Thanksgiving in February is a wonderful event that gives the Notre Dame student body an opportunity to express their gratitude for the monetary support alumni and other donors offer to the school to make its academic mission possible.
Nevertheless, I think there is an additional, more important message we need to relate to alumni. It is my opinion that the student body should- on behalf of the University - apologize for the treatment to which the alumni have been made subject at football games in recent years. For this reason, I propose a corollary to Thanksgiving in February: Apologizing in March.
We're sorry that you are constantly harassed by ushers and police on gameday. We're sorry that you have to watch your step inside the Stadium, not because you're worried about falling and hurting yourself, but because the slightest slip or stumble seems to have turned into a clear sign that you are intoxicated. We're sorry that showing your support for the team outside the student section has become reason to be ejected from the stadium. We're sorry that Cappy and many of the ushers are more concerned with hunting down and turning as many people as possible over to the police for arrest than with creating a safe and enjoyable environment for football fans. We're sorry the essential characteristic for a "good" game no longer involves the outcome on the field but whether or not you end up in jail that day. Finally, we're sorry that some of you had to voice your complaints and concerns on the Internet because many higher-ups here at the University would not listen.
This list of apologies can go on much longer than this, but I think everyone gets the idea.
James McCaughan
junior
Siegfried Hall
Feb. 23
