Members of Alpha Sigma Phi play cornhole at the Greek Life Tailgate that took place in front of Xfinity Center last year.
Following the lead of other Big Ten schools, the Interfraternity Council and the Student Government Association have been officially hosting on-campus tailgates to rouse school spirit among students and keep rowdy pregame parties out of College Park neighborhoods. But students say it isn’t necessarily working.
The IFC piloted its first two on-campus tailgates last year and has committed to hosting one for every home football game this semester, with the possible exception of the final game against Rutgers because it falls close to Thanksgiving break, said Christopher Frye, IFC vice president of external affairs.
“This is what other Big Ten schools do,” he said. “It’s safer, contained and more controlled than it would be off-campus, and it helps build support for the athletic community.”
The tailgate is sponsored and regulated by the IFC. To enter, guests must show a wristband given to them by the IFC or a fraternity member and a ticket to the game.
The IFC has hosted two tailgates so far this semester, but the on-campus festivities haven’t eradicated off-campus partying, city Councilwoman Stephanie Stullich said.
“All the campus tailgate did this Saturday was sort of shift the neighborhood parties to a much earlier part of day,” she said at a City Council meeting on Sept. 16. “These 6 a.m. parties are really, really distressing.”
The council, as well as the Office of Student Affairs, have agreed to become co-sponsors, each pledging to contribute $5,000 toward the $26,000 cost of the tailgates.
Though attendance for the tailgates have been high so far — 2,500 to 3,000 attendees at each, Frye said — students say partying still happens off the campus.
Some come for the tailgate and leave before the game to continue partying, and others opt out altogether to host their own parties, said Nick Martinazzi, junior landscape architecture major and Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity member.
The last tailgate, held on Sept. 13, started so early — at about 8 a.m. — that many fraternity members chose not to go at all, said Timothy Wieroniey, junior environmental science and policy major and Kappa Alpha Order fraternity member.
The tailgates must start four hours before each game and end one hour in advance to give students enough time to get to the stadium for the national anthem, which starts half an hour before kickoff, Frye said.
This is just one of the rules that makes the tailgate too rigid and undesirable for some students, Wieroniey said.
Alcohol at the “bring your own booze” event is strictly monitored by the IFC. According to its policy, hard liquor is prohibited and no packages of beer larger than a 12-pack are allowed in.
“You can regulate it to make it safe and fun without being so strict,” Wieroniey said.
This also won’t stop students from having off-campus parties in which they don’t need a wristband or ticket to get in, he said, adding that it’s unfair to give wristbands only to fraternities and not sororities.
Although he enjoyed the tailgates, Martinazzi said he agrees the tailgate is strict, but understands it needs to be regulated for students’ safety.
“I like it, and all my brothers like it,” he said. “I think everybody wishes they would loosen up on what you’re allowed to bring into the tailgate. They’re kind of strict, but with reason.”
Though game days are always hectic for University Police, no incidents directly associated with the tailgate were reported to police on either game day this semester, said John Zacker, this university’s student affairs assistant vice president.
Although it may be preventing some gameday incidents, this new tradition doesn’t change much for students outside of Greek life, said Abby Iacangelo, senior bioengineering major, who tailgated with her family and friends in Lot 1 before the last game.
“There’s two sides to the coin,” she said. “In one sense, people who live in College Park don’t want to deal with people tailgating, but on the other hand, there’s so many people who live off-campus who could have trouble getting to a spot to tailgate.”
The tailgate’s goal isn’t only to keep student parties out of the surrounding neighborhoods but also to raise football game attendance and rally enthusiasm for the sport, Frye said.
“We’re seeing students become more excited for football,” he said. “I can see in four or five years Maryland having a really big football culture.”
If this university wants to boost school spirit across the board, it’s going to have to make an effort to reach out beyond the Greek life population, Wieroniey said.
“It will increase Greek attendance, but we’re only such a small population of the entire university,” he said. “If they want to increase school spirit university-wide, they’re going to have to do something else.”
Senior staff writer Talia Richman contributed to this report.
