Clarifying University policy on tailgating

Mr. Sawrey,I read your article in the Tuesday’s Technician and I believe some[one] has provided you with some misinformation.When I arrived in 2000, tailgating hours were three hours before kickoff and student parking was limited to a small area behind the RBC Center.

Increased searches came as a result of 9/11, and the [policy] applies equally to all gates at the Stadium. If you now enter almost any NFL stadium they conduct full pat downs – male on male and female on female.

You might also find that many of the NFL stadiums are now restricting tailgating.Prior to 2004, the fairgrounds parking lot or Bunn Field was unrestricted parking and not under the control of NC Sate. There was no control for entry into the lot and many of the people who made use of the lot had no intention of attending our football games.

In fact the two individuals who were killed did not even have tickets to the game, they along with the shooters came to party.

As a result of the shooting, an agreement was reached with the Department of Agriculture to allow NC State to take control of the Bunn Field lot up to 36 hours before game time. The lot became permitted and about 2/3 of the lot was sit aside for student parking.

As part of the agreement to establish the parking area for students tailgating hours was extended to five hours for the student lot, but remained 3 hours for the lots on Carter Finley Stadium. The tailgating hours were later established so the five hours applied to both Carter-Finley lots and Bunn Field.

If you have any further questions, I will certainly be glad to discuss with you.

Police Chief Tom Younce