UW officials have blown the whistle on the traditional scramble for seats in the student sections of Husky Stadium, where “Husky Fever” was reaching the boiling point in the last few years.
While some rowdy behavior has always been present, starting in 1986, seat-saving fights, alcohol use, body-passing, and other dangerous behavior began to escalate. In response to the increasingly reckless actions of some students, last January the Office of Student Affairs announced that it would switch to a reserved seating system for the student sections.
Before, with open seating, fraternity pledges and students from other organizations arrived early and often saved blocks of 60 to 100 seats.
“If you got there very early for every game but weren’t aggressive enough, you might not get a good seat,” explained Gae Burr, director of athletic ticket sales for the UW. Then the fights began. “Now it will be more equitable. A student can come to the game five minutes before kickoff and still enjoy it.”
Under open seating it was difficult to trace the source of fights and alcohol use. Now, since an assigned seat matches a student’s name, individuals will be held responsible and accountable for inappropriate behavior.
The University worked for two years on a plan that would balance the desire for good seats — and a good time — with the need for safety and acceptable behavior. Members of the Office of Student Affairs, along with representatives from student groups such as the ASUW and Interfraternity Council, developed a complicated, three-tiered plan that involves a lottery and a “team” rotation.
Students enrolled at the UW last year — and those who were accepted early enough for the current term — had until July 1 to apply for “rotating priority season seats.” These are the best seats in the student section, divided among individuals and groups of up to 30 students.
Unlike most season ticket holders, these students don’t sit in the same seat the whole season. Instead the location changes every game, giving each student a chance to see at least one game from the most favorable angle. The athletic ticket office is using a lottery to decide which students get the best seats for each game.
Groups of students who ordered together rotate together as a “team.” But no team may have more than 30 members. “Thirty was a negotiated number,” said Jeanne Holm, director of administrative services at the Office of Student Affairs. “Students can sit with friends, and yet not be in a group too large to control. Under the new plan, small groups of four or five ticket holders will have the same advantages as larger groups.” Not just larger groups are buying blocks of tickets, either. ”You name any number between one and 30, and we’ve sold a block for that many. Friends are ordering together,” said Burr.
For those who missed the July 1 deadline, regular reserved seats were assigned on a first-come, first-served basis through Sept. 16. The plan allowed individual tickets or blocks of seats for groups of up to 30. These ticket holders keep the same seats throughout the season; they do not rotate.
If not all 7,000 student seats are sold, reserved seats in the student section may be purchased for individual games.
As of the July 1 deadline, students purchased 2,520 “priority rotating reserved seats,” according to Burr.
So that freshmen would also have a chance to purchase the best seats, the University sent reserved seating information to incoming freshmen along with their registration packets.
However, freshmen interested in the Greek system did not know by the July 1 deadline which fraternity or sorority they will be joining and could not purchase group tickets with their as-yet unknown “brothers and sisters,” said Dave Zimmer, president of the Interfraternity Council, a major critic of the reserved seating system.
Holm explained that these freshmen can sit together by purchasing regular reserved tickets or individual game tickets. Also, any student who has a reserved season ticket may use that ticket to sit in the general admission section with friends who have purchased an individual game ticket.
“As a matter of fact, since we announced the plan,” adds Holm, “we’ve received calls from students who are very supportive of it.”
Zimmer acknowledged that commuters and other students were often intimidated out of the good seats. “I guess we were spoiled. We had the best of both worlds. But we’re willing to compromise and work within the system,” he said.
As with any new system, the plan will be re-evaluated at the end of the season. While most students were not back for the first game of the season, held on Sept. 9 against Texas A&M, both stadium officials and members of the student affairs office said they were pleased with the fan behavior in the student stands.