It is that special section between the 35-yard line and the band. It is the crowd of formally dressed students in suits and sundresses. It is the SGA Block Seating Program.
According to the 2009-2010 Spirit Contract, "all chartered organizations of the Student Government Association, and any organization recognized by the Interfraternity Council, Panhellenic Council and National Panhellenic Council" can participate in the Spirit Program.
"It gives an incentive for everyone to go out and be involved," said Elizabeth Stewart, sophomore in human development and family studies and spirit chair for Pi Beta Phi. "The Ignited program also offers incentive for those who don't receive block seating so it's a way to motivate people to go to things."
Events to earn spirit points range from blood drives, to Impact, to supporting sporting events.
The points are then added up and scaled to the amount of people participating versus the amount of people in the organization.
"We look and see if the event is associated with SGA or if it is for a good cause," said Kurt Sasser, junior in human resource management and secretary of involvement for SGA. "The request form has to be in within two weeks of the event. The event also has to be applicable to all spirit organizations to be accepted."
As an offset for supporting the school and attending these events, SGA offers incentives, the most visible of which is block seating.
Steve Miller, spirit chair for Sigma Alpha Epsilon, said he thinks this trade-off is fair and beneficial.
"It's absolutely worth the extra effort," Miller said. "People should work for their spirit points because it helps the school and the football seats are great."
Women in sororities work together to create banners, attend pep rallies and support various sports' teams to earn spirit points, Stewart said.
Miller explained that fraternity brothers have a certain amount of mandatory points per month.
Sasser explained how these efforts support the school.
"For instance, there was an All Auburn, All Orange equestrian meet a couple of weeks ago," Sasser said. "A lot of students went because there were spirit points offered, and that created a better atmosphere for the meet. They were able to support the riders and get spirit points at the same time."
For the greek system, SGA block seating is coveted and generates competition among the fraternities.
"We have good seats now, but we really want to make it into top three for spirit so we can get as many seats as we need," Miller said.
Although Stewart said it would be nice for sororities to have a similar incentive, she said she thinks Auburn does a good job at motivating students to become spirited.
Stewart noted that many sorority members also get to enjoy block seating through the fraternities.
"Priority seating is nice because you don't have to get there early to save seats, you know who you'll be sitting with and there is a big tailgate with the same people each weekend," Stewart said.
Miller agreed the block seating makes for a more enjoyable game experience.
While it may seem as though block seating is the highlight of the spirit system, behind those sun dresses and suits are a group of students working to support Auburn.
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