At Saturday’s University of Miami vs. Florida State game, the house was rockin’, and no doubt it was rockin’ hard. No home game in the Randy Shannon age has attracted more fans. With 7,800 student seats full, extra security and police, Sun Life Stadium was swamped with thousands of spirited Nole and Cane fans.
Along with the usual gameday atmosphere and chaos, there were a few inconsistencies at Sun Life Stadium. Besides being disappointed about UM’s loss, about 100 students were even more frustrated because they were not admitted to the game.
UM’s athletic department, however, had communicated through student affairs and posted flyers on campus that emphasized that wrist bands would be first come, first serve. Additionally, Dr. Pat Whitely, vice president of student affairs, sent an e-mail to several listservs to announce that the game was sold out.
Knowing that this was the first sellout for a Cane game since 2004, students should have assumed that arriving at the game late would not guarantee you a seat or even admission.
Despite the fact that students should have gone into Sun Life Stadium early, it is understandable how obnoxious it is to not have the right to enter your school’s own football game, especially after dealing with two hours of heavy, irritating traffic on I-95.
More importantly, the price for football games is included in our tuition. In fact, all sporting events are included in our $56 student activity fee. It is not only a right to attend our football games, but also a privilege we have paid for.
For popular and crowded games, UM should set up better policies so fans are not rejected from the stadium. Perhaps sending out a mass e-mail through the UMail listserv that defines “early” and sets a recommended arrival time would get the job done.
In fact, student affairs and the athletic department are aware of this problem and will be looking into it. For future games like this, the division of student affairs is going to work with Student Government and the athletic department on enforcing a ticket-based system. The athletic department is also finding ways to open up the stadium and communicate with students.
Instead of simply complaining about this, we need to speak up and give our feedback to student affairs and the athletic department to actually resolve this issue.
Editorials represent the majority view of The Miami Hurricane editorial board.