Not the Aggie Way

I just submitted this letter to multiple members of the 12th Man Foundation administration, ticket center and Texas A&M disability services in hopes to get someone's attention.  The special needs seating situation at last night's football game was complete unacceptable.

From the Disability Services website: "There are designated sections in Kyle Field (consideration seating) for students with special health needs who are unable to stand during the entire game and for students using a wheelchair or other mobility device." 

Congratulations....

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To whom it may concern:

There has been a major overcrowding issue within the Consideration Seating area of Kyle Field this season.  This section requires ticket holders to be seated but the amount of tickets sold for this section does not allow the space for the holder to, in fact, be seated.  This is a major liability issue for the stadium and the Consideration Seating section needs to be renumbered taking into consideration that many of the ticket holders sitting in this section are not there because they don’t want to stand during the game but because they are physically unable.  Breaking attendance records should not come before the wellbeing of your patrons.

At this week’s game against Ole Miss (October 11, 2014) my ticket was for section 236, 3rd row, seat 7, however, I was unable to sit in my designated seat.  This wasn’t an issue of other patrons sitting in incorrect seats; it was an issue of overcrowding.  [Included] is a photo demonstrating how we were attempting to fit in the space allotted. 

There were four of us displaced from our purchased seats in my row alone.  The other three ticket holders were able to stand on empty bleachers close to our section but I am physically unable as I am a physically disabled student and require Consideration Seating to attend football games.

As pictured, I tried sitting on the edge of the seat, leaning forward but was in too much pain to endure this position for more than half a quarter.  I asked the attendant, who was being as helpful as he could, to see a supervisor but the supervisor was of no help.  All they did was check that we were all holding tickets for this section, which we all were, but did nothing to alleviate the situation.  In pain, I asked the attendant if I could get a chair to sit in the wheelchair area but he said that is only available when set up before the game.  Since I was under the impression my ticket would allow me enough space to sit, I could not have possibly been able to set this up before the game.  I had to sit by myself on the ledge of the stairs, which I would assume is against fire code, as there were no other seating options available to me, as informed by said attendant.

As mentioned above, this section requires ticket holders to be seated and, therefore, needs to provide enough room for ALL ticket holders in this section to sit.   Actions should be taken to alleviate this situation to prevent any potentially more serious situations for disabled patrons from occurring.

Thank you,
Caitlin

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