An invitation to the men's swim meet

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This Wednesday, the DePauw men's swim team will take on Wabash College in our very own Charles P. Erdmann Natatorium at 7 p.m. The men's swim team invites all students to spectate the meet and encourages fans to bring a charged but respectful attitude to cheer for the Tigers against the Little Giants. The swim team has only two home meets this year (the second is during Winter Term), and it is an honor to compete against our biggest rival with our fellow students in attendance.
Not all is well in go-watch-the-swim-team land, though: Athletic Director Stevie Baker-Watson has banned the swimming parents from hosting a tailgate outside of the Lilly Center. The parents' tailgate is a swim team tradition and brings an aura of excitement that is hard to equal. We on the team feel that this ban compromises the atmosphere of the meet and exposes an ugly double standard in DePauw's athletic department. Ignoring Baker-Watson's past attempts to eliminate tailgates from all sporting events entirely (a move universally rejected by the student body), I must remind you that this weekend, the year's largest tailgate will occur to celebrate the Monon Bell Classic game against Wabash. Why should only the football team be allowed a tailgate? Both mens' programs have a history of success and both square off against their arch-rivals this week. Banning the tailgate harms the electricity of the competition and does disservice to the men's swim team, which has put in months of training already with three more still to come.
I urge the editors and readers of The DePauw to vocalize their support of the swim team and the parents' tailgate to the athletic department in person, via e-mail and on social media. Again, the team also hopes to see you on Wednesday night.

- Stephen McMurtry, '16