Whole heartedly agree with this. Its these events that create the lifelong bonds and ties to Rutgers. Which in turn comes back to Rutgers financially via donations, people coming back to visit, speaking highly to others and therefore enhancing the reputation and demand of a Rutgers experience.
I was at Rutgers 2004-2008 so luckily I experienced many of those things such as exciting sporting moments, traveling to bowl games with friends, 4 years of Rutgersfest, Ag Field Day, etc. Although I didn't experience the Alley, I thought that was the coolest idea ever and was partially jealous of the students at the time. Students would proudly bring their friends to Rutgers games, win or lose, and have a great time. And all those friends would be jealous that they don't get to do that on a weekly basis. I understand a lot of these fun experiences cannot be condoned by the University due to liability, but there's a difference between sponsoring it and just policing only the dangerous behavior (rather than banning it all together - such as Rutgersfest or the Alley)
Other schools made their reputation solely off having a good undergrad experience. Look at WVU for example, Arizona State, and even Penn State. It's part of a evolution because being a good time brings it money, which then in turn gives you the opportunity to improve the campus, buildings, academics, hire better faculty, etc.
Rutgers foolishly ignored that for decades (and still I would think 90% of admins today still think this way). But where has that got Rutgers academically? We haven't improved, we've declined and watched these other schools pass us. So I feel like the admins turned up a nose at the athletics and social aspect ... and instead preached from their podium about academics .. but Rutgers essentially did neither well and is now playing catch-up in both aspects.