Alumna disapproves of tailgate policy
I write this letter not only as an alumna, but as a former contributor to the Towerlight, member of the sorority Phi Sigma Sigma, a Panhellenic board member and a former employee of the University.
Reading about the recent tailgate restrictions makes me truly sick, and I am glad that my years at Towson have come to a close. Even as an alumna this is truly disheartening, as I was planning on visiting for the tailgate this year.
The only thing that I truly have to say about this recent change is that it shows the University’s lack of understanding when it comes to their students. Teri Hall and staff believe that putting restrictions on students will help this situation.
They could not be more wrong. I have learned from my Towson experience that more restrictions will only make students more rebellious.
What do I mean by this?
I mean that students will binge, and I mean binge drink in their rooms, before going to the tailgate.
That is if they go at all. Does that seem safe? Or they will drink in their houses and apartments and show zero support at all for the football team just when they were getting good.
Personally I take offense to the comment that this restriction will attract the “right” people. I would not be participating in this if I were a student.
I graduated with a dual major, was a part of several on campus committees and now three months after graduation, hold a full-time teaching position.
I am sorry I am not the type of person you want there just because like many others, while in college, I enjoyed a good beer bong on a Saturday afternoon.
What Teri and the University need to realize is that we are going to drink.
They need to encourage safety, not abstinence.
Do we all remember the Mean Girls quote, “If you have sex you will get Chlamydia and die?”
Well Teri Hall is saying “If you like to drink, you will get too drunk, and you will embarrass us,” instead of saying “drink safely, and don’t down a fifth of Burnett’s before coming to tailgate.”
I will still be coming to Towson for homecoming, but it remains to be seen if I will be attending the tailgate.
As for all future donations to the University, they will be made to my sorority, not the University.
Just until they realize what an unrealistic, unsafe and boring life they are promoting at Towson.
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I think that it’s funny when all these students and alums complain about the tailgating policy. It really makes you sound like a bunch of alcoholics.
As an adult and an alum, can’t you find better ways of having a good time? When I bartended, I used to dread working homecoming because of this ignorant students and alumni that thought they could handle their liquor…only leaving me to clean up their puke because they couldn’t handle their liquor — and this was before I served them any drinks.
Yes. Whine, bitch and complain about the ‘stupid/lame’ tailgating polciy. It’s good to know that TU produces drunks…because that’s what I want my alma mater to be remembered for.
You people really need to grow up and stop acting like it’s a crime. “Oh, I can’t get shit-faced drunk at the tailgate. Boohoo, poor me that I can’t feed my (for lack of a better word) addiction. I’m not going to support my school because they take the fun out of tailgating…so I’m not going to support them until they let me be more of a drunk!”
That’s how you sound people. Really.
Allison what has changed? Vehicles can’t be parked in the lot and you can’t bring your own beer? The number of beers were already limited during Homecoming, so the students getting drunk already had their “pregame” before they even made it to the lots.
As an Alum of TU, you have the ability to attend and be a part of the Alum celebration in a totally different lot. If you REALLY want to tailgate, bring your grill and beer bong game and celebrate Homecoming in a safe manner, be a role model for those students who dont know when to say no. If you feel the need to interact in lot 14, again, bring your grill, lawn chairs, coke or sprite pong, and have fun, but do so soberly. Guess what, you will enjoy Homecoming more when you can remember it.
You suggest that the administration should promote drinking safely, really! The administration should NOT have to be their mother and tell them something that is the obvious. Since the students don’t have the ability to control their own behavior, that’s a joke, they have no other option but to create a safe, friendly, environment for all.
I’m sorry, but if you can’t have fun because you can’t have more than 3 beers, you have a problem.
We have a football game this Saturday, bring your grill, beer, beer pong, footballs and show the underclassman how a real tailgate should be. By the way, bouncing up and down in the back of pick up trucks with music blaring from multiple sources does constitute tailgating.
Allison if you only think Homecoming is for drinking, well then, do the world a favor and stay home. Homecoming is for the football game, not for students/fans to get dunk and ut-of-control in front of a national television audience.
I live seven hours away so I’ll watch the game on television and if the Tigers win, pop open a Natty Boh and cheer. BTW, I’ll be off the road too.
Go Tigers!!!
Rob Ambrose and the Towson football team have put an amazing product on the field and we are finally a winning team once again. Homecoming is a time to come to Unitas Stadium and see the FOOTBALL TEAM. Homecoming is NOT about getting wasted and leaving at halftime. If you are boycotting homecoming you are hurting the players and the coaches and other fans who had nothing to do with this policy. For the record I disagree with the new policy, but that shouldn’t mean I should stop coming to games. It’s about time Towson students and alumni starting going to football games to cheer on our Tigers, not just to get drunk.
If you need to drink more than the 3 allotted beers, do it beforehand and do it safely and don’t drink and drive, but by all means don’t hurt the attendance just because you can’t bring all the beer you want to the tailgate.
So towson has turned into everyone’s mommy and daddy?? I’m sorry but this has nothing to do with a bunch of ‘alcoholics’ wanting to get drunk in public. Homecoming was a big deal to me when I went to towson. It was a day where I could relieve some stress from my classes and have fun with my friends. And *gasp* drink more than three beers!!! That must make me an alcoholic! Right?!? Apparently no one has been to VTech or LSU or any other college for that matter. They’re tailgates are not tame from what Hall claims. Does everyone remember what happened to preakness after they outlawed people from bringing they’re own beer? This is exactly what is going to happen to towson. You know what you should do if people are disorderly? Call the cops and have them arrested! Everyone’s forgetting all the simple fixes. the people who disagrees with this persons post either are lame or old. It’s ok to have fun! Anyone who takes advantage should be arrested! And the bartender who doesn’t want to deal with drunk people??? GET A NEW JOB!!!!! OR BETTER YET, A REAL JOB! Just be aware, word will get out about these rules and I can guess that new admissions to the college will decrease, mark my words.
you obviously missed my reference to bar tending in the past tense. I clearly stated, “when I bartended.” and I never said I didn’t want to deal with drunk people, I said specifically, “only leaving me to clean up their puke because they couldn’t handle their liquor.” now with that said, your education was Clearly a waste, if you can’t decipher the two. As for getting a real job, I have one, but I don’t need to explain that…as that is not part of this thread.
What I will say, and I say this full-hearted, if you need more than three beers to wind down because you had a hard day, seriously get help. Alcoholism is a real thing. You may be an adult and can handle more, but that’s what bars or for…or wait, by your standards…the people serving your annoying ass don’t have real jobs, so I guess that eliminates you from going to a bar. Get a grip…grow up…watch some football, and stop taking it personal. It’s not about you, it’s about supporting the team of your alma mater.
Well I’m sorry I hurt your feelings but if you choose to be a bartender, then that’s the risk you run. Every job has its disadvantages – but you would know that, because you’re so smart as you sit on your high horse looking down on all of us. I love how everyone’s answer to problems is to just make new laws and rules that affect everyone. This non-confrontational society – instead of punishing those who are disorderly, lets punish everyone so we don’t hurt an individuals feelings! And yes every now and then I drink more than three beers – probably once or twice a month – I am not an alcoholic. You know what they say about people who assume.
I love towson. I visit there often although I have lost a lot of respect in them lately since I’ve heard of these new rules. Students who attend these events are adults, so treat them like it. They are not children. It’s not just about drinking beer – it’s the fact that they are becoming this totalitarian state and I don’t like it one bit. I actually went to the undergrad lot for homecoming last year and it wasn’t bad at all – were you there last year? I am speaking out of experience – I didn’t notice anything crazy or out of control. Sure the cops may have been annoyed but you know what? That’s their job- if they’re going to get a job in law enforcement in a college town then expect normal college behavior.
No, girly…you didn’t hurt my feelings. You’re choosing to comment on part of the thread, without reading what it has to say. I was merely correcting your misunderstandings. I don’t look down on anyone, I’m just stating the obvious. If you graduated in ’04, that would put you around 29/30, so basically what I’m trying to say is act that age. When alum come to tailgate, it should be to support their alma mater…that’s all. One thing you learn from being a bartender is how to read people and their choices, so when I make a comment about people who drink, they are pretty spot on. But again, this isn’t about my PREVIOUS employment.
I think that maybe Towson administration are looking out for your best interest (those individuals that want more than 3 beers). When you drive away from here and get pulled over, your ass gets a DUI. When you’re stupid, you make the school look bad, even if you’re not being disorderly. Everyone likes to claim that they have a designated driver, but 92% of party-goers do not (experience). Just my thoughts.
And I’m done with this thread. Good day.
I don’t need someone else to look out for my best interest – if I make a bad decision it’s on me, not towson. Again, we’re adults. If people are alcoholics they will screw up regardless, as you say that anyone and everyone who drinks more than 3 beers makes them an alcoholic. We also seem to forget that there are about 10 colleges within a 10 mile radius of towson…. So people getting arrested or pulled over will not ‘automatically’ make towson look bad. As a woman, what towson needs to focus on is crime and sexual assaults and rape occurring on campus by people trespassing onto the campus, not this. There are way bigger problems than drinking more than 3 beers at a tailgating event… I mean seriously, get a grip!
Teri Hall is a joke. I will not give any money to the University as long as she is employed there.
Also, let’s see if I can reinforce the point that Crystal is trying to make.
I don’t think anyone is making the argument that all college students should be able to drink. Obviously a good percentage of college students are below the legal drinking age and there should certainly be enough security in place to ensure that no 18, 19, or 20 year old college kids are drinking in public.
This does not excuse telling people who are of the legal drinking age how much they can drink though.
If someone is over the age of 21 though, then they are legally allowed to drink as much as they would like.
Furthermore, if someone is an alumnus of Towson University, then that person is an adult who probably works full time, pays taxes, and perhaps even owns a home, has a family etc. In other words, they are an adult and should be treated as such.
Towson University is allowed to do whatever the would like, within reason, on their property. If they want to dictate how long people can tailgate, how many beers they can have in their car etc. that is something they are allowed to do.
Is it smart? No.
First off, I don’t need silly people who think they are important because their title is “Vice President of Campus Life” trying to protect me from myself. They probably chose to work in that position for Towson University and that is very sad but something they have to live with.
Also, it’s pretty insulting considering that I get not stop pamphlets and magazines in the mail and notices on Facebook from Towson asking me for more money. I’m sorry, was the tuition I paid while going there and taxes I pay not enough? I guess not.
If you want to go to a football game and just watch football that’s fine. But don’t tell other people what you think they should or shouldn’t do. If people just want to come and drink and NOT go to the game that’s completely fine. It doesn’t make them alcoholics. Don’t be ridiculous.
Also, Towson has been trying for years to become a big time nationally recognized state school. How many times did we hear Bob Caret talk about how he wanted Towson to be a Florida State or Michigan State sort of school. Guess what? Major state schools allow people to start tailgating at 6am and don’t regulate the way that Deb Moriaty and Teri Hall do.
Like I said in my previous post. Towson will receive no money from me or my friends until these women are gone.
I agree with Ivan, if anything Towson should promote safer drinking. College students are always going to drink and if you tell them to stop, it’s only drawing them farther away from you. You create a large separating, like you are against them. It’s just like Ivan referenced, sex with drinking. People having sex are not just going to stop all of a sudden because you tell them to. But, providing them with facts about unprotected and unsafe sex will help them to do it safely.
You saw the picture for the Homecoming Tailgate, there were about 5 cars there and about 10 people. You pushed the school away by telling them they couldn’t do something. Work with the students and they will work with you.
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