A white piece of paper taped to a door leading to the entrance of Matthews Arena read, ‘This is an assigned seating arena.’
Never was a formal announcement made. Never was a new system developed. Just a white piece of paper printed from Microsoft Word. So you can imagine my surprise when, while attending the Feb. 21 Northeastern vs. Boston University hockey game, I was escorted out of my seat because an alumni followed the illusive seating system.
I can’t help but ask:’ Was that white piece of paper, containing those six bold-faced words, really supposed to suffice for the change of every Northeastern student’s social routine when attending a sporting event in Matthews Arena?
It was a night like any other. I arrived to the game 20 minutes early with some friends so we could sit together. It had never been a problem before; we would simply get our tickets, meet up, find a group of seats and scream at the opposing goalie throughout the night. Then, about 10 minutes into the game, a group of older men came to our row with a member of the Matthews Arena staff and demanded to sit in their assigned seats. I was shocked. In the two and a half years I have been attending games, not once did I even think about looking at my seat number.
I do understand, though, that while invested in its students’ futures, Northeastern is a business and is looking to profit via advancements in national rankings. Obviously, such progress requires capital that often comes from alumni donations. Because of this, I recognize there is an opportunity to transform Northeastern’s athletics program into a revenue stream. I cannot, however, accept that this be achieved at the expense of improving student life and an increasingly loyal and enthusiastic undergraduate student fanbase.
Contrarily, throughout my time at Northeastern, I have not seen Matthews Arena as packed with students as it was Feb. 21. I actually appreciate that people are finally starting to come to the games despite my current gripe. What I don’t appreciate is that loyalty to the program and actual student status at our university still makes us an afterthought to the Athletics Department.
Again, my issue is not with the concept of having to move because I did not own the seat. My issue lies with the fact that there is no system in place to accommodate Northeastern’s undergraduate students. Am I truly expected to gather up my entire group of friends so we can take a trip to Blackman Auditorium and buy tickets in succession? And what about our vast population of students who are on co-op during the majority of Blackman’s hours of operation? There is no compromise here, considering we are also prohibited from obtaining tickets for another student with our Northeastern ID.
I can’t help but think there is something that can be done. It could be as simple as cutting Matthews Arena into various sections to provide outsiders with the assigned seating structure they want, while allotting student sections the flexibility of general admission.
Maybe it’s just me, but I’m thinking ‘NOW is the time.’

‘- Wes Falik is a middler marketing major.