Wong, Jennifer
Students did not fill the student section in Carter-Finley Stadium Saturday until well into the first quarter of the East Carolina game, which Student Body President Jay Dawkins said was surprising.
“I’ve never seen it that bad up in the [Chancellor’s] box,” he said.
Dawkins worked with Athletics to start the standby line and the points system that began this football season.
The stands were eventually filled almost beyond their capacity, which Dawkins said earned compliments from alumni and other visitors, but he said Athletics needs to find some solutions to get students in more quickly.
“I think the student gate is still bottlenecking,” he said.
Many students arrived right at kickoff, slowing lines, he said.
“When that happens, it stresses the system to where it cannot handle the volume,” Dawkins said. “We need to find a solution to the sheer processing time it takes to get through those gates.”
Only about 25 students used the standby line, which had about 90 students in its inception at the William and Mary game two weeks ago.
“That’s good news for students that don’t have tickets,” he said.
Athletics allowed all the students in the standby line entry to the game, and associate director Dick Christy said traffic could have been an issue in the slow early turnout.
With the game at noon, there were a lot of people still tailgating, he said, and there was a lot heavier traffic than there was outside the William and Mary game.
Instead of the volunteers that aided with the standby line in its first game, staff members educated on the ticketing system ushered students into the line, including Wayne Currie, an employee of Staff One.
“We check IDs and tickets and verify that the tickets are valid,” Currie said. “We give direction to people, and try to be an information service.”
Richie Groat, a freshman in engineering who waited in the standby line, said this was his first game and he had tried to get a ticket through the lottery system. If he did not receive entry through the line, he said, he did not have any other options.
“This is pretty much it,” he said.
Jesse Shade, a freshman in marine science also in the line, said the lottery system was unfair, and some students abused their privileges by selling their free student tickets for up to $60.
Natalie Bradick, a sophomore in Spanish, said last year when she attended Elon University, the ticketing process was much easier, but the football games could not compare in size.
“Everybody got a ticket,” she said. “When you went in, you just showed your card.”
According to Dawkins, the standby line might have gotten smaller because of hype before the game.
“Maybe they didn’t expect there to be an opportunity because there was such a high demand for tickets,” he said.
No matter why the line was smaller and the stands were slow to fill, Dawkins said it is important to find ways to improve the system.
“Students have figured out to wear-red and stay late, we’ve just go to find out a way to get them in earlier,” he said.