I just want to start off by saying that it’s unfair for non-students to criticize current students for the lack of attendance before attempting to understand what is going on. It’s unfair to generalize and say that all students are lazy or don’t care about Clemson Football, when that is not the case.

Yes, some students don’t make it to the games because they’re drunk, lazy, too hot, etc. I’m sure plenty of non-students do the same thing. I’ve seen plenty of drunk non-students passed out before the games, so there is no room to judge. The same thing goes for dealing with the heat. I've seen non-student sections clear out during halftime because of the heat or because people return to their tailgates. It's not just students.

Addressing the issue at hand, yes, students realize that there is a decline of attendance on the hill. That is not fully under our control. In his postgame press conference after the homecoming game, Dabo said, “The Hill deal that is more administration or whoever. They won't let them in there like they used to until we come down the Hill or something. I don't understand all that. Fire marshal or whatever. It's kind of out of my lane.”

In the previous years, there have been issues with students getting trampled and injured when fans storm the field after every game. The issue of the amount of students injured during the Notre Dame game of 2015 is often cited for a reason as to why the hill attendance has gone down. There were measures taken after the Notre Dame game to prevent injuries, such as increased security and the implementation of waiting until the canon goes off to enter the field. That really didn’t work—especially during the NC State game and the Louisville game last season.

Since last season, more gates have been added. Of course some students still hop over the walls and the fences, but it seems as though the chaos has gone down—but that may be due to the fact we haven’t had a close game.

There are now fences and increased security between the hill and the student section, therefore making it hard for students to move to the hill if they want. Also, the amount of hill tickets have been reduced from previous years. General admission tickets to the hill are no longer sold, which means families and other guests can no longer sit on the hill if they choose. Have you noticed you haven’t seen young children running and sliding on the hill before games anymore? That’s why.

They’ve also put up many barriers to only allow students to enter from one side of the stadium, which causes there to be large lines and complete chaos near the top of the hill and by the rock. Before, anyone could just walk straight onto the hill with little to no wait for their ticket to be checked, if it was checked at all. If anything, I think this is more of a safety hazard than anything. The large clump of people squeezing their way toward the hill and by the rock is incredibly way too large and unsafe.

Another reason for poor attendance is the horrible new ticketing system. In 2015 and 2016, the student ticketing system worked pretty well for students—especially in 2015 when students had to print their tickets. Now, students can only enter with their own ID. If a student is caught with another student’s ID, that ID will be confiscated and they will not be allowed to enter. In previous years, students could easily allow other students to use their tickets if they were unable to make it to a game—for whatever reason.

There is the option to return your ticket back to the ticketing website, which many students are unaware of. Under the Q & A section, it reads, “Students who are no longer attending the event will be able to return their ticket by logging on to their student account. All returns must be submitted by 5 p.m. the Tuesday prior to the game.” But what if someone has a family emergency on a Thursday night? What if they get sick the night before the game? They can’t return their ticket and no one can use their ID.

With this HORRIBLE new lottery system, tickets are no longer first come first serve, and students are placed in a randomized spot in a queue. When tickets open up, there is an animated person “waiting” and “walking” through the “line.” Sometimes your person sprints to the front and you get onto the ticketing website pretty immediately, or you’re stuck in line for over 30 minutes, until the site finally updates and tells you that tickets ran out. Luckily, I’m a member of IPTAY, so when the tickets have run out, I’ve been able to get tickets with my class, but not everyone has the same luck. Many students who aren’t a part of IPTAY can’t get a ticket with their class, and therefore cannot attend the game.

This lottery system makes it so hard for students to be able to sit with their friends. If students can get tickets at all, they’re lucky if all of their friends can get tickets in the same section. So if all of your friends got hill tickets and you got lower deck, there is no way for you to enter the hill section, like you were probably able to in the past. Many times, students have friends scattered around the stadium in various sections. Naturally, they want to experience the game with their friends, so many students leave to go back to their tailgate, downtown, or to someone’s house to finish watching the game.

A large reason students can’t get tickets together is because of the lottery system, but student ticketing has also removed the option for block seating. The website says, “Block seating will not be offered for the 2017 season. Instead, seating in the student areas of the stadium will be general admission and students who wish to sit together should enter the stadium and their designated seating area/portal together. Students must, however, sit in the correct student area of the stadium that he or she received during online ticket distribution. For example, if you received a lower deck ticket for Game 1 and your friend received a Hill ticket, you and your friend may not sit together as you must sit in the Lower Deck and your friend must sit on the Hill.”

Some people say that student government is to blame for the doing away of the block seating. That may be the case, but you can address any issues you have with tickets here. (Please fill out the survey to help students)

I don’t know exactly what solutions would be the best for all students, but I think we can all agree that there need to be some changes. The 2015 and 2016 systems worked and this 2017 system is worse than ever. The previous systems weren’t perfect, but they weren’t broken. They always say, “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it.” Well, now we know why. The ticketing system is destroyed. Now is the time to fix it.

If you want to know more about student ticketing, visit the ticketing website.

If this is some elaborate ploy to have students start paying for tickets or if this is revenge for students pushing back for the attempts to try to make students pay, it’s definitely working. Everyone knows that if it gets bad enough, students will pay in order to make getting a ticket easier. But doesn’t IPTAY and the football team have enough money? Keep the tradition of free tickets. Just fix the system.

To people who assume that the small number of students represents the entire student body, shame on you. Rather than focusing on the students who leave, acknowledge that there are students who do everything possible to attend every game and stay the game. Not every student leaves the games.

I hope this clears some things up for people. I don’t have all the answers, but I do know one thing for sure, we all love Clemson Football.

Go Tigers!