Donna Shalala, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, had encountered them in her previous job as president of the University of Wisconsin. She saw a link between beer and circus and offered her suggestions on loosening it at the 1998 annual convention of the NCAA: I believe that the time has come for schools to consider voluntary guidelines that say, “No alcohol advertising on the premises of an intercollegiate athletic event. No bringing alcohol to the site of an event. No turning a blind eye to underage drinking at tailgate parties—and on campus. And no alcohol sponsorship of intercollegiate sporting events.” I know that there has been stiff resistance—both inside and outside the NCAA—to these kinds of tough guidelines in the past. But the time has come to reconsider them, especially in light of the recent alcohol-related deaths [of students], and some research suggesting that advertising may influence adolescents to be more favorably disposed to drinking. Secretary Shalala, when questioned after her address to the NCAA, also declared that the association and all athletic conferences and schools should insist that TV and radio broadcasts of their college sports games exclude alcoholic beverage advertising.
