For University students and alumni, football Saturday memories are revered and deified, persevering once individual classes are long forgotten. Thanks to the Athletic Department, some incoming students, instead of making the traditional trek to Michigan Stadium on Saturday mornings, will be forced to watch home games huddled around residence hall television sets. These ill-fated first-year and transfer students will be issued split-season football tickets. The Athletic Department's decision is unprecedented and unacceptable - students should have priority for season tickets.
One of the best schedules in University history increased student season-ticket applications from 14,000 to 20,000 this year. The Athletic Department refused to take season tickets away from anyone who held them previously and did not increase season-ticket allocations for current season-ticket holders. In applying this flawed policy, demand for student season tickets could not be satisfied. Consequently, 3,200 first-year and incoming graduate and transfer students will receive split-season tickets to attend only three or four of the seven home football games. University students should be the Athletic Department's most important constituency - in recent years, alumni and loyalists' higher ticket prices and large donations have skewed the department's priorities.
Other options would appear far more attractive. Why not give split-season tickets to those alumni and University loyalists who have held their tickets for the fewest years? Giving tickets to students and alumni while making all others last priority makes more sense than the present scheme. Senior Associate Athletic Director Keith Molin said the goal was to "try to find the least unfair option of unfair options," and claimed there was "no (decision) totally free of inequity." However, the Athletic Department followed its recent precedent of selecting not the fairest, but the most financially advantageous alternative.
Handing out split-season football tickets exemplifies what is wrong with an athletic department that places the mission of increasing revenue ahead of the needs of student-athletes and the student body at-large. While a strong business acumen is necessary to run the athletic department, the department must refocus to make students first priority and to avoid the athletic scandals that have become all too common at the University.
Incoming Athletic Director Tom Goss, a former University football player and successful executive, appears to have the proper background to transform the department. But the web of NCAA regulations grows larger each day and these rules cannot be learned overnight. Goss should surround himself with people who have Division I athletic administration experience. Goss' team, instead of forging new deals with corporate America, should focus on strictly adhering to NCAA regulations and restoring the University's status as a national leader in high quality and clean athletic programs. Goss must also ensure that students will be treated fairly; giving out split-season tickets to freshman is a precedent that must not continue.
Some students' closest friendships are solidified at a tailgate or marshmallow fight on football Saturday. At many large public schools, such as the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, football tickets come free with tuition. At the University of Michigan, students get no such perks. Tickets here come at a hefty price - but for some they simply do not come at all. And this is unacceptable for students - the University's loudest and most loyal fans.
09-03-97
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