Sit Down or Get Out: Group of Elon Students Removed from Oct.19 Football Game

Many Elon students were removed from Rhodes Stadium Saturday, Oct. 19, for standing and cheering in the students section during the football game against Chattanooga.

According to Elon Athletics, a fan from the general admission section, adjacent to the student section, complained to a volunteer security officer that they could not see due to standing students.

Junior Michael Lindsey was one of the students cheering in the student section.

"The people in the yellow jackets came down to us at one point and they were telling us we needed to sit down or we were going to get kicked out of the game," he said.

Lindsey and his friends ignored the officer and continued to cheer.

Thirty minutes later, the officer returned to the student section and informed Lindsey and the other students that their day at the stadium was over.

Junior Casey Brown was sitting in the student section a few seats away from Lindsey and was not pleased with how the situation was handled. Brown said that there was no reason to remove the students from the section because there was hardly anybody at the game, due to the rainy conditions.

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Brown quickly voiced her displeasure on Twitter and word spread fast.

As Lindsey and his friends walked out of Rhodes Stadium, an Elon Athletic Representative approached them, and told the boys they could return to their seats.

"Somehow, some Elon Athletic Representative heard about it, I guess, and they walked down and were clearly giving a stern talking to the person who had kicked us out of the game," said Lindsey. "At that point we were all let back into the game without a problem."

The officer was quickly removed from the scene.

After the game, Elon Athletics told ELN that the officer did not have the authority to remove the fans from the section, and needed to consult with Elon Event Management personnel first before taking action.

Elon Athletics has no clear-cut policy when it comes to these type situations. If it were to happen again though, Elon Event Management would just relocate the complaining fan.