A group of student volunteers enforced a new system for camping out and lining up at University Hall for men's basketball games at Tuesday night's contest versus Wake Forest and received good reviews.
Student Council sanctioned the new guidelines in response to complaints from fans last season. Last year, "it was so easy to breach the [first-arrive, first-in-the-arena] system," said Jason Bauman, associate athletic director for facilities and operations. Moreover, the rush to the arena gates when the doors were opened was a threat to students' safety, he said.
Fights were known to break out when students disputed their order in line, said Duane Propst, coordinator of promotions and special events for the athletic department.
Since the beginning of this season the 'Hoo Crew, a group of 12 University students, has enforced the "Official Guidelines of the Linemonitors," a document commissioned by the Athletic Affairs Committee of the Student Council. The guidelines established the 'Hoo Crew team of line monitors (who in return for their services are given courtside seats at every game) to "uphold the integrity of Hooville," the nickname for the tent city that often arises outside U-Hall before big games.
Tuesday's showdown against the Demon Deacons represented the first real challenge to the system, according to Bauman. "This was our first real game [of the season] when we had huge attendance there very early," he said.
The guidelines instruct the line monitors to take the names of students arriving outside the south entrance of U-Hall to camp out or stand in line. Each person who arrives can sign up as many as 10 University students as part of his or her group. Each group has its own place in line according to when it signed up on the list. Those students originally signed up as part of a group are the only students who can gain admittance with that group.
The list means that campers and very early arrivers do not have to maintain an actual line until shortly before game time. However, one representative of each group must be present at the U-Hall south concourse at all times. The only exception is one grace period granted to overnight campers on the day of the game to respond to the random "roll calls" conducted by the line monitors. If a group misses two roll calls, it will lose its place in line.
The line monitors are to distribute wrist bands to members of groups whenever they arrive with numbers corresponding to each group's place in line. A student must produce a University ID to claim a wristband.
The 'Hoo Crew plans to stop handing out wristbands to new arrivals sometime the day of the game and simply form a line, said John Steck, a third-year Engineering student who is the head of the 'Hoo Crew. On Tuesday, in order to avoid pushing and cutting, the 'Hoo Crew allowed those waiting in line to proceed to the door only in small groups.
Full 'Hooville guidelines are available at virginiasports.com, in the men's basketball section, under "Features."
Steck, who is also this year's chairman of the Athletic Affairs Committee, drafted a proposal last year for a new system. The Committee then consulted with some of the more avid University Hall campers and with the Athletic Department to come up with a feasible plan, Steck said.
The Committee also studied systems that other universities, such as Duke University, have in place for waiting for basketball games. However, the University's system is different from those schools because, like most universities, those schools require students to pay to attend basketball games, he added.
During last season, a group of students organized an informal system for those camping out to sign up on a list. However, according to the new guidelines, the project could not completely succeed because it was not backed by any formal authority.
The new, athletics department and University Police-backed line monitors received "very positive feedback" about their performance Tuesday, Propst said.
"I think they did a great job," said Keith Bergstresser, a second-year College student. "I was surprised at how well it was organized. I was expecting a lot more pushing and shoving."
"I think it was a big success," Student Council Executive Vice-President Adam Swann said. "It's a good example of student self-governance in action."
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