As Boston College prepares for Saturday’s long-awaited face-off against Notre Dame, students are gearing up for a weekend of tailgating, tradition, and maroon and gold. 

But for Montserrat and Messina College students, preparing to participate in gameday looks a little different. 

Earlier this month, the Montserrat Office—BC’s program supporting students with the highest level of financial need—sent an email detailing a raffle process to obtain a ticket for Saturday’s game. Although each Montserrat and Messina college student was issued a free gold pass earlier in the semester, it does not provide a ticket to Saturday’s game. 

“Due to limited ticket availability, access to the Notre Dame game on November 1, 2025 will be determined through a raffle,” the email reads. “Gold Passes distributed at the beginning of the semester do not include admission to this game.” 

Gold passes held by non-Montserrat students typically grant access to all regular-season sports games. While the pass itself does not guarantee access to games, it provides the opportunity to enter on a first-come, first-serve basis, according to the BC Athletics’ website. 

Games classified as “high demand”—like the men’s hockey game against Boston University—require students to have attended a minimum number of prior games to receive a ticket. The Nov. 1 Notre Dame game was not designated as “high demand.”

Montserrat serves more than 2,000 students—roughly 15 percent of the undergraduate population— providing financial, community, and academic support, along with access to social events on campus.

Matias Fuentes, a Montserrat student and MCAS ’28, said that while the decision to hold a raffle is logical, communication on behalf of Montserrat and the University could have been clearer.

“I think it makes sense for a big game like this to not guarantee access, just because they’ll actually sell tickets,” he said. “But I do think that if they distribute the gold pass, they should at least make it clear that it won’t cover every game, and that some games you won’t get access.”

Ramiro Tovar, a Montserrat student and MCAS ’28, echoed that sentiment, adding that the raffle results were announced during the same week as the game, making it difficult for students to plan ahead. 

“The email said ‘If you wanted a ticket to go to the office,’ so I guess it kind of only gives you a limited time,” Tovar said. “Maybe you’re busy or have prior commitments.” 

Messina College students also received the raffle email. 

Given the significance of the game, Haybi Garcia, Messina College ’26, said that providing more context to students surrounding the importance of popular campus events could help strengthen the relationship between Messina students and the rest of the community. 

“If we had more information about those school events or campus culture, students will be at least aware of what is happening and occurring, and maybe spark something that, ‘Oh yeah, I want to attend or I want to try,’” Garcia said. 

While students acknowledge the difficulties surrounding implementing the raffle system, the majority of opportunities the Montserrat program provides to students are beneficial, according to Fuentes. 

“I think in general, Montserrat is really, really good,” said Fuentes. “They provide so many things.”

Moving forward, Garcia said increased University support for Montserrat would help provide a wider scope of resources. 

“That will also need a lot of support from BC itself towards the program in order for the program to succeed, because the program can be reaching out, the program can be writing out the grants, the program can be writing the statistics down,” said Garcia. “The problem is that we’re not statistics—we’re students, and we don’t want to be another number, so it will be easier to give the opportunity for students who actually want to attend events and be part of the culture.”