We were not aware that the student tickets for the two schools competing in the national championship would be allotted to three schools.
On the official Saint Mary's website the following question is found in the FAQ section: "What is Saint Mary's relationship with the University of Notre Dame?" Let us emphasize the word "relationship." Saint Mary's has a relationship with Notre Dame, but they are not the same institution. Notre Dame, Saint Mary's and Holy Cross students are all allowed to attend Notre Dame home football games during the regular season. This is an example of the strong and historic relationship that Notre Dame has with these two institutions - the kind of relationship that Saint Mary's describes on its website. There is a difference, however, between guaranteeing tickets for home games to Saint Mary's and allocating a limited number of tickets that are in high demand to them as well. A long-standing relationship between Notre Dame and Saint Mary's should not impede Notre Dame students' chances of attending their university's participation in a national championship.
Please understand that this argument does not stem from any dislike of Saint Mary's or any want to damage the relationship between Notre Dame and Saint Mary's. The point is that the students of the schools competing in the national championship should have the better chance to be sitting in the student sections at Sun Life Stadium. It is unfair to every Notre Dame student who wants to enter the lottery that students from an institution, whose athletes are not participating in the national championship, are allowed an equal chance to win a ticket to the game when they are already in such high demand.
Ideally, every person who wanted to attend the national championship would be able to, however this is not feasible. The University was allotted 17,000 tickets, and 2,500 of these are allotted to students. Considering that the 2,500 tickets awarded in the lottery will clearly not meet the demands of the Notre Dame student population alone, it does not seem logical to open the lottery to yet another student body. Giving Saint Mary's students equal access to the lottery further decreases the number of Notre Dame students who will receive tickets. Every Saint Mary's student who wins a ticket is taking one away from a Notre Dame student. Now, students enrolled at the University of Notre Dame have a smaller chance of winning an otherwise unaffordable ticket to their university's participation in a national championship.
A concerned alumnus donated a generous $375,000 to allow discounted student tickets, in order to make them more affordable, and thus, more accessible for Notre Dame students. We are forever grateful for this gift because, without it, many students from both Notre Dame and Saint Mary's would not even be able to consider attending the game. However, because this generosity is extending past the Notre Dame student body and including the Saint Mary's student body, tickets will be less accessible to Notre Dame students.
We offer the following proposal: Let Saint Mary's students apply for the lottery once the majority of the demands of the Notre Dame student population are met. This same concept would be expected for a Saint Mary's event - the majority of Saint Mary's students would be guaranteed a ticket before Notre Dame students were offered any. Saint Mary's is part of the Notre Dame family; there is no question about that. The question becomes who should have the majority of access to student tickets for the national championship? The University of Notre Dame is playing against the University of Alabama on Jan. 7, 2013 in the BCS National Championship Game.
Amy Porter
junior
Farley Hall
Dec. 4
Nicole Simon
junior
Farley Hall
Dec. 4
Jennifer Jones
junior
Farley Hall
Dec. 4
Patrick Bedard
junior
Zahm Hall
Dec. 4
Charles Magiera
sophomore
Keough Hall
Dec. 4
