Let’s talk about tailgating.
The policies the University may enforce should concern anyone who has participated in and enjoyed football festivities in the fall, y’all.
Last week, I made fun of various reactions from people within the LSU community toward the proposed tailgating rules. Funny thing is, some of the jokes I made have a bit of truth to them.
If you don’t care about tailgating or football, that’s OK. I know a lot of cool cats who don’t, but I know a lot more equally cool cats who do.
LSU played its first football game on November 25, 1893. Nearly 123 years later, the culture of football has become infused with the University’s DNA.
Whether or not we care to admit it, we are a football university, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Tailgating on campus is a historic tradition many students’ parents and grandparents have participated in. It’s a tradition many students themselves participate in every single year.
These proposed rules opt to change how alcohol is consumed by students on game days. If enforced, home football games will likely never be the same.
I’m not saying getting black-out wasted is essential to enjoy a Saturday night in Death Valley. However, it does make it slightly more enjoyable for those of us who are legally able to do so.
It also helps me because I literally know nothing about football aside from the cheers and chants I’m supposed to do.
Whether these rules are practical and can feasibly be enforced is another discussion. What’s apparent is the immediate effect they have on students from every social circle.
The thing is, as concerning as I find the proposals, I’m more disappointed by the divisive reactions from students. Some students are turning this into a Greeks vs. non-Greeks situation.
Word on Twitter is a lot of students in Greek life have the opinion these proposed rules unfairly target Greek organizations. Considering there’s a rule regarding furniture on the parade grounds — aka those questionably stained couches at fraternity tailgates we’ve all sat on once or twice — I think they have a valid point.
There’s a word for when a law or rule is using language to directly or indirectly target a particular group of people: discrimination.
I know we millennials love to preach about discrimination, and rightfully so. We tell it like it is and stick up for the underdogs when they’re picked on.
But why is it that a lot of non-Greek students are having difficulty saying that these rules obviously target Greek students? No one seems to have any trouble pointing out recently passed legislation in Mississippi and North Carolina targeting the LGBT community under the guise of “religious liberty.”
The words for this are: double standard.
I get there’s a huge argument against tailgating because it allegedly excludes minorities, and to that I say, “Hogwash.” Though something does need to be done about those horrible, purple and gold confederate flags.
A tailgate is a lot like a house party. Do you expect to be invited to a party if you’ve never bothered talking to the host?
It’s not frowned upon to be friends with Republicans, y’all. Intermingling is fun. Try it sometime.
Instead of starting petty fights on Twitter over whether Greek students are oppressed, we should be working together as a student body to voice our concerns.
These rules suck for all students and questionably target Greek students. As a non-Greek who has had the pleasure of attending many diverse tailgating functions, I hope the student body can address the blatant targeting of these proposals.
Here’s a radical idea for you millennials: maybe after we work together to solve this issue, we can do something about this darn budget deficit.
John Gavin Harp is a 21-year-old mass communication junior from St. Francisville, Louisiana.

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Emily Brauner

9/27/14 LSU vs NM Tailgating