Greeks and non-Greeks alike will gather for the Campus Wide Tailgate to celebrate the College of William and Mary’s annual Homecoming football game Saturday.
The tailgate will be held at the Stimson Throwing Events Area, commonly known as fraternity field, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The College is offering 45 to 60 spaces in the field for use during the tailgate to any interested student organizations.
This is the second consecutive year that the Campus Wide Tailgate will be held at fraternity field. Prior to 2009, the event was usually held on Harrison Avenue, which runs from Richmond Road to the fraternity units.
“Last year it was only open to Greeks, but this year it’s open to any organization, including graduate students,” Student Assembly President Chrissy Scott ’11 said.
The tailgate will be set up similarly to last year’s, but with some key changes, Council for Fraternity Affairs Programming Chair David Murphy ’12 said.
This year, organizations will be allowed to bring their own vehicles — an item absent from the 2009 festivities.
Groups can also bring food and drink to the event as before, but this year, outside alcohol is strictly prohibited.
Students and alumni who bring cups, bottles or other containers of alcohol will be asked to empty the contents of the bottle before entering the event.
For last year’s tailgate, the Green Leafe Café sponsored a beer garden where attendees could buy beer of varying prices.
Only those over 21 could enter the garden, and alcohol could only be consumed within the confines of the area.
This year, the College will be supplying of-age attendees with beer free of charge.
“People were not pleased last year with the beer garden for the reasons that you couldn’t have cars on the field and that it separated 21 year olds from non-21 year olds,” Scott said.
Event security will provide those with proper photo identification with wrist bands and up to three tickets which can be redeemed for alcohol. Tailgaters choosing to drink can do so anywhere within the event.
“It’s not going to be boxed in like the beer garden like it was last year,” Murphy said.
According to Scott, the new format has other advantages.
“[This] way there’s a lot more mixing … it just helps to bring everyone together,” Scott said.
Setup for the tailgate begins at 9 a.m. Saturday. Organizations are allowed to bring cars, grills and yard games onto the premises, but tables for beer or water pong are not allowed.
All items must be removed from fraternity field by 2 p.m.
Students or organizations interested in reserving a spot for the tailgate can contact Imad Matini ’11 by e-mail at imad.s.matini@gmail.com.
Applications are due by Wednesday afternoon at 4 p.m.