At 8:30 a.m. on Saturday morning of Homecoming weekend, students were just getting out of bed to begin tailgating and celebrating the game against Wyoming.

While most of her fellow students were preparing for the exciting day ahead, advertising junior Katie Feirer was already waiting in line at Spartan Stadium.

Feirer wasn’t hoping for a seat at the front of the student section — she needed to make sure she could see the game at all.

Feirer uses a wheelchair and needs handicap-accessible seating, which is in limited supply at the stadium.

There is no handicap accessible seating within the student section, which meant Feirer could not celebrate that game, or any other, with her fellow students.

She has to watch from the other end of the stadium.

Instead of buying season tickets this year, she decided to purchase tickets to select games and hope she will have a place to sit. But her general admission tickets have to be exchanged for seats in the accessible section.

“The only tickets that were left in accessible seating are only sold on a first-come, first-served basis,” Feirer said. “This is the hassle every person goes through if they want to sit in the accessible section and don’t purchase season tickets within the section, or want to have a companion sit with them.”

After watching every game from the north end of the stadium last year, Fairer wanted to be able to experience games in the student section. Because of her wheelchair, she said she is being segregated from her fellow students and denied the average experience promised to all students with football tickets.

“I felt like I was in a different world,” she said in regards to looking at the student section from a distance.

On the other end zone, but a world away

Spartan Stadium can currently seat 75,005 spectators. Season ticket sales often reach the 60,000 seats sold mark. Accessible seating is only available in three sections of the stadium and can be reached through only four ramps. None of these ramps are near the student section, which seats about 13,000 spectators.

Feirer attended meetings of the President’s Advisory Committee on Disability Issues and spoke with several of MSU’s athletic directors, who told her there was a lack of funding necessary to make additional seating happen. This comes after a multi-million dollar renovation to the north end zone of the stadium.

Inspired to make a change, Feirer started a GoFundMe page in order to raise funds for accessible seating in the student section .

The page was started on Aug. 29 and has a lofty goal of $2.2 million. Although just $165 has been donated so far, Feirer is continuing to spread awareness for her cause through Facebook and interviews on local radio stations.

“The website is doing really well with raising awareness, and is a great way to raise money,” Feirer said. “I hope what I’m doing inspires other students.”

There are other students with disabilities who feel the same way, as well as long-time Spartan football fans.

Most of the accessible seating in the stadium is held by season ticket holders, and the ability to successfully exchange general admission tickets is never guaranteed.

Steve and Melissa Wiercinski attended the game against Eastern Michigan University on Sept. 20, and were disappointed when they were moved up into the press box due to lack of accessible seating.

“Don’t get me wrong, the view was great,” Melissa Wiercinski said in an email. “But we didn’t feel a part of the Spartan experience at all!”

Her husband has Becker’s muscular dystrophy and uses a wheelchair.

“This is probably the worst experience I’ve had at a sporting event,” said Steve Wiercinski, an MSU alumnus.

He said the general admission tickets did not accommodate his needs, and event staff moved the couple into the press box even though it is not designed for handicapped fans.

Steve Wiercinski had student section tickets while he was a student and because his condition was not as severe at that time was able to stand with fellow students, although he sometimes had to move due to difficulty climbing the stairs.

After graduating in 1998, he continued to buy season tickets, but experienced even more problems getting into the stadium.

“My seats were in the upper deck, so I would work my way up the steep ramps. It was definitely exhausting climbing those ramps,” he said. “After a while it became really hard for me to make it up to the seats, and I stopped getting season tickets. Had I had an easier time getting better seats, I probably would have remained a season ticket holder,” he said.

Steve and Melissa Wiercinski were married in August 2013 and attended their first game together at Spartan Stadium two weeks ago. They were appalled by the poor service and lack of disability-friendly seating. They have attended hockey games at Munn Ice Arena and never had a problem. The Breslin Student Events Center also offers an abundance of accessible seating.

The couple does not plan on attending any games at Spartan Stadium for the rest of the season. They learned of Feirer’s goals to bring attention to the lack of accessible seating and are helping her to make her cause known.

“I can really understand what the young girl is going through,” Steve Wiercinski said. “I loved the experience as a student, even with the minor difficulties I had sitting in that section. I wouldn’t have given that experience up for the world. However, I would have loved if MSU would have made accommodations to make it a little bit easier as a student.”

Uncertain resolution

MSU spokesman Jason Cody said the university is aware of the complaints, characterizing them as “an issue the administration is aware of and working toward addressing.”

“While Spartan Stadium is in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act,” MSU spokesman Jason Cody said in a statement, “we acknowledge the seating situation, specifically in the student section, is not always ideal.”

The administration is currently gathering information on several options to pursue and make accessible seating available to the entire Spartan community.

Some on-campus organizations have already taken note of the initiative.

ASMSU President James Conwell said he plans to meet with the  to understand the issue and determine the best plan of action to move forward.

Feirer is reaching out to other students with poor experiences in the stadium and is bringing as much attention to the issue as she can.

“I have always been determined and a go-getter,” she said. She encourages other students to get active. “If I can do it, you can do it.”

Staff reporter Brandi Scarber contributed to this report.