Associated Student Government’s tailgate co-sponsor 1800 Club agreed Thursday night to cover the entire $1,000 cost of insurance for Saturday’s tailgate after Northwestern administrators told ASG that an offer from A&O Productions to pay about $200 toward the insurance would violate university policy.
A&O Treasurer Nit Wadhwani said the group instead would spend the money advertising the tailgate.
“The most important thing is that ASG’s tailgates are on and to get the word out about it,” said Wadhwani, a Weinberg senior.
ASG Treasurer Edwin Chan said a Campus Activities Office administrator told him that money from a student group account, all of which are overseen by the university, could not be used to fund the alcohol-friendly tailgate because it would implicitly give NU’s endorsement to the alcohol-friendly event.
ASG President Jordan Heinz said he had been unaware that A&O could not give money to 1800 Club, saying that Budweiser supplies the alcohol and that the funds A&O would have used were not university-administered.
“At the beginning I told 1800 Club, ‘If you need any help, contact A&O because they are just like ASG and they want this to happen,'” said Heinz, an Education senior.
Although 1800 Club pays for staff for the tailgates, the club was unaware until after the cancellation of the NU-Navy game that the club had to provide insurance coverage for up to $3 million, said Loren Rattner, the club’s general manager.
“We had previous conversations on getting help for the cost of insurance,” Rattner said before finding out A&O had to withdraw the offer. “We were told by Heinz that they might be able to help.”
1800 Club owner Tony Anton said he estimates the insurance cost is about $1,000 per game, and he had hoped A&O could cover 25 percent.
“(A&O) came to me and offered me that,” Anton said. “I wasn’t even aware that a student group had funds available. It wasn’t something that I was asking for.
“If they do it, great. If they don’t, no big deal,” he said.
A&O had been preparing all summer to donate money to the tailgates, Wadhwani said.
“The insurance for the tailgates is very expensive,” Wadhwani said. “In the beginning of the summer, I found out about this and set money aside. Just the other day Jordan Heinz called me and said, ‘We need the money.'”
Anton said 1800 Club had hoped to get exposure by having its staff members serve beer at the tailgates, but rain hindered the turnout.
“We found out that it wasn’t to the advantage of the 1800 Club to be throwing down the amount of money they were for these tailgates because there wasn’t that much attendance,” Wadhwani said.
By putting the A&O name on the tailgates as a co-endorser, Wadhwani said the group would advertise the tailgates to the group’s 4,500 listserv subscribers in hopes of increasing attendance.
Although Anton said 1800 Club does not make a profit on the tailgates, he said he wants to help NU re-establish the tradition of wet tailgates.
“The first one wasn’t the best,” Anton said. “But if this Saturday turns out to be a good one, (1800 Club) would be willing to do it next year.”
