UGA sets new rules to tackle tailgate trash

By Laura Diamond

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

UGA football fans will have limited access to North Campus on game days as part of new rules intended to prevent damage to that historical part of campus.

Tailgating on North Campus can begin only four hours before kickoff, according to the rules the UGA Cabinet released Thursday. Tailgaters also will be barred from bringing tents, kegs, generators, grills and other items to that area on game days.

University officials have been targeting tailgaters and their trash since the Sept. 12 home game when fans dumped about 70 tons of garbage and left mounds of tents, grills, coolers and chairs across the beloved North Campus. Some even urinated on public buildings and defecated outside.

President Michael Adams said the new rules seek to maintain the tradition of tailgating while preserving a historic section of campus. Adams said he still wants fans to be on campus and enjoy the games.

"We just don’t want them to destroy the campus in the process," he said during a media briefing.

Tom Ritch, who graduated from UGA in 1977 and has been tailgating since 1992, said people can tailgate in other parts of campus.

"I love tailgating but that area needs to be protected," Ritch said. "Those buildings are so old that anything that can be done to protect that site should be done. North Campus should be a showplace and not something that looks like a construction site."

The new rules follow on steps implemented last fall when the college increased the number of garbage bins around campus, distributed more trash bags to fans and added portable restrooms.

Adams and other officials also asked fans to encourage one another to behave properly.

More information about 2010 game day rules can be found at: www.gamedaygameplan.com.