Nearly four months after administrators canceled Tailgate, Duke Student Government held a forum Monday to gather input from students for a new kind of celebration.
Although 104 students said they were planning to attend the event on Facebook, only seven students attended the forum, which aimed to “determine what [the future tailgating] experience will be like,” according to the event’s Facebook page. DSG President Mike Lefevre, a senior, and sophomore Chris Brown, vice president for athletics and campus services, led the discussion.
“[Changing Tailgate] is pretty much non-negotiable,” Brown said. “Tailgate and the football game have become two mutually exclusive events... it has to be an experience... about football.”
Administrators canceled Tailgate after a minor was found unconscious in a Porta Potty. At the time, Vice President for Student Affairs Larry Moneta called the incident the “predominant deciding factor” for canceling the final Tailgate of the year, The Chronicle previously reported.
“[The incident] gave the administration an opportunity to say that we got lucky that [the minor] was only passed out,” Lefevre said.
Although he recognized the seriousness of the incident, Lefevre noted that this year’s Tailgates had fewest number of total calls to Emergency Medical Services in recent history. Furthermore, more than 3,000 students attended the Homecoming Tailgate—marking one of the highest attendance rates in the last few years.
Students at the forum discussed possible changes to Tailgate that may result in a more positive experience for the student body and for the University as a whole.
Finding a way to connect tailgating with football games is one of the top priorities in instituting reforms. Students suggested moving the location of future tailgating activities from its former spot in the Blue Zone. Lefevre said the majority of former discussions within DSG and with the administration have revolved around moving tailgating to a location closer to the athletic facilities, adding that the Card Gymnasium parking lot is the top choice.
He noted that head football coach David Cutcliffe has set tailgating as one of his highest priorities for next year.
Other ideas included requiring students who attend Tailgate to go to football games via a DukeCard swiping system.
Still, students acknowledged that generating the same level of excitement for football games as there was for previous Tailgates will be difficult.
“We’re a basketball school, not a football school,” said senior Greg Halperin. “Football is the exception to [Duke’s strong athletic programs], and people don’t want to show up to that.”
Students also discussed modifying the event’s alcohol policy in order to change tailgating culture. The majority of discussion centered around replacing cases of beer with kegs. Beer cans can be dangerous because some students throw partially-filled cans into the air.
Proposals to transition away from cases of beer to kegs have been discussed before, Lefevre said. Although Dean of Students Sue Wasiolek approved kegs for tailgating, Lefevre said there are “not enough kegs in the city of Durham” to support the event. He added that there would be a problem with massive quantities of unregistered kegs in a condensed area.
Although students agreed the current tailgating system requires reform, some defended the main idea of Tailgate.
“We’re known for our passion worldwide, whether we paint our faces blue and white or we wear pink tutus,” said sophomore Kendall Murphy. “Why is this a bad thing?”
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