What angers and disappoints me the most about the administration’s decision to cancel Tailgate is the idea that the football team deserves more support than other student organizations and on-campus events.
I’m tired of Coach Cutcliffe and Larry Moneta trying to make me feel guilty for not caring about or supporting Duke football. Coach Cutcliffe, why didn’t the football team show up to support me last Spring when I represented Duke in a global health case competition at Research Triangle Park?
My point is not that the football team should have shown up at my competition or that Moneta should have sent out an e-mail to the student body to chastise it for not heavily attending my event. I believe that both are unfair expectations given the legitimate differences in interest among students. The discourse surrounding this decision should be about more than whether Duke students should be supported by the University as they get drunk in Halloween costumes—it should also focus on unseating the assumption that certain kinds of extra-curricular participation should be encouraged and supported more than others.
Brian Clement
Trinity ’11
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