drinking games and communal sources of alcohol, like kegs and bags of wine.

After the first tailgate, problems with students’ behavior were easy to identify and the rules were amended. The school was quick to outlaw beer throwing and public urination, problems that come with rowdy students and limited bathroom facilities.

While students were at first excited to tailgate on campus and start a new tradition, the university’s execution did not live up to expectations and excitement soon waned.

“I think it was a good start, but there needs to be a bigger area for that amount of people to congregate,” said junior Justin Morris.

The students were set up on a hillside near the school’s Comcast Center, but ample room was hard to find.

Morris also added that he understood the school’s new rules about alcohol, but in his opinion the rules “made off-camps tailgates more enticing” for students looking to behave irresponsibly.

Rather than a grassy hillside, students would have liked to be in a parking lot along with other tailgaters, according to sophomore Jake Bronstein, who said he felt “stuck in a corner.” A parking space would also let each fraternity set up their own trucks rather than the pop-up tents that were set up on the hill.

“Lines at the few port-a-potties were too long,” added Bronstein, who felt the school had not put in the right infrastructure to support the tailgates.

A big motivation for moving tailgates was to increase attendance at the actual games, but few tailgaters made it from the Comcast Center to Byrd Stadium who would not have made the trek from Old Town College Park.

“Maryland football is not fun to watch,” said sophomore Brendan Carney, who thinks the university would need to add an extra incentive to get students in the seat.  “We were more interested in continuing the party” rather than attending a football game, said Carney.

By the Terrapin’s last home game against Boston College, the on-campus tailgate had been cancelled and students once again were left to their own devices. With the Terrapins moving next year to the Big Ten, the school will have another opportunity to refine tailgating procedures to cater to students’ wishes.

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