Andrew,
Thank you for the e-mail. I believe that the current KnightNews.com story entitled “SGA Says Students Don’t Want Tailgating Before Noon” should be retracted because it is an inaccurate portrayal of Student Government’s stance on tailgating issues.
I’ve spoken to Chad Binette of UCF News and Information, and he believes that the statement about Student Government, which was attributed to him, is an inaccurate representation of what he said. He told the reporter from the Orlando Sentinel that SGA and the Alumni Association were both included in the development of new tailgating guidelines. He also told the reporter that the goal was to give fans options to choose the ideal game day experience for them – donors can come early for all game days and other fans who want to start later can choose to do that. We believe that the reporter mistakenly combined these two separate comments into one. Nether myself or Vice President Lewis spoke the Orlando Sentinel on any tailgating issue, nor were we consulted with before this comment was made.
As for the issue of tailgating, SGA never decided that students didn’t want tailgating before noon. Al Harms, Vice President for Strategy, Marketing, Communications, and Admissions, is in charge of an advisory committee to discuss game day strategy and planning for UCF. This committee simply serves for advisory and input purposes, while the UCF Administration has the final say on all UCF gameday policies and procedures. Input and discussion from representatives of many areas on campus such as the UCF Police Department, UCF News and Information, UCF Athletics, Student Development and Enrollment Services, the Student Government Association (SGA), and so on takes place. We simply provide input for the University to use to make a decision on these policies. In response to what was perceived as poor execution of last year’s tailgating policies by the University and UCF Athletics, discussion was started about allowing University donors, who donate a certain amount of money and above, to “set up” their tailgating areas prior to the set time of noon, for games that begin at 6pm or later only. However, it was clearly stated and continues to be University policy that the open container waiver is not lifted until noon, when everyone is officially allowed to begin tailgating. This is a very important distinction of this new policy. These areas have not changed and are limited to small sports adjacent to the BrightHouse Networks Stadium. As President and Vice President of the Student Government Association, myself and Andrick Lewis provided input on behalf of students on this discussion and others. Our discussion was in no way in favor of these new policies. We shared that we understand the need for the University to raise money via its donors, but believed students were being overlooked to allow for those who were contributing money to have special privileges. We believe this to be unfair to students. In addition, we pointed out that students in essence “donate” money via their tuition that they pay as students. Remember, this policy change does not include a change in the open container waiver hours for anyone, students, alumni, and donors included.
SGA also brought up the fact that some students were unhappy with the consistent change in tailgating rules from year to year. One of our platform goals this year was to “bring tailgating and athletics to new heights for students and alumni.” In keeping with that goal, we have made it clear that as representatives of the student body we wanted to secure a set of tailgating policies that is fair and balanced and that would not change from year to year, as has been the trend. Again, keeping with this, the Vice President and I shared our opinion that this was inconsistent with that point.
As part of the University family, we did share the opinion that some students have expressed to us that they do not mind the new tailgating times as were laid out for this past season’s games, as it allows them to sleep in later on gameday while still providing them the opportunity to secure a spot on memory mall on days where games begin at 6pm or later. We in no way insinuated that this was what students wanted, however.
Myself, Vice President Lewis, and Keal Blache, our Athletics Relations Coordinator, have attended these meetings to provide input on behalf of Student Government.
As far as meeting agendas or minutes, we have none as SGA was simply a guest at these meetings. You would have to consult with Vice President Harms to see if he has any such materials.
If you would like further clarification, please let me know.
Thank you.
Brian W. Peterson
Student Body President
UCF Board of Trustees Member
Student Government Association
University of Central Florida
407-823-2193
Peterson & Andrick 2009-2010
“An Administration of Action”
Under Florida law, e-mail addresses are public records. If you do not want your e-mail address released in response to a public records request, do not send electronic mail to this entity. Instead, contact this office by phone or in writing.
