That was my hunch all along. Next time can you put your student ticket up for resale - if possible?
Hopefully in the future they schedule parents weekend for something like Wagner. Most parents are not there for the game anyway, which is understandable. The casuals that show up cause enough issues with their cluelessness.
Bottom line - the AD should try to communicate to parents that their kids already have a ticket. Maybe let their younger or older sibling sit in the student section or something. Anything was better than seeing that stupid bald spot in the upper corner when the rest of the place looked like Richard Gere.