DePauw’s football opening weekend on Sept. 7 marks the comeback of tailgating culture to the Blackstock Stadium parking lot. Tailgating at DePauw is a great way for the community, parents, students and alumni to get ready for games while also giving them an opportunity to celebrate DePauw athletics.
Stevie Baker-Watson, the associate vice president for student wellness and Theodore Katula director of athletics and recreational sports, is the coordinator for DePauw tailgating. Baker-Watson sees the success of DePauw’s tailgating events as a mix between both parent and student attendance.
“The parents, whether it's football, men's and women's soccer, field hockey, they’ve all come together in a way that creates their own community when they’re out there,” said Stevie Baker-Watson said. “When you've got 160 kids on a roster, and parents are coming in, that's a pretty large group of people (who) themselves are setting the tone.” Baker-Watson said.
Baker-Watson has seen a culture switch in the past decade as the athletics department has encouraged the celebration in the parking lot to continue into the game.
“I think that early on in my tenure, I would have described (tailgating) as (students) wanting a party in the parking lot, and they didn't want to go into the game … so if you want to be here, then I need you to move into the game, and I need you to see your friends play, or I need you to leave the lot.’” Baker-Watson said.
Other than for major events, official tailgating is required to be contained in the Blackstock parking lot. Baker-Watson aims to foster a sense of community while ensuring the safety of their audience.
“And then, of course, when we get to Monon, we extend it to all of those lots because we have far more people that are here,” she said.
The tailgating community at DePauw is also fueled by the dedicated parents of athletes who then help fill up the parking lot on gameday.
“Whoever lives closest is the one that might be bringing the tents and some of the chairs and ordering some of the food,” Baker-Watson said.
Another coordinator for tailgating events is Melynda Link, assistant athletics director for athletics facilities and athletics events. Link handles coordination with visiting teams and logistics in working with Student Affairs and updating online policies.
“Luckily, we don't change much year to year, so it's not a ton of reinventing every summer. We maintain a spot on our website that has our tailgating policy.” Link said.
The communication between DePauw’s Student Affairs team and the Athletics department is to ensure a positive tailgating experience that adheres to DePauw’s Code of Conduct.
“Tailgating is not just an Athletics thing. It's really a Student Affairs thing,” Link said. “So Athletics is mostly concerned about parents, alumni visitors, whereas students are really housed under student affairs staff and so we'll ask them, ‘Hey, is there anything changing that has kind of, we need to change our policy, et cetera?’” Link said.
Link believes the alumni support is the most obvious at the bigger events despite it being consistent at every game. Link finds that returning athletes have unique experiences with tailgating that’s different from their time at DePauw.
“It's funny, the football alums, who never got to tailgate in college, really love tailgating as an alum.” Link said. “(It’s) funny just because you would think, ‘Oh, they're football players. They would know (our tailgating policies).’ But they don't get to do it.”
Even though tailgating begins with the football season, Link believes that DePauw tailgating thrives not only during football season but also with other sports, because of the vibrant community of students, parents and alumni. Link pointed out that the women’s basketball team has a dedicated tailgating spot for over three sororities their athletes are involved in.
“Because our students are involved in so many different things,” Link said, “it really feels like one big DePauw parking lot.”