The insinuation that members of the Auburn Tigerettes and Tiger Hosts were paid for less than above board / sheets activities in their roles as official on-campus hosts for Auburn football recruits was straight up gutted Tuesday by the blAUgosphere. ‘Cause it’s just straight up false. Straight up—payments received by the women listed in a hit piece posted Monday on SportsByBrooks.com was income earned through student employment completely separate from their volunteer work as Tigerettes.
Auburn’s Athletics Department is wisely staying mum on what is possibly the most non-ish of non-stories in The Year of The Auburn Non-Story (with the possible exception of SportsByBrooks’ quickly redacted post “Auburn fan in blackface wearing Cam Newton jersey at BCS game repeatedly shown during telecast” about our flag-footballing friend in D.C.). But for what it’s worth, when the purpose and virtue of university hostesses across the country have been called into question by media outlets that actually care about accuracy, Auburn is usually used as an example of everything that is right about the practice… due in part to being the first school to add men to its welcoming committee back in 1992.
In 2004, USA Today asked Auburn’s on-campus recruiting coordinator, Sue Locklar, to comment on the whiff of ill repute clinging to university hostess groups in the wake of the “sex parties” allegations about the recruiting culture at the University of Colorado.
Locklar says male students bring an added dimension to selling the school and its football program but adds safety also was a factor in their inclusion.
“I just think it’s good to have a guy along,” Locklar says. “A lot of these guys coming in are strangers. We don’t know them. I always feel it’s better to have a co-ed group hosting them.”
Locklar says recruits are never paired one-on-one with female students and usually four or more welcomers will be assigned to each recruit. The volunteers must attend two seminars on the football team and become familiar with Auburn’s football system and needs, and their opinions of recruits are taken into account.
“If a prospect is a total jerk to the girls, if he’s rude or he’s crude, they’ll tell me or a coach,” Locklar says.
“I’ve had our kids tell me, ‘I don’t care if he says he’s 6-2, he’s only 2 inches taller than me, and I’m only 5-8.’ We’re serious about it.”
And because Auburn values this element of its recruiting effort, Locklar worries that the Colorado scandal could lead to the NCAA curtailing student involvement with recruits.
“I think that they could, and I certainly don’t think that’s fair,” Locklar says. “I think that’s punishing the multitude for what a few people do.”
A year earlier, she was even more direct in stating the benefit of male recruiting hosts.
“We realized there were a lot of places these young ladies cannot go, the locker rooms and so on,” Locklar told the Augusta Chronicle in an interview for a 2003 story on men joining the Georgia Girls as Georgia football ambassadors, a decision the paper described as a solution “to the biggest problem facing football hostesses – unwanted advances from recruits.”
Locklar told the Chronicle that Tigerettes are never left alone with recruits.
“I don’t want it to have any semblance of a date or anything like that,” she said.
Did I mention that Bo Jackson’s daughter is a Tigerette?
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I have not really given into the theory that there was some sort of conspiracy against Auburn until this story came out. I think every SEC (maybe not Vandy?) has a similar program. Heck, I think paying them makes it better, rather than just using their time for free, like slave labor!
Brooks Melchior is a MEDIOT. and a uga homer. Someone should send him the list of uga “Georgia Gameday Hosts” who have earned money from the uga athletic dept and see what he has to say.
Way to go Jeremy!
Nice job Jeremy. No way, Bo’s daughter is a Tigerette. Now that would blow the story away if it starts rolling through twitter. I think the story is disgusting and most programs would look to bashing female college students in this manner as a place that is off limits.
Sports-Bra Brooks likes other men.
sooz, I believe someone on Auburn Undercover did exactly that.
Has Brooks stopped beating his wife?..
I wish they (the girls) had some way to go after Brooks for this. Clearly he has an agenda.
Mea culpa time. My confession:
From 1979 until 1983, I made regular large payments to Auburn University totalling in the THOUSANDS – two, three, or four times a year. The payments were always by check (however, all of the canceled checks have been shredded – so I guess that’s a felony conspiracy count and an obstruction count added to all my charges).
After about four and a half years (I participated in the cooperative education program), I was literally GIVEN a diploma by some guy I had never met before. I was FORCED to dress in all black – head to toe – so that I couldn’t recognized when the diploma was handed over, which was all part of a weird ancient ritual… it was all so cloak and dagger. I had to leave the campus afterwards… it was too much to bear.
I am so ashamed.
To complicate the subterfuge even more, while all of that paying off Auburn University thing was going on, I was taking thousands of money from Auburn University as a part-time (minimum wage) employee. The sex was great, but it was never with a student athlete or a prospective recruit – I was married. So I’m thinking that if my marriage ever goes south, Dr. Gouge needs to set me in a room in the middle of the Phi Mu floor in The Village for a couple of months so that our (corrupt/unethical/Auburn cheats all the f-ing time) sex accounts are balanced properly. Dr. Gouge can just can make me an adjunct sociology professor or something… and I can hand out easy A’s while I’m there…
Need More Sawdust.
I think I need an attorney…. I can just see the headlines…
“Auburn grad paid $thousands for diploma”
“Auburn student had sex repeatedly while on AU payroll”
“Total strangers participate in mysterious ceremony for diploma handouts at Auburn”
You know… now that I think of it… I’d be willing to bet that I never would have gotten my diploma if I hadn’t been forced to make all of those payments to Auburn University. I guess I’m glad I did it, but… I feel so dirty now.