First of all, I'd like to welcome our guests to Family Weekend. Thank you for all your support.
But this letter isn't for the families. Keep reading if you'd like, but this message is for my peers in the student section:
My family doesn't always come from home to see me on Family Weekend, but I always go to the game.
Maybe I go because it's in the middle of a Saturday, when I'm typically free. Or maybe it's because I like seeing families bond together.
But every year, I am in the presence of things I don't like.
When my sister came up for a game last year, I took her to the student section with me.
She's 16 years old, but that doesn't mean I don't still feel like her protector. If anything, it makes it worse.
We switched spots in the stands a few times. Once or twice, it was out of courtesy so a large group of friends could sit together. But more often, it was because we were around, for lack of a better word, vulgar people.
Don't get me wrong. I like to have fun and drink as much - well, maybe not quite as much - as my peers. And my vocabulary contains a few words that would make my grandma blush.
But one thing is for sure. When families - especially young children - are around, I clean up my act.
Showing up blackout drunk to the Family Weekend game is not classy. It's at 4:30 p.m., for goodness sake! If you're drunk by that time of day, you might need a new hobby.
And I shouldn't have to think twice about bringing my younger family members into the student section because every other word is profane or offensive.
No, the team isn't getting "raped." No, the players aren't "gay," at least not because they just missed a tackle. And no intimate acts are happening on the field, so "f--k" has no reason to be said by anyone in the presence of children or families.
Every year, I witness this behavior and every year, I shake my head.
There are five home football games this year. For the next three, you have no need to be hyper-aware of what you are saying or doing. And on those occasions, drinking until you can't stand - though discouraged by university officials and myself - is more socially acceptable.
But for this one weekend, can't we just have good, clean fun without the threat of corrupting young Sam and Suzy?
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