Yale bans kegs at university events

NEW HAVEN -- Yale University has tightened its policy on tailgating after a Massachusetts woman was killed and two others injured when a U-Haul truck drove through a tailgating area at the Harvard-Yale football game in November.

Yale will no longer permit kegs at university athletic events or functions, according to the revised policy released Thursday. The school said the policy is consistent with practices at many other universities, including Princeton and Harvard. Yale also said oversized vehicles, such as box trucks or large commercial vehicles, will not be allowed in university lots at athletic events unless driven by a preapproved authorized vendor.

Student tailgating will end at kickoff, and all students and guests will be required to leave the student tailgating area.

Students had a mixed reaction to the ban on kegs at events.

Freshman Ray Noonan said that the university did not address the problem at hand. He understands the U-Haul ban, but the restrictions on kegs do not make sense. "To that extent, (the university) is overreaching," Noonan said.

Francis Song, a graduate student at Yale, said the university could have made other changes instead of banning kegs.

"I think this was an overreaction by the university," Song said. He said he would have recommended an early time slot for U-Haul trucks to come into the event lot.

"One accident shouldn't be the end of it," he said.

Other students, such as freshman Justine Apel, were in favor of the new restrictions.

"I think while the rules are very strict, in light of what happened, they are very necessary," Apel said.

She said tailgating was unsafe.

The new policies come after 30-year-old Nancy Barry, of Salem, Mass., was killed while tailgating before the Nov. 19 game. Police said Yale undergraduate Brendan Ross was driving the truck carrying beer kegs through a popular tailgating area when witnesses saw the vehicle turn a corner and speed up, striking three women. The truck then crashed into other U-Haul vans on the lot.

Ross passed a field sobriety test after the crash.

William Dow, an attorney for Ross, has said that the crash was an accident that was apparently caused by a vehicle malfunction. A U-Haul Co. official dismissed Dow's remarks as premature speculation and said in November that safety and compliance with the law are the company's top priorities.

Yale said it's also reviewing Yale Bowl events, including parking, traffic and crowd control, with any new policies will be implemented before the fall football season. A new vehicle-free area for student tailgating will also be created.

The crash is still under investigation by New Haven police. No one has been charged.

Connecticut Post correspondent Charlotte Adinolfi contributed to this story.