This weekend the LSU Athletic Department slighted students once again. Three sections of previously deemed students seats were sold to the public before the women’s basketball game against the University of Tennessee. The students were not warned of this transaction, and the PMAC was not sold out. But the seats closest to the baseline next to the band were not full of cheering students like at previous games this season. Instead they were occupied by those who bought the tickets, some of whom were Tennessee fans. One member of the Editorial Board was among the students in line before the gates opened and was told they could not sit in an area that had been available to students the entire season prior to Saturday. But this conflict only makes it apparent that selling student seats affected students who are fans of the sport. About 300 students showed up for the game Saturday against No. 3 Tennessee. This was the second highest student attendance for the season. Herb Vincent, senior associate athletic director, said the decision to sell the tickets fell within the University policy allowing seats to be sold if attendance is lacking. “The decision was made in the best interest of the program,” Vincent said. “[Basketball games] are general admission seating. Students don’t pay for tickets. No students were turned away, and there was a high demand for public paid tickets.” But selling student seats for a game that wasn’t even sold out was a slap in the face to University sports fans. The University placed priority on selling lower level seats before the unsold upper levels over students who regularly attend the games. And this is not the first time student seats were sold to the public. During the football season more than 700 seats were sold to the general public for the University of Mississippi game. The Athletic Department continues to show that it places the bottom line above tuition-paying students. Tiger athletics should be about more than making money. A big part of campus sports includes the sign-waving, face paint-donning students who show up regularly for games to cheer on the teams, the students who yell when the other team has the ball and lead Tiger Stadium and the PMAC in full crowd chants of “geaux tigers.” Stop selling student tickets. And start considering that without student fans, LSU sports would not be what they are today.
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