Family Weekend football game: See you there?

The beginning of senior year brings a lot of lasts, one of them being the Family Weekend football game. This was going to be my first and my last. My freshman year I ended up getting really sick last minute and my parents went without me.

Sophomore year, my family couldn't make it down to Richmond. Junior year, I was abroad. And this year, my senior year, my family and I won't be able to make it because ... there aren't enough tickets. We'll be right near campus trying to find another alternative (and it won't be watching it on a TV screen when I'm mere minutes away from the action).

It's hard not to be a little bitter when I've made it through three years of hard work at this university and my parents aren't even able to attend the football game. I know there are student tickets available (but I won't even know if I'll get one until days before the game). But there's no way I'm telling my parents I'm going without them (Mom and Dad, after your eight-hour drive and semesters of tuition payments, why don't you go find something else to do?). That won't fly.

As much as the University tries to make Family Weekend into a bunch of events, everyone really knows it all boils down to one event -- the football game. And if you're not there, you've missed out.

Why do we have a football stadium that does not have enough seats to include all students and their families? If you ask me, we should just have the game at the old stadium, so everyone can go.

First, it's about how there isn't enough school spirit. Now, there are plenty of people who want to cheer the Spiders on, but they're being turned away (and turned off).

And I feel like I should say this for all the seniors and their families who cannot get tickets because there are not enough -- if we are going to hold the game in the new small stadium, seniors should have received some sort of preference. There could have been certain times to register before underclassmen just like we do for classes.

I'm not saying that underclassmen should not have been allowed to get tickets. But after all the seniors have contributed to the school, it should not be too much to ask for tickets to the Family Weekend football game.

And for all the underclassmen who think this might not be fair -- when you've made it through several semesters of academic hell, maybe you'll understand that by senior year, you've paid your dues already and deserve the right to cheer on your team. Underclassmen have next year. We won't.

So while the crowd is cheering "We are UR" at the game, most of the students who lead UR's organizations, and essentially lead our campus, won't be there. A part of UR will be missing.