Tex. Christian tightens tailgate beer rule

FORT WORTH, Texas, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- Texas Christian University announced it would no longer allow students to drink beer at football tailgate parties.

The school said the policy of allowing students over the age of 21 to imbibe prior to the game presented too many problems with underage fans blending in with the crowd.

"What we found is that it was a difficult situation to enforce," Vice Chancellor Don Mills told the Fort Worth (Tex.) Star-Telegram Tuesday. "The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission was concerned about it. We were concerned about it."

Tailgate alcohol for TCU alumni were not restricted by the new rule change.

For the past two autumns TCU has sponsored tailgate parties for students that featured beer and wine. The newspaper said that during that period, citations for underage drinking spiked to 50- to 100 per game compared to around a half a dozen at a typical game at nearby Southern Methodist University.