Newsfeed
Printer-Friendly ModeUniversity ‘wingmen’ monitor tailgating
September 28, 2009 —
A new strategy that has students monitoring other students at football tailgating played out at the Cardinals’ first home game on September 19. But there wasn’t much to monitor.
A low student turnout left the monitors, dubbed “Cardinal wingmen,” with little to do at the seasonal event’s premiere.
Beginning this year, the University employs Cardinal wingmen to help maintain a safe party atmosphere. Wingmen are responsible for reporting health and safety concerns, helping move tailgaters into the stands for the kick off and providing general support where needed.
The position is compensated and requires training. On game days, wingmen sport Tshirts that are indicative of their roles.
Accounting senior Grant Essenmacher worked as one of four wingmen at the home opener.
“For me, the whole point of the wingman is to create a tailgating environment where you don’t have to see as many cops or authority figures,” he said. “It really is less intimidating.”
The position arose after a committee of students and administrators collaborated last spring to determine the best way to tailgate at SVSU, said Merry Jo Brandimore, Dean of Student Affairs.
Incidents of excessive alcohol consumption and rowdy behavior at last year’s tailgating party when SVSU hosted the Battle of the Valleys generated an increased police presence at the parties that followed. University police officers would roam the lot, sometimes checking students’ IDs.
“I don’t want [students] to feel intimidated or manipulated,” Brandimore said. “We’re there to help.
We want students to be able to have a good party if they want to have a party.”
Essenmacher and Brandimore speculate that many students may be unaware of the new tailgating location: K lot, which is to the west of the Ryder Center. Moving the student section from E lot, its previous location, was a decision the tailgating committee made with intentions of giving students their own space, independent from family and visiting tailgaters.
“I think that people view the move as a restriction of the things that go on at tailgating,” said Mario Volante, a representative of Student Association, an organization that sponsors student tailgating. “In all reality, it’s just a move in location.”
Brandimore said the wingmen do not request to see students’ IDs.
“We’re only going to address behaviors that call attention to themselves,” she said. “I think we know now that we don’t have to [check IDs]. We’d prefer not to do that across the board.”
Essenmacher views himself as playing more of a passive role, reminding tailgaters of the rules when necessary and reporting only those incidents that present serious risks.
“We don’t have to walk around and scold people,” he said.
The wingman said he is comfortable working the position and was not concerned about getting flack from students.
“If I was at a tailgate, I’d rather hear it from a peer than a police officer or university administrator,” he said.