The success of the 2000-2001 men's basketball team inspired many students to camp out days in advance of last year's games, in hopes of getting seats at University Hall. But because there was such a high demand for limited seats, Student Council's Athletic Affairs Committee has now proposed a new policy for students wishing to camp out for games.
According to the proposal, a team of 12 line monitors will be present before each game to draw up a list of priority seating on a first-come, first-serve basis. One goal of the new system is to eliminate the rush for seats when the doors of U-Hall open.
"The monitors are not police officers," said John Steck, a member of the athletics committee who authored the proposal. "These are just students camping out with everyone else who are trying to keep some order to the place."
"The whole purpose of this new policy is to keep the system fair and secure," said Andrew Rader, associate athletic director of marketing, promotions and licensing. "I was there when they opened the gates last year, and it was not a safe situation."
Students who choose to camp out before home games will be confined to the area between the south entrance of University Hall and Onesty Hall, now termed "Hooville."
Upon arrival in Hooville, students can add their group's name to a list maintained by line monitors. Students may submit a list of up to 10 names at this time.
The proposal stressed that only University students may appear on the list and that at least one member of the group must be present in Hooville at all times prior to the game.
"Another goal of our proposal is to foster an environment where camping out itself is an enjoyable experience," said Andy Lilienthal, chairman of Council's athletic affairs committee. "Camping out builds excitement for the actual game."
The proposal also suggests that wristbands be used to designate the order in which students' names appear on the list.
Proponents of the new policy said one advantage of a list-based system is that there will be no need for students to arrange themselves in a particular order while camping in Hooville.
"Our biggest problem last year was in the sheer numbers that would show up before the games," Rader said. "We needed some way to keep an order between the people who had been camping out for two days versus the ones who had been camping out for five."
Lilienthal said he also was looking into the possibility of bringing in vendors and other activities to the event, though nothing has been confirmed as of yet. He stressed that the current proposal for the entire event still is tentative and needs to be confirmed by the Sports Promotion Office.
In drawing up the proposal, committee members borrowed ideas from Duke, Iowa and Michigan Universities, as well as implementing many of their own.
Duke University instituted a similar policy several years ago after they experienced problems with mobs amassing before basketball games.
"We were having major difficulties with large numbers and with line monitors letting in friends who hadn't been in line," said Sue Wasiolek, Duke University assistant vice president of student affairs. "So the student government decided to institute a new policy, and we've see no such issues since."
Duke's policy also limits the number of games for which students are allowed to camp out. But Council's proposal has no such restriction.
"The beauty of this system is that it is wholly designed and maintained by students," Lilienthal said. "We want to make this the best policy in the ACC"
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