Memory Mall Tailgate Lines
As many of you who tailgate in Memory Mall are aware last year after the USF game in a knee-jerk reaction the UCF Administration began painting 10×10 white lines in the grass on Memory Mall to tell tailgaters where they can place their tents. The end result is something like this:
In most cases the lines were separated by at least a few feet if not more, preventing you from being able to put a couple tents together if you have a larger tailgate. This also keep the police busy enforcing “tailgate line infractions” rather than monitoring the crowd for real issues. Sometimes the enforcement bordered on harassment.
I’ve provided feedback to officials at numerous occasions asking them to consider painting emergency lanes where tailgaters can’t setup their tents instead of the strict restrictions of where you can setup. Each time I am told that it is a good suggestion and will be considered however it appears UCF is going to take the same tent line approach this year. What’s really frustrating is that the emergency lane line setup is already being used successfully at a big time SEC school that is known for its fantastic tailgate atmosphere. Ole Miss has a tailgate area call “The Grove” that is renowned and it actually has a very similar setup to our Memory Mall in that it is a giant grass lawn where no cars can park. It would be a perfect case study for this school to learn from. See this pictures before found by Corey, another Knight fan rallying against these tent lines.
This would be a perfect win/win solution at Memory Mall, and I will remain convinced until someone from UCF can explain to me why this isn’t a better policy. This isn’t rocket science, it’s simple common sense. Reasons I feel this is a win/win solution:
- Creating lanes will ensure that emergency staff and officials can still access all points of the mall.
- Police can spend less time enforcing tent line infractions and spend more time monitoring real issues
- Higher adoption rate by fans as it won’t be too restrictive as to not let fans setup a few tents together
- Increased fan enjoyment as they can make better use of space for tents (shade), BBQs, games, etc
- Increased fan enjoyment as there would likely be less harassment from police over line infringements
- Prevents perception that the fans are being treated and restricted like a group of rowdy kids
If you agree that these tent line regulations should be changed I encourage to once again write the following officials who have the ability to change or influence these policies.
Al Harms, VP Strategy, Marketing, Communications & Admissions: aharms@mail.ucf.edu, 407-823-2232
Dr John Hitt, President; jhitt@mail.ucf.edu 407-823-2000
Bill Merck, VP Admin & Finance wmerck@mail.ucf.edu 407-823-2351
Bob Holmes, VP Alumni Relations & UCF Foundation CEO holmes@mail.ucf.edu 407-882-1250
Helen Donegan, VP Division of Community Relations hdonegan@mail.ucf.edu 407-235-3935
Dr. Maribeth Ehasz, VP of Student Dev & Enrollment Services mehasz@mail.ucf.edu 407-823-4372
John Schell, Vice President and Chief of Staff, :schell@mail.ucf.edu 407-823-1823
Jeff Ulmer, Senior Associate AD/Development julmer@athletics.ucf.edu
Joe Simon, Assistant AD, Facilities jsimon@athletics.ucf.edu
David Hansen, Senior Assoc. AD, Internal Operations dhansen@athletics.ucf.edu
David Chambers, Executive Associate AD chambers@athletics.ucf.edu
Keith Tribble, Athletics Director ktribble@athletics.ucf.edu
Joe Hornstein, Assoc AD / PR & Communications joehorn@athletics.ucf.edu
I would also contact your GKC rep or the general GKC email at goldenknightsclub@athletics.ucf.edu.
Here is a condensed list that should fit nicely in your email client:
aharms@mail.ucf.edu, jhitt@mail.ucf.edu, wmerck@mail.ucf.edu, holmes@mail.ucf.edu, hdonegan@mail.ucf.edu, mehasz@mail.ucf.edu, schell@mail.ucf.edu, julmer@athletics.ucf.edu, jsimon@athletics.ucf.edu, dhansen@athletics.ucf.edu, chambers@athletics.ucf.edu, ktribble@athletics.ucf.edu, joehorn@athletics.ucf.edu, goldenknightsclub@athletics.ucf.edu
We are a young school trying to develop this program and rich traditions as this school grows and it’s important that we as fans have a voice! Let’s take back our traditions and let’s work to build the game day atmosphere we all can be proud of here at UCF! GO KNIGHTS!
We need to adopt an Ole Miss Policy here. Until the team improves, our unique atmosphere is all we have at UCF. Don’t Ruin it. The tailgates have all been down hill since that USF-UCF game. Please let us have fun, and take pride in our great university. These sanctions will cause a backlash. In these economic times, we need all of the help we can get. Don’t ruin my game day experience.