Alabama students started filing out of Bryant-Denny Stadium just before halftime of the No. 1 Crimson Tide’s 52-0 win over Arkansas Saturday, despite an email from SGA president Jimmy Taylor urging organizations with block seating not to do so.
Taylor sent an email on Thursday to leaders of organizations with block seating privileges stating there could be consequences if their members left the game early and reminding them of an agreement they signed to stay for all four quarters.
“I am sending this e-mail to remind you to ask each of your organization members to stay for all four quarters of the Crimson Tide football games,” Taylor said in the email obtained by The Crimson White. “This is certainly important for all UA students, but organizations with reserved seating have signed an agreement to stay until the conclusion of the game.”
Taylor said University of Alabama administration will review photos and video of the section during games to determine which organizations are leaving early and violators could have block seating privileges taken away.
“Administrators will review photos and film of the student section from the games,” the email stated. “Seating will be taken away from those organizations, who abandon reserved seating. I have also been informed that this is a ‘pilot year’ for SOS and if sections do not remain full, this will likely be the final year of Student Organization Seating.”
Sections of the south end zone are reserved for certain organizations, many of which are greek. The block seating section is typically the first to begin to empty when Alabama pulls away in blowout games.
The student section started thinning out Saturday after Amari Cooper hauled in a 30-yard touchdown pass from AJ McCarron that made the score 28-0 with a little more than a minute left in the first half. By the end of the fourth quarter, the student section was nearly empty.