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Regulating booze, tailgating hours part of sweeping changes LSU is considering
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BATON ROUGE - LSU is proposing sweeping changes to football tailgate activities for students in what appears to be a way to curb underage drinking.
A meeting with students is set for 4:30 Tuesday to discuss the proposal, which limits what items can be brought to a student organization tailgate, enforces tailgating hours and regulates alcohol consumption.
The Dean of Students will police the updated guide to student tailgating with the help of law enforcement and campus facility services. A proposal warns of obvious presence during tailgating hours.
LSU students wanting to run a tailgate will have to register activities through an LSU intranet. Plots in the popular Parade Grounds on Highland Road will be assigned based on when people requested plots. Student tailgates will also have to be set up between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. the night before a home football game or after 8 a.m. the day of kickoff.
Areas defined as student organization tailgate areas will close 1 hour before kick-off and only folding chairs and collapsible tables will be allowed. Things like large chairs or sofas - staples of college tailgate tents - will not be allowed in student organization tailgate areas.
LSU also wants to regulate drinking games and beverage containers; listing a ban on glass, kegs and large bowls of alcohol like punch. Drinking games that encourage swift consumption of booze will also not be allowed at student tailgates.
LSU proposes one of three avenues to monitor drinking: requiring student organizations that wish to have alcohol at a tailgate have a 3rd party serve it, establish a "bar" near the student organization tailgating area that would serve alcohol to of-age students who have a wristband and agree to a drink limit or require students to provide their own booze (BYOB).
Students would also have to take an online class on sportsmanship, stadium policy and tailgating to obtain student tickets to football games.
The proposal was based off a survey Mari Fuentes-Martin, LSU's Associate Vice President & Dean of Students, asked students to take recently.
"Tailgating is one of LSU’s most cherished traditions. Few things are better than gathering with friends and family before a home football game in Tiger Stadium. This tradition has evolved over the past few years, creating an environment of excessive consumption of alcohol and student safety risks," Fuentes-Martin wrote in an email introducing the survey.
Ideas were compared to regulations at other SEC schools and came about after concerns about dangerous behaviors and student safety by members of the community.
All changes must follow the proper approval channels, LSU said.
Read the email to students HERE. Take the survey HERE.
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