Vandy Student Tickets and Covid

[dorestudent7]

Still looking for tickets to the Tennessee game if anyone has them. I won't be in town for the other two games.

[vandyfan1873]

It didn't start out this way, but I think this is becoming a PR disaster for Vanderbilt that will unfortunately be played out on national TV.

Yes, this is 100% a PR disaster already. Unfortunately, it's only the latest in a long line of the admin's eyebrow-raising decisions that have been detrimental to the student experience in the covid era.

As someone very committed to athletics, this is the one that irks me the most. It's just so publicly, openly, flagrantly bad. They knew how bad the school would look, and they still did it. Any way you slice it, the university comes out in a negative light: it's either a shameless moneygrab, an admission that they care more about the health and safety of a few hundred undergrads than the 14,000 external fans, an admission that they don't care about the basketball team, or a practically anti-vax stance that recently negative-tested, vaxxed, and boosted college students are putting themselves at high risk going to an event like this. If they were ever really pressed hard about what went into this decision, I have trouble imagining what a good response would even be without admitting to some level of hypocrisy.

It was a blunder for sure. I just hope they make it right somehow.

[charlestonalum]

I have no knowledge of who or why this policy was developed but I bet there is some group at Vanderbilt charged with developing public health rules for students. I further posit that nobody from the athletic department had any input since they are not medical or public health experts. It is most likely that those who developed the policy were singularly focused on keeping the students not being in an enclosed space where they could be exposed to infected non-students. They made the reasonable decision of protecting students by keeping them away from a potential super spreader event(s) rather than 1) canceling the event, 2) holding it outside - like football, 3) allowing only students to attend - like a big class, but no other spectators, 4) delaying or postponing all home games - SEC undoubtedly would not allow this, or 5) ignore the fact that US is experiencing by far the greatest surge of the COVID pandemic.
As bad a PR disaster as this is, I can understand the logic and believe the decision is in the best interest of the students. As a diehard fan and critic of student attendance, I fully understand the outrage expressed by most on this board. It clearly does not help the team win.The decision makers were in a no win situation. There was no perfect option.
Meanwhile I hope we play well today or SC will beat us - they are desperate and we seem preoccupied with an administration decision rather than winning our next game. Since our students cannot attend - those fans who can should support our team should grab up the new tickets. Why not take the missing students' places and be super fans?

[nyyankeeDore]

It didn't start out this way, but I think this is becoming a PR disaster for Vanderbilt that will unfortunately be played out on national TV.

Yes, this is 100% a PR disaster already. Unfortunately, it's only the latest in a long line of the admin's eyebrow-raising decisions that have been detrimental to the student experience in the covid era.

As someone very committed to athletics, this is the one that irks me the most. It's just so publicly, openly, flagrantly bad. They knew how bad the school would look, and they still did it. Any way you slice it, the university comes out in a negative light: it's either a shameless moneygrab, an admission that they care more about the health and safety of a few hundred undergrads than the 14,000 external fans, an admission that they don't care about the basketball team, or a practically anti-vax stance that recently negative-tested, vaxxed, and boosted college students are putting themselves at high risk going to an event like this. If they were ever really pressed hard about what went into this decision, I have trouble imagining what a good response would even be without admitting to some level of hypocrisy.

It was a blunder for sure. I just hope they make it right somehow.

It appears to be a policy that stems from being open only to the non-banned point of view.
On the bright side, this year's team has shown it can win before hostile crowds.

[MrMemorial]

Why not take the missing students' places and be super fans?

The season ticket holders in sections 1a through 1e haven't been showing up for games for, oh, the last couple of decades or so. They are the OPPOSITE of "super fans." Now people are going to turn into "super fans" at the drop of a hat even if there was not a pandemic? Even if the game was not at 11 a.m. - ??

We are favored by 6 points in this game. I agree that it is virtually a must win. However, it will be interesting to see if sections 1a through 1e are packed or nearly empty. Or is their decades-long absence the fault of Daniel Diermeier and AD CSL?

[Doremem2f]

I have no knowledge of who or why this policy was developed but I bet there is some group at Vanderbilt charged with developing public health rules for students. I further posit that nobody from the athletic department had any input since they are not medical or public health experts. It is most likely that those who developed the policy were singularly focused on keeping the students not being in an enclosed space where they could be exposed to infected non-students. They made the reasonable decision of protecting students by keeping them away from a potential super spreader event(s) rather than 1) canceling the event, 2) holding it outside - like football, 3) allowing only students to attend - like a big class, but no other spectators, 4) delaying or postponing all home games - SEC undoubtedly would not allow this, or 5) ignore the fact that US is experiencing by far the greatest surge of the COVID pandemic.
As bad a PR disaster as this is, I can understand the logic and believe the decision is in the best interest of the students. As a diehard fan and critic of student attendance, I fully understand the outrage expressed by most on this board. It clearly does not help the team win.The decision makers were in a no win situation. There was no perfect option.
Meanwhile I hope we play well today or SC will beat us - they are desperate and we seem preoccupied with an administration decision rather than winning our next game. Since our students cannot attend - those fans who can should support our team should grab up the new tickets. Why not take the missing students' places and be super fans?

So you want us to reward the admin for this asinine policy by lining their pockets with more money? That's gonna be a no from me, dog. My personal hope is that the players stand up for their fellow students and refuse to play until this policy is revoked.

[VandyWhit]

I have no knowledge of who or why this policy was developed but I bet there is some group at Vanderbilt charged with developing public health rules for students. I further posit that nobody from the athletic department had any input since they are not medical or public health experts. It is most likely that those who developed the policy were singularly focused on keeping the students not being in an enclosed space where they could be exposed to infected non-students. They made the reasonable decision of protecting students by keeping them away from a potential super spreader event(s) rather than 1) canceling the event, 2) holding it outside - like football, 3) allowing only students to attend - like a big class, but no other spectators, 4) delaying or postponing all home games - SEC undoubtedly would not allow this, or 5) ignore the fact that US is experiencing by far the greatest surge of the COVID pandemic.
As bad a PR disaster as this is, I can understand the logic and believe the decision is in the best interest of the students. As a diehard fan and critic of student attendance, I fully understand the outrage expressed by most on this board. It clearly does not help the team win.The decision makers were in a no win situation. There was no perfect option.
Meanwhile I hope we play well today or SC will beat us - they are desperate and we seem preoccupied with an administration decision rather than winning our next game. Since our students cannot attend - those fans who can should support our team should grab up the new tickets. Why not take the missing students' places and be super fans?

Well said. I'd just add that Vanderbilt presumably isn't thinking of protecting just the students who might attend the game, but also all the other people who would be exposed to COVID if any students at the game became infected. Such a student would bring the virus back to their dorms and classrooms, potentially exposing classmates, professors and other staff, who then might spread it further. Remember, even people who are vaccinated and boosted are able to become infected and transmit the virus, even though the chances that will happen are less than for people who aren't vaccinated.

Vanderbilt is trying very hard to stop outbreaks on campus before they start with one of the primary goals of being able to safely hold in-person classes for all students -- and I think that's a commendable goal. It's too bad that some students will miss the in-game experience (and if I were in that category, I'd be just as upset and angry as you all are) and that the team will miss their support, but hopefully this will be a short-lived policy and will be changed after this current massive wave subsides.

[AuricGoldfinger]

Justin Hershey of the Hustler with a student opinion on this mess: https://vanderbilthustler.com/45113/fea ... tant-fans/

You can defend the university's health and wellness policies. But you can't defend turning around and selling those tickets so that the outcome will likely be blue- and orange-clad fans sitting in those same seats.

[commadore]

So Sammy Superfan says to Burnedette Basketballfan, "hey Bernie, since we can't go to the game, let's go over to the Loser's Bar and watch the game." " great idea, " she says They go, enter a packed bar and have four drinks and nachos and come back to campus with covid.

Policy just sounds stupid to me.

[dcdore]

So Sammy Superfan says to Burnedette Basketballfan, "hey Bernie, since we can't go to the game, let's go over to the Loser's Bar and watch the game." " great idea, " she says They go, enter a packed bar and have four drinks and nachos and come back to campus with covid.

Policy just sounds stupid to me.

Just 4???????

Doesn't sound like the basketball fans I hung out with when I was at VU.

[VandyWhit]

So Sammy Superfan says to Burnedette Basketballfan, "hey Bernie, since we can't go to the game, let's go over to the Loser's Bar and watch the game." " great idea, " she says They go, enter a packed bar and have four drinks and nachos and come back to campus with covid.

Policy just sounds stupid to me.

Well, that wouldn't be allowed under the policy, either: "Students must not participate in gatherings of any size or engage in in-person social interactions with anyone other than their roommates/housemates. This includes attendance at athletic events."

https://www.vanderbilt.edu/coronavirus/ ... re-period/

[DeefromAtlanta]

There is a secret room in KIrkland where the administrators gather late at night to make the dumbest of decisions. It's a pity someone gave them the key.

[commadore]

So Sammy Superfan says to Burnedette Basketballfan, "hey Bernie, since we can't go to the game, let's go over to the Loser's Bar and watch the game." " great idea, " she says They go, enter a packed bar and have four drinks and nachos and come back to campus with covid.

Policy just sounds stupid to me.

Well, that wouldn't be allowed under the policy, either: "Students must not participate in gatherings of any size or engage in in-person social interactions with anyone other than their roommates/housemates. This includes attendance at athletic events."

https://www.vanderbilt.edu/coronavirus/ ... re-period/

Would you be willing to bet $1,000 that no students sneak out on Saturday night?

[Jason94]

I have no knowledge of who or why this policy was developed but I bet there is some group at Vanderbilt charged with developing public health rules for students. I further posit that nobody from the athletic department had any input since they are not medical or public health experts. It is most likely that those who developed the policy were singularly focused on keeping the students not being in an enclosed space where they could be exposed to infected non-students. They made the reasonable decision of protecting students by keeping them away from a potential super spreader event(s) rather than 1) canceling the event, 2) holding it outside - like football, 3) allowing only students to attend - like a big class, but no other spectators, 4) delaying or postponing all home games - SEC undoubtedly would not allow this, or 5) ignore the fact that US is experiencing by far the greatest surge of the COVID pandemic.
As bad a PR disaster as this is, I can understand the logic and believe the decision is in the best interest of the students. As a diehard fan and critic of student attendance, I fully understand the outrage expressed by most on this board. It clearly does not help the team win.The decision makers were in a no win situation. There was no perfect option.
Meanwhile I hope we play well today or SC will beat us - they are desperate and we seem preoccupied with an administration decision rather than winning our next game. Since our students cannot attend - those fans who can should support our team should grab up the new tickets. Why not take the missing students' places and be super fans?

Since they are selling the seats that were going to the students, it sure looks more like an attempt to double sell seats (for the two most in demand games of the season) that were already paid for at no net benefit to public health. If they were indeed looking out for health and safety they would have left the seats empty in the interest of public health, and if there is a "super spreader event", this decision practically guarantees that it will more widely affect the overall community as you now have more people for all over attending the event than before this decision. Nothing like shifting the risk from the largely young and healthy VU student population to the older and less healthy public in general.

[vandyfan1873]

Murray Harris has generously offered to buy tickets for students to the UTK women’s game. I imagine it’s only a matter of time before someone makes a similar offer for the men’s game.