New Students Feel Deprived of Full College Experience

At The University of Alabama not much beats the excitement of college football season. Saturdays in the fall bring out an entirely new atmosphere around Bryant-Denny Stadium. The entire campus comes alive from early in the morning, to late at night, as the students embrace the spirit of the game. The weeks leading up to it could be the most restless of the year as we impatiently await kickoff of the greatest season of the year. Perhaps the students who most eagerly await the first kick-off at Bryant-Denny Stadium are the freshmen that have never experienced a game from the coveted student section. The problem is that only about half of the freshmen and transfer students will get to see that first kick-off due to the fact they can only buy what the ticket office calls “The New Student Mini Packages.”

The New Student Mini Package offers two package options for new students. Both packages include two in conference games and at least one out of conference game. However, most new students would prefer to go to all games rather than just a select three or four. Package A consists of Florida International, Arkansas, and the most highly anticipated game of the season LSU. Package B consists of the parent’s weekend game, North Texas; the homecoming game, South Carolina; Tennessee; and Tennessee-Chattanooga. While the ticket office did a good job of creating two packages that were appealing to the entire incoming class, most new students still feel as though they’ve been deprived of what some people consider to be the most important part of the college experience.

Caleb Abel, a freshman at the University, can’t understand why a stadium that holds 92,000 people can’t accommodate all 27,000 students who are enrolled in the University. The most logical explanation for the shortage of student tickets is the number of non-students the University attempts to accommodate. Other than the students, the ticket office also tries to provide the faculty with tickets; however, the largest group of ticket holders comes from outside the University. Not surprising, this is also where the ticket office generates the most revenue. A full season ticket packages for spectators outside the University begins at $365, and individual games begin at $40. Conversely, the New Student Mini Package B costs half the amount non-students are paying to see Alabama take the field against UT-Chattanooga. Meredith Duvall, also a UA freshman, took a different approach to the argument. Although she would rather all students have access to all the games, she feels the upperclassmen have earned the right to full season tickets over new incoming students. Haley Gossett likes the system the way it is. She believes that it is the best option since all students have access to at least some games.

The flaws in the ticket system for incoming students do not only include missing out on home games. New students also have no access to purchase tickets for away games. This problem is especially distressing this season because the Crimson Tide starts the season with a big game played in the Georgia Dome and ends the season against their rival Auburn that is being played in Auburn this year. Alabama freshman Chole Allen, whose family went to Auburn, was especially disappointed she didn’t have the option to go to this game since it has so much meaning to her and her family. Sarah Coggins, a freshmen and a cheerleader, has a unique situation since she cheers at all the home games. She feels it would have been nice for her to be able to purchase tickets for away games so she could also enjoy the games as a spectator.

Although I think all the freshmen and transfer students would agree that the low price of the mini packages are great, I also believe that they would be willing to pay more money to see more games. I also believe that something needs to change for the underclassmen, because the college football experience should be open to all college students. Perhaps the extension that is being added to Bryant-Denny will mean more open seats for the students of the University.