Burgers and hotdogs. Beer and soda. Purple and white.All the basic elements of a good tailgate.

But what’s missing?

The students.

During the last several home games, the number of Greek students who attended the student tailgate was high, while the number of non-Greek students, who make up the other 60 percent of the student body at TCU, was surprisingly low.

Tailgating goes hand in hand with football season and is part of the college experience in general, so why aren’t students actually going?

At some schools, tailgating is a sport of its own, with competitions to get the best spot, cook the best food, show the best “team spirit” and drink the most beer.

Some say tailgating first emerged at the Rutgers-Princeton game in 1869 – the very first college football game.

It became custom for fans of both teams to enjoy a wild fish and game supper before the game, then eat the leftovers and discuss the game after.

Yale University, however, argues that the first tailgate occurred at Yale in 1904 when a train brought fans to a game, and those hungry fans brought along picnic food.

Either way, tailgating has been around a long time in some form. It’s an important part of football season, so more students should take part in it.

Any official TCU organization can get a spot at the student tailgate. All tailgating rules, regulations and online reservation forms can be found on the Student Government Association’s Web site.

And students don’t have to belong to an organization to go to the student tailgate. Everyone is welcome to attend, and there is always plenty of food and drinks to go around.

The student tailgate begins two hours before home games in the Brachman parking lot in Worth Hills and ends two hours after the game is over.

So at the next home game, grab your friends and go out to the student tailgate.

Get some free food and drinks, maybe even put on a little purple and white body paint, then head on over to the game to cheer on your Horned Frogs.

Elizabeth Davidson is a junior news-editorial journalism major from Austin.