Uptight rules don’t provide students respect at Dolphin Stadium

I’ve never been one to complain about the school’s policies and procedures at football games. I ignored those policies as my friends were arrested and given tickets in the parking lot, mostly because they were too drunk or to young to defend. 

Last weekend, however, my last football game was ruined by something I saw happen in my section. I was sitting in Section 403, where apparently there is no drinking. I happened to wander down to the 100 level student section, and it was like that episode of Seinfeld where Jerry sits in first class and Elaine gets stuck in coach. I felt like a coach class student. Not only was I sitting in the nosebleed section but the over-aggressive security guards and police officers refused to let students bring beer in.

An acquaintance of mine, who is over 21 and was not past his limit by any stretch of the imagination, happened to walk past one of the security guards and managed to get a beer through their impenetrable wall.

At halftime, after he had finished the beer, some cops caught on to other students drinking around him.  They started clearing them out, telling them that they had to finish them in the concourse. When they got to him, he refused to leave because his beer was empty and no one had informed him of this policy. Within minutes, several others cops helped escort him outside. He was forced to give up his Cane Card and leave the game, without doing anything that mirrored criminal action or even disrespect. All of the people who came with him (they were all also seniors) left.

I began to wonder if the University of Miami would dare tell non-students that they weren’t allowed to drink in their seats. 

I think not.

Why do students have to be forced to sit in a specific section, and then be told that they are not allowed to drink there? How come students are allowed to drink in one section of the stadium and not the other? 

Non-students pay face value for tickets, and I don’t think the football program or the university can take anymore losses in ticket sales. So there is no problem telling students, who are of age and have every right to enjoy a beer while they watch their Canes, that they have to view the game from the tiny TVs above the vendors. Don’t worry, they don’t pay for tickets.