The University of Colorado at Boulder has launched a campaign aimed at improving the game-day experience for fans attending campus athletic events that will combine increased communication about expectations for fan behavior with strengthened enforcement of university policies.
Dubbed "Competing with Class," the campaign was initiated earlier this year by Athletics Director Richard Tharp, with a primary focus on communication about sportsmanship for both athletes and fans. Tharp has been actively involved as CU-Boulder's representative in conference and national discussions about sportsmanship and fan behavior.
The CU-Boulder initiative has been expanded to address recent reports of unruly fan behavior at CU athletic events. Chancellor Richard L. Byyny recently convened a group of CU-Boulder leaders to consider and recommend actions for preventing and responding to any problem behaviors.
"Our goal is to do everything we can to offer an enjoyable, fun and safe game-day experience for all our fans and guests," said Byyny. "No one should be subjected to the kinds of abusive behavior reported recently. I would like to challenge our fans and students to set a new standard for sportsmanship and safety in upcoming games and in future years."
Tharp stressed the importance of sportsmanship by spectators at CU games. "At every home game, we have an opportunity to demonstrate high levels of sportsmanship in welcoming guest teams and their fans. We encourage the community, alumni, supporters, students and fans to join the Colorado Buffaloes in showing some CU class."
In addition to increasing communication about expectations, Byyny asked the planning group to consider immediate safety-related actions, such as increasing security and police presence at games and applying stronger sanctions for policy violations.
Beginning with this Saturday's football game with Missouri, fans will see a number of changes, such as:
* Additional security staff at entry and re-entry points
* Additional radio-equipped security staff in each section of the stadium
* Stricter enforcement of policies that prohibit bringing unauthorized items (alcohol, marshmallows, and other items) into the stadium. In the past, people have been struck by marshmallows embedded with heavy objects.
* Stricter enforcement of policies prohibiting throwing items in the stands and onto the field
Possible sanctions for violations of university policies include denial of access to the game, ejection and loss of game tickets, loss of season tickets, referral of student violators to Judicial Affairs for disciplinary action, and/or arrest for criminal offenses. Individuals who witness abusive behavior at any game are encouraged to notify security staff or the police immediately.
Communication efforts supporting the current campaign include advertising in campus media, flyers, messages in printed programs, scoreboard announcements, email correspondence to students and news releases.
In the coming weeks, a larger task force will be asked to address long-term issues related to improving fan behavior and attitudes. The long-range planning group is expected to include student leaders, alumni representatives, parent leaders, athletics, the CU Police Department, security personnel, communications staff and others. The plan is intended to become an ongoing annual effort to reinforce messages and expectations about sportsmanship and safety.