The University of Wisconsin olled out the red carpet"" last Saturday, unveiling a new initiative that was supposed to create a friendlier environment to opposing fans at Badger football games. In response to several incidents of harassment that occurred last season, the Athletic Department and the administration created this initiative to make fans of teams visiting Camp Randall feel safe and welcome. Throughout the stadium area, volunteer ""fan ambassadors"" wearing green shirts helped fans of visiting Central Florida find their way in a sea of Badger red. The plan did a good job of diminishing some of the more vulgar behavior normally associated with football games while generally maintaining the environment inside the stadium we have all come to enjoy. Unfortunately, Roll Out the Red Carpet fails to curb the more dangerous and unwanted behavior outside the stadium; the behavior that the administration should be most concerned with stamping out.
There are several ways that the university, specifically Chancellor John Wiley and Athletic Director Barry Alvarez, could have addressed the problem of fan behavior that would have been both more practical and more effective than a few colorfully clad volunteers. There are seemingly dozens of bars and tailgates up and down Regent Street near Camp Randall Stadium that would benefit from beefed up security efforts, and Wiley and Alvarez have enough clout in this town that a request for a larger police presence would be taken seriously if it came from their respective offices. A community-wide initiative to promote respect for visiting fans, and threat of harsh punishment for those who do not show proper respect, would go a whole lot further than the occasional man or woman in green ever could, no matter how good their intentions.
What is most ironic about what the administration calls a ""fan initiative"" (read: our fault) is that the most important issue is either being overlooked or ignored. Harassment of visitors at games is more damaging to our reputation as a university and harms visiting fans more than blatant vulgarity ever will. This problem is not easily remedied, but Wiley, Alvarez and other school officials have made a grievous error by failing to openly repudiate harassment toward opposing teams' fans. This message has been absent from all the publicity videos, billboards and speeches inundating our campus over the past week. All of this has resulted in a toothless initiative that offers neither an increased likelihood of catching perpetrators nor harsher punishments for them.
While the volunteers for this initiative have their hearts in the right place in their attempts to soften student behavior, the same cannot be said of the minds of the administration. It seems that Wiley, Alvarez and other leaders are merely attempting a public relations ploy meant to placate students and visiting fans who have legitimate safety concerns. It will be little comfort should a major violent act occur and all they can do is shake their heads and say, ""We tried.""
