Vice President of Illinois student section defends group after Iowa ticket office fiasco

Wednesday, a back-and-forth started between the Iowa ticket office and the Illinois student section. The Orange Krush said the Hawkeyes invalidated tickets it purchased legally, while the ticket office claimed the group posed as the Illinois chapter of the Boys & Girls Club, which is why the tickets were voided.

Now, the vice president of the Orange Krush is speaking out.

Kilton Rauman spoke with News Channel 20’s Dante Furco about the situation and shared why the group chose the Boys & Girls Club as its pseudonym. As it turns out, the Orange Krush typically uses a different name when buying group tickets because it’s an opposing student section. It did so to get a group rate — not to get a discount.

“We always use some type of different organization name because in the past, Iowa was the Big Ten school that wouldn’t sell [to] the Orange Krush, which is understandable,” Rauman said. “Why would they want to? But we just said we were a Boys & Girls Club when asked what type of group we were. Hadn’t had any follow-up then until yesterday, when they’d already been invalidated.

“There was no malice towards the Boys & Girls Club at all. We weren’t even trying to use that organization name, really. Just trying to give vague details. It’s really unfortunate that it’s gotten spun this way, but we absolutely were not looking for a discount. We simply got a group rate. Didn’t ask for a discount, didn’t even realize we got one. Groups are just charged differently. But we’re just hoping to spin this back into philanthropy.”

Iowa voids 200 tickets after Illinois student section lied to ticket office

The whole situation started when The Orange Krush put out a six-paragraph statement that blasted the Iowa athletics department. The group also acknowledged the charity work it does, which is a key factor in who makes the trip.

“It is highly unfortunate for our group that this trip has been canceled because we were looking forward to it since receiving the tickets in the mail in October,” the Orange Krush said. “It is highly unfortunate for the 150 students that collectively fundraised a total of $2,649.41 for local charitable organizations in order to be invited on this trip.

“Most of all, it is highly unfortunate that the University of Iowa and their athletic department refused to face the consequences of the mistake THEY MADE in selling tickets to a billing address in Champaign, Illinois.”

But it turns out the Orange Krush purchased the tickets another way. Iowa explained what happened in a statement Wednesday night and said the tickets have been donated. The athletic department also issued refunds to the Orange Krush, although it didn’t name the group specifically.

“The Iowa athletics department became aware of a discounted group ticket order for the Illinois-Iowa men’s basketball game on behalf of an Illinois chapter of the Boys & Girls Club,” the statement read. “In following up with that organization, it became clear that this was not factual. When contacting the individual who made the original ticket order, they admitted to falsely ordering tickets under the non-profit organization.

“Iowa Athletics has refunded the original ticket order and donated tickets to the Boys & Girls Club of Cedar Rapids. We look forward to welcoming these kids to a sold-out Carver-Hawkeye Arena this Saturday.”