Message from President Walker Regarding Game-Day Plans

["President's Office" <auemail@mail.auburn.edu>]

June 7, 2002

Dear Members of the Auburn Community:

In response to questions from Auburn University alumni, supporters and
fans, I want to address concerns about football game-day at Auburn.  It
is true that Auburn University is considering making changes in game-day
parking and safety regulations.  It is NOT true that we plan to ban
tailgating on campus.

To the contrary, we encourage our alumni, fans and visitors to come to
campus and enjoy football Saturdays on the Plains. Any changes that are
made will ensure that everyone has that one-of-a-kind experience that
can only take place at Auburn.

The Board of Trustees at its June 3 meeting authorized me to make
improvements necessary "to make the campus safe, secure and compliant
with laws, regulations and safe practices" as they relate to game-day.

While the safety of our visitors is our No. 1 concern, we also have to
safeguard our facilities and the natural beauty of our university.
The reasons that changes to parking and safety regulations are being
discussed are:

** Past incidents of destruction -- buildings being broken into and
vandalized, student work and university equipment and research being
destroyed.

** The terrorist attacks of Sept.11, 2001. That led the insurance
industry to identify NCAA 1A football institutions as being at a higher
risk and required universities to develop detailed information on
disaster preparedness, their ability to respond and measures for
controlling loss.

Please be assured, however, that the tradition of tailgating at Auburn
on football game-day is NOT about to disappear.  I know that this is a
tradition that is long valued by our alumni, fans and supporters.

Sincerely,

William F. Walker
President