The Art of Tailgating

Many people enjoyed tailgating during Concord’s Homecoming game
Picture Courtesy of  CU’s Advancement Office

The art of tailgating feels an awful lot like a day at the fair. At its core, tailgating is all about entertainment, but with the added simple pleasures of food, family and fun. Tailgating can be formal or informal. It can turn a lazy, Fall Saturday into an occasion, bringing young and old together to celebrate the past while living in the moment. And, like a visit to the carnival, tailgating includes a game of chance and excitement.

    College football season is the time where summer surrenders to fall. Tailgaters pour onto campus  and the stadium parking lot turns into a fun zone; tailgating is where the fun starts early and ends late. It’s where you wake up early on a cold crisp morning to the smell of a grill firing up and you see friendly faces all over campus. A tailgate is where you can catch up with old friends and roommates, but can also hang out with your close friends all at once. What better tailgate to attend though, but homecoming?

    Here at Concord University, students, faculty, and alumni always come to the Homecoming tailgate. This is where you can relax and forget about your hard days of classes and work and have fun before the big game. This year’s tailgate was a huge hit; there were more than fifteen different organizations at the tailgate, all with something to offer.

    From fraternity and sorority tailgates, to parent’s clubs and school-related organizations, the parking lot and surrounding parts of campus were packed. One tent that was a hit was the Concord University Advancement Office tent. This year the tent offered free food to everyone. Vice President of Advancement, Alicia Besenyei was at the tailgate on Saturday. “We were thrilled with the tailgate this year. The music was great, the food was exceptional and the opportunity to reconnect with our alumni is always a treat.” The tent also passed out maroon and gray pom-poms for Concord fans to use at the game. Not only did they have food, but they also had live entertainment by the band One-Eyed Jack until the kick-off at 1 p.m.

    During the tailgate there were many different raffles being held by different organizations. One of these organizations was Cardinal Key, an Honor Society on campus that raises money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund. “We had three different baskets available to raffle off that had some awesome prizes in them including a tart warmer, bookstore gift cards, CU gear, and coffee mugs,” said Senior member Taylor Stewart. 

    The tailgate ended up being a lot of fun for many different students, faculty, and alum. It’s a time where the whole Concord community can come together at “The Campus Beautiful” to do two things together: form a fellowship and cheer on the Mountain Lions.