Shortly before the 7 p.m. kickoff of Trinity’s first football game of the season, the Greek unity tailgate was put on by the Greek Council, the Student Programming Board (SPB) and the Student Government Association (SGA). Students, parents and staff crammed together on Prassel Lawn to grab food and free Trinity merch, play games and meet different organizations.
With temperatures near 90 degrees Fahrenheit, most fans were in shorts and a Trinity T-shirt to try and stay cool. Fans who got to the tailgate early enough could be found wearing their free “Paws Up” hat in addition to foam paws distributed by SPB. Besides the regular accessories, though, there were some especially creative Tigers dressed up to show their spirit at the season-opening football game. A group of girls who put their own spin on traditional Trinity merch stood out. Not only were their outfits color-coordinated, but many of the pieces were upcycled by the girls themselves. Jas Sudds, junior anthropology major, designed a tube top from a maroon Trinity Tigers shirt.
“My friend got a big extra-large shirt, and we cut it out to make the outfit,” Sudds said. “I made a tube top that crosses in the back and I added a little white bow, with white shoes, and a white Dior bag.”
Diamond Powell, junior accounting major, fashioned her maroon Trinity shirt into a dress. Powell found a creative way to fit Trinity merch to her style through videos online.
“All it talks about is scissors and learning to measure your body to make it fit the way you want it to fit,” Powell said. “Then, I just added a little bow with some Adidas Sambas. We learned how to do it on TikTok.”
As this was the Greek Unity Tailgate, it only seemed right to ask a member of a Greek life organization how they had decided to style themselves for the game. Kyra Balyeat, sophomore accounting major and member of the SPURS Sorority (Spurs), displayed multiple Spurs accessories, including red cowboy booties, a Spurs necklace, cowboy earrings and a Spurs rush shirt. The outfit revealed more sentiment than meets the eye.
“I’m wearing a Spurs necklace that I got from my grandmother,” Balyeat said. “Actually, it has her initials in it. It was a pendant that her parents got her because my grandmother is a cowgirl, so Spurs are really important to her, and my grandma passed it down to me, because now I’m in Spurs sorority.”
Students were not the only fans with impressive outfits. Parents of junior linebacker Jackson Berry were found in the stands wearing custom Trinity Tigers shirts. The family bedazzled the shirts the night before the game with beads to embellish the letters. His mom was able to create the apparel on a cameo machine, and the shirts were also accessorized with home-made buttons featuring photos of Berry with his number on them. Some members of the family also had decorative headbands to show support for their player. Berry’s parents and grandparents were looking forward to their first ever Tiger football game.
“We just transferred in,” Berry’s parents said. Berry, a Dallas, Texas, native, transferred this season from Jackson State University — a D1 school in Jackson, Mississippi. “This is our first game and we’re really excited.”
Support for Tiger football took different forms with students and parents on Friday. Despite the differences in appearance, one thing is for certain: Tiger fans found ways to cheer for the team in outfits and accessories unique to their own style.
