Kudos to UA

From the Tuscaloosa News

TUSCALOOSA | Students who threw cups at University of Georgia players celebrating their overtime victory over the University of Alabama will be punished for their antics.

The incident at Bryant-Denny Stadium sparked national attention and comments from Crimson Tide head football coach Nick Saban and has resulted in new rules.

Delta Kappa Epsilon and Theta Chi social fraternities will lose their seats close to the field in Bryant-Denny Stadium for the next two home games because members threw objects onto the field during the Alabama-Georgia game.

University spokeswoman Cathy Andreen said the groups would be moved farther back into the stands.

Members of Theta Chi declined to comment, and phone calls to the DKE fraternity house Wednesday went unanswered.

Also, Sigma Chi and Sigma Nu fraternities’ seats will be moved back for Saturday’s game for block-seating violations. Those were not tied to the cup-throwing incident, Andreen said.

Student groups apply for block seating, which is awarded based on a host of factors such as campus involvement, grades and size. The vast majority are awarded to Greek organizations.

To stop future incidents, the Office of Judicial Affairs will begin enforcing new sanctions against students who throw anything at any sporting event.

For an initial infraction, the student will be forbidden from attending the next three games of that team with a student ticket, a punishment that would extend into the next season if necessary. The student must also attend “Capstone Character Class," Andreen said.

Caught twice, the student cannot buy student tickets for that sport again. The third violation bars the student from all sporting events for the rest of his or her academic career.

“It’s always been a violation of the student code of conduct to throw objects on the field, but the university felt it was time to be very clear and specific to discourage unsportsmanlike conduct," Andreen said.

UA police will report violators to Student Affairs. If a number of thrown objects come from one particular group, the student organization will be asked to identify the violators. If the group does not, the entire organization will be subject to penalties, Andreen said.