After a reflection on last year's football season, UCF officials have decided to limit the amount of time tailgaters will have to drink on game day.
As well as last season went, there is always room for improvement, and one area that was unanimous across the board was regarding the time spent tailgating. It's not uncommon to find students tailgating at 7 a.m. for a 7 p.m. football game. Many universities put a limit on the number of hours prior to kickoff that the students are allowed to partake in these activities. The UCF officials didn't feel it necessary to limit the number of hours prior to the game, but they have decided that once the game begins, the drinking must stop.
"SGA [Student Government Association] urged that too many people party without a care about the football game," said vice president for Strategic Planning and Initiatives, Al Harms. "SGA and alumni representatives proposed to knock the drinking off at game time."
Harms said that this is the most substantive change to the policies regarding the fall season and the UCF officials hope that this will help conduct issues.
Although open containers will be forbidden once the game begins, the on-campus restaurants will not be affected. They are separate institutions with strict rules and no changes are anticipated.
"All servers are TIPS certified," Harms said. "This means through a formal process they learned the signs of intoxication that are vital to look for when responsibly distributing alcohol."
Alcohol is only served indoors at the on-campus restaurants that offer it and servers and fans are relied on to understand and respect the standards. Officials insist that there is no need to shut off the spicket on game day.
Violations will be handled by campus police, who will use their judgment to determine the consequences, which can range from a warning to the use of handcuffs. The police will be trusted to make the correct calls. Enforcement will be strengthened.
"Be reasonable and consider whether or not you're trying to cooperate," Harms said.
Harms said the rules and policies are crystal clear and the main desire is for the university to be known as the best in its conference, without any incorrect notions of hosting. Last year proved to be a terrific experience and the officials hope to make this year even better, he said.
There aren't any other significant changes taking place for the upcoming season other than a different method of parking management, but the traffic flow should remain the same.
While the hopes are high with the officials, UCF students have mixed feelings regarding the new drinking policy.
"I know for a fact that if people want to drink, they're going to do it anyway," said engineering major Andrew Wood. "It will definitely contain the problem, but I don't think it will prevent it from taking place."
In addition to the doubts about whether or not this policy will actually work, some students also feel that it may cause additional problems.
"I think it was made with good intentions, but it could definitely cause more problems, such as family and visitors' tailgates ending later than kickoff," said marketing major Katie Kingston. "Maybe instead of cutting off alcohol consumption right at kickoff, they could permit a 30 minute grace period that allows everyone to get inside the stadium and situated."
Several students feel that the new policy is a good idea and may not even be noticeable to the real football fans.
"It's a good idea because people won't get hurt as easily and there's plenty of time to drink prior to kickoff," said biology major Elizabeth Scala. "The people there to see the game probably won't even notice since drinking is not permitted inside of the stadium."
There are minor concerns regarding the actions that will be taken by the police if a violation occurs. Since it is at the discretion of the officer, the result could be one extreme or another.
"I don't think they should take extreme actions right away, but as it gets later in the season and the rules are known throughout, then it would be appropriate," said business management major Ryan Sokoloff. "The first few games they should just give warnings."
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