Aaron Johnson – General Assignment Reporter
NEW HAVEN – Loud music, the smell of burgers on the grill, and a good time to be had by all. This was the atmosphere at the tailgating party on the campus of Southern Connecticut State University this past Friday evening.
“I love the energy and the food,” said junior Kevin Jones. “It feels just like summer time right now.”
The atmosphere for the tailgating party was infectious for all those involved as students prepared the main event of the evening, the football game against Pace University.
“We’re all pumped about the game. You gotta have faith in the football team,” said sophomore accounting major Robert Sapp.
As more and more students from all over campus got into line outside of the Wintergreen building, the line for the barbecue began to stretch around the corner.
“The food is delicious, better than Conn’s burgers,” said freshman Abigail Bensley.
Bensley, along with her gymnastics teammates, were apart of the group of students that made a mad dash to the sweatshirt table to get a Southern football sweatshirt. As members of Southern’s Student Life came out of a truck each carrying a boxes, students at the tailgating party did not pay too much attention to it. But as soon as one sweatshirt came out of the boxes, a mad dash of Southern students began. The “angry” mob was all in good fun, but the booth was quickly overrun. This prompted Judicial Affairs Director Christopher Piscitell to jump in an restore order.
“Southern’s very family oriented. But we just had to riot for those sweatshirts real quick,” said Sapp, a resident of Waterbury, through a smile.
Despite the small riot for sweatshirts, everyone had a great time. Freshman gymnastics athlete Rotem Porat said that this was her second tailgating party she has been to this year, but this one stood apart from the other one she attended.
“It’s been a lot of fun,” said Porat, a resident of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. “There’s more people and the food is delicious. I’m having more fun than the first one I went too.”
The grill was definitely the fan favorite for the day. All day several grills were on and the smell of burgers traveled as far across campus as Conn Hall. Jones, a resident of Bridgeport, Conn., said that he loved the burgers and the nachos.
“I came here because I smelled the food, but these nachos are great,” said Jones.
Jones said that he has done a lot of tailgating in his life, mostly at New England Patriots games, but that he loved the feeling from tailgating at Southern.
“I love this feeling, this ambiance is great. I’m pumped for this game,” said Jones.
When asked who he thought would win the game, Jones smiled and looked up.
“Oh of course I got Southern,” said Jones.
The fun, music, and food definitely boosted the moral of all the students and the campus as a whole. Students piled into Jess Dow Field with energy and passion and kept that fuel for the entire game. The evening would come to a head following the impressive win by the Southern football team over Pace by a score of 47-18.
