The annual Homecoming tailgate is going to look a lot different this year. The event has been moved from Lot T next to the Leavey Center to the McDonough Gymnasium parking lot, and no cars will be admitted to the tailgate area because of a lack of available space. No food or drink will be allowed into the parking lot. Instead, all-you-can-eat Rocklands Barbeque and free-flowing keg beer will be provided for a $5 admission fee ($3 for soda instead of beer), thanks to subsidies that have been provided by various campus groups.
Construction of the new Performing Arts Center has made it impossible for the event to be held in its usual location in Lot T. Although it will be somewhat disappointing (and slightly odd) to have a tailgating party without any cars, there really isn’t any other solution. The lot just isn’t big enough.
Despite this setback, the organizers have done a commendable job preparing for Homecoming. They have resisted the temptation to sell drink tickets, since such a move would have likely caused a small revolt among attendees. At these event, simpler is always better. And although this year’s tailgate will end after the first quarter of the football game, earlier than in past years, it will begin a half-hour earlier, at 10:30 a.m. This time change is a commendable move to encourage more students and alumni to cheer on the team while taming the mid-day partying. But those who choose to drink and can provide identification should be allowed to do so. And on the 2003 Homecoming website, the event’s organizers assure us that “we’ll have plenty of servers to keep lines short.”
We hope this is the case. When it comes to events that Georgetown students love-say, the opportunity to listen to several hours worth of policy analysis by a former cabinet member-they gladly wait in long lines for tickets, and attendance is guaranteed. With events that are actually fun-drinking beer and watching football-they’re far more fickle. Plan poorly, and you’re shooting yourself in the foot. Nobody will come, or nobody will watch the game, or both.
If everything goes according to plan, the University will have done an excellent job in making the appropriate compromise between reducing excessive drinking and making sure that everyone has a good time. We may not have a “real football school,” and we may not even have an adequate parking lot, but Homecoming can still be a success. Let’s hope students do their part, and cheer the Hoyas on at the game.
