TIGER TV ONLINE REPORTER
The Office of the Dean of Students caught 56 students at the Vanderbuilt game and 35 at the UL-Lafayette game who loaned their Tiger Cards to other students or graduates to enter football games.
“This is a high volume of students caught,” Katie McGee Barras, assistant Dean of Students and associate Director of Student Advocacy and Accountability, said.
A student can get caught using someone else’s ID when the presented ID scans as invalid or when representatives of the dean of students, Tiger Card office and athletic officials cannot verify the ID as theirs through the computer database at the gate.
“They took up my ID and sent my friend and I emails saying we violated one of the following terms with the dean of students,” communication disorders sophomore Shayne Kimbel said, whose ID was used by a friend to get into the game this past Saturday.
After the violation is caught students are asked to leave the stadium and are informed of correspondence from the Office of the Dean of Students that will ask them to make an appointment to discuss the matter in a formal setting.
Typically students can’t attend that game and are asked to fill out educational materials in regards to the violation. Depending on the allegations students could lose tickets for the entire season.
“For a singular situation that’s not how we respond,” Barras said. “There has to be something else fraudulent going on.”
The official policy on ID swapping is set by the athletic office and printed on student tickets and IDs. Like the ticket, the card is issued solely to the student, and this agreement is made when students first sign the papers to get a Tiger Card.
“When they give that card to someone else, that violates the contract,” Barras said. “These policies have been in place a long time.”
Both the student borrowing and lending the ID can be charged with a violation of forgery of University documents. However if the borrower is not a student, the Office has no authority.
“We can only circulate their name because they’re not part of our community, although many of those impacted are previous students,” Barras said.
Kimbel got off with a warning that will last this semester but must fill out paperwork about the incident and the experience.
“I won’t do it again, just in case,” Kimbel said.
The Tiger Card Office will be open for the next two home games to make new cards for students who have lost their IDs or left them somewhere unattainable. A few situations where IDs were stolen or locked in buildings were handled on a case-by-case basis.
“We let some students in with their driver’s licenses but that will not be the case for the next two games,” Barras said.
Another change from previous years is the more collaborated effort on the part of the Athletic Office, Tiger Card Office and the Office of the Dean of Students to prevent students from lending their IDs. They also want to dispel any misinformation and make sure students understand the problem.
“Student tickets are a privilege because not everyone gets them,” Barras said. “It’s important that those fortunate students use them the intended way.”
Students think differently on the issue.
“We’re not causing any harm; someone is just taking my place,” Kimbel said. “I think it’s ridiculous.”
