To the editor:

While the effect this will have on students can’t be understated, the longer term and even more significant effects will be felt by the alumni and potentially even the development office. Now that alumni have a reason and the ability to come on campus for sporting events, this can hopefully spark even more interest from alumni and their families. Both the news story and editorial hit it on the head: tailgating these games is not meant to be a “drunk fest.” That’s in essence what Homecoming and Novafest are intended to do. Tailgating is meant to be a time where fans young and old can come together to share a tradition, share a burger, and maybe a few beers before enjoying a top-5 FCS team play.

Though monitoring the progress of tailgating will be a concerted effort on several fronts, enough can’t be said about the progress Athletics, the department of Public Safety, University administrators, and SGA have made in restoring a tradition that should never have been taken away in the first place. There will always be those bad apples that take it too far. But, I’m glad that a system is now in place such that those individuals won’t ruin what is hopefully the start of something good. Tradition is often partnered with the idea of the Villanova experience. This will hopefully be a new one that Villanovans of all ages can experience, a tradition that will never graduate.

-Alessandro Roco, 2007 Co-Editor in Chief and Class of 2009