As LSU finished off its 34-10 stifling of Texas A&M on Nov. 23 in Tiger Stadium, senior associate athletic director Eddie Nunez watched as his fears came true.
Standing on the field in front of the student section, Nunez heard vulgarities hurled from rowdy students during the Tiger Band’s rendition of the popular song “Neck” — the same fellatio phrasing that spurred Nunez and the rest of the athletic department to launch the “Tradition Matters” campaign prior to the Tigers’ showdown with the Aggies.
“I actually looked at them, and one of the guys pointed at me,” Nunez recalled. “They see me.”
“They’re laughing at me.”
The incident is a single example of the failures of the four-month old campaign, producing little remedy to the vulgarities in the LSU student section — even transporting over to the PMAC as the chant was clearly picked up on ESPN’s broadcast of LSU’s 87-82 upset of then-No. 11 Kentucky on Jan. 28.
LSU Sports Information Director Michael Bonnette said the focus of the campaign has shifted to the reserved section — blocks of seats available to student organizations registered with LSU Campus Life and where most Greek chapters hold tickets.
Bonnette and Nunez both referred to videos taken by the athletic department inside Tiger Stadium during LSU’s final two home football games as tangible proof of the increased vulgarities in the section.
Nunez said the athletic department also dispatched individuals throughout the student section during the final two home games, tasked with finding the problem areas and reporting back to the department.
“We had [cursing], for the most part, across the board,” Nunez said. “But a larger percentage was focused on the reserved section. The reason it becomes more problematic to look at the section isn’t because it’s Greek or because it’s reserved seating. It’s because of where it’s placed.”
Containing sections 105, 106 and 221-224, the reserved section is situated above where all LSU athletic recruits and families sit during their official visits.
“It gets to the point where [recruits’ families] are asking us at the games,” Nunez said. “It’s supposed to be more of an entrusted group because they’ve earned an opportunity to receive these blocks. If they can’t help us in the process of trying to attract these young individuals to come to LSU, we have an issue.”
For Associate Dean of Students and Greek Life director Angela Guillory, it’s a hard sell to exclusively blame the reserved section.
Guillory attended a meeting alongside Bonnette, Nunez, Dean of Students K.C. White, Student Government president John Woodard and Kurt Keppler, vice chancellor for Student Life and Enrollment Services, in December to discuss the issue.
“There was no conversation about non-Greek students,” Guillory said of the meeting.
She added the meeting carried with it an inference that reserved seating could be abolished. Also, the videos gathered inside Tiger Stadium brought up specific Greek chapters and pointed out they were causing issues.
Since that meeting, neither Guillory nor White said they have seen the videos, although both have asked to see them. Woodard and Interfraternity Council president Clay Tillotson also said they haven’t seen the video.
“It was subjective information,” Guillory said. “I don’t make decisions, nor will I be public about things that are subjective. There’s nothing worse than being falsely accused.”
Nunez said the athletic department isn’t rushing into any decisions, but he noticed repeated offenses by the reserved section in the two home football games after “Tradition Matters” was introduced.
The problem Nunez noticed on video and in person was students interjecting vulgarities in songs other than “Neck” and “Tiger Rag” — both of which were banned years ago in what Nunez termed a “knee-jerk reaction” but were brought back before the Furman game on Oct. 26.
Coupled with threats from ESPN and CBS to take cameras and microphones out of the student section completely, Nunez said the issue is pressing and measures need to be taken.
“Is one of the options moving people? Sure,” Nunez said. “You could kick people out if you want, but we’re not going to go to that extreme right now.”
White and Guillory said they’ve had little to no correspondence with the athletic department concerning the vulgarities since the December meeting.
It’s a balancing act, according to White, who said the athletic department must weigh entertainment and a good time for students, while still enticing students to show up to games — a problem that has been plaguing the school in the last two seasons.
An average of 3,250 student tickets went unused last season and both the reserved and general admission reached 80 percent capacity only once, during a 17-6 win against Florida on Oct. 12, according to data obtained by The Daily Reveille
Both the reserved and general admission sections were less than 70 percent full in the Tigers’ final two Southeastern Conference home games of 2012 — wins against Mississippi State and Ole Miss.
“We can get rid of this easily by saying we’re not playing the songs,” Nunez said. “But we’re trying to encourage the tradition, entertainment and trying to grab the student body to show up to games. You want them to come, you want them to be there the whole game, but you want them to be entertained. “
LSU band director Roy King did not respond to The Daily Reveille’s request for comment.
White said she constantly apologizes, sometimes it’s in response to an email from a disgruntled alumni or parent. Other days, it’s the first thing she does when fellow SEC colleagues come to Baton Rouge on gamedays.
A threat of punishment to those using vulgar language will do no good, and doing so would be a “sign of weakness” for the University, White said.
Instead, White said it’s up to student leaders to be influential to fellow students.
“I think the guys in this situation have more influence than the women,” White said. “On this one, we’ve got to get the fraternity men and leaders as well as Student Government. It can’t just be an SG thing because they don’t have the influence.”
The situation was laid out to Greek chapter presidents at their most recent cabinet meeting in early February, where some presidents volunteered to join a committee of Greek student leaders aimed at curtailing the vulgarities.
Tillotson, who sits in the reserved section, said the presidents weren’t very receptive of the idea and only had “about four” fraternity presidents volunteer.
“There really wasn’t too big of a reaction because, frankly, they haven’t brought a realistic threat forward that they’re going to take [tickets] away,” Tillotson said.
Woodard, a member of the Greek community, said isolating the reserved section would be a “shallow assessment” of the problems enveloping the student section. He added that while there have been no other formal meetings since December, he and Nunez have kept an open line of communication about the issue.
Still, he said the groups must work together if anything will be accomplished.
“I don’t think any one group has the influence,” Woodard said. “I don’t think any one person has the influence to influence an entire student body one way or the other. It’s got to be a collective effort. It’s got to start from the top and everybody has got to be involved with it.”
White, who has worked at Miami and Florida State previously, said she’s seen football-obsessed culture and students, but never to the “one step too far” extent she sees at LSU.
“You go to Alabama, Florida, nobody else, A&M, Auburn, nobody gets dinged in terms of the inappropriate language,” White said. “No one else is deemed profane. … I wish we were known for something else.”

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The LSU student section cheers on Oct. 13, 2012 during the 23-21 victory against South Carolina at Tiger Stadium for the annual gold game.