As Spartans fans gear up for Saturday's home football game against Illinois, student leaders are telling overzealous tailgaters to behave, as police and university officials will be especially perceptive of drunken antics.
"I hope students demonstrate they can be responsible this weekend," said Andrew Bell, ASMSU Student Assembly external vice chairperson. "Everyone will be under the microscope this weekend. Any person demonstrating out-of-control behavior will be used as a poster child for more restrictions."
Although Bell said he encourages students to tailgate normally, police say some aspects of this Saturday's tailgate will be a little different because of two guidelines released by university officials on Monday. The tailgating rules limit drinking games and campus parking lot operation hours to five hours before the game and two hours after.
"In the past, parking lots never opened before 7 a.m. anyway," MSU police Chief Jim Dunlap said, adding that the new guidelines permit parking lots to open only five hours before kickoff - Saturday's game begins at noon. "The new guidelines really don't make a difference for this game."
To wait for a space at the Wilson tennis courts, students usually show up long before the area is open, MSU police Lt. Kelly Beck said. Police will still allow students to wait, and about 400 cars will be allowed to tailgate at the Wilson tennis courts - the same number as at MSU's last home game.
"It's really hit or miss in terms of when a large amount of people start showing up to wait," Beck said. "There's really no time. Whenever the first people come, the line starts."
Dunlap said officers will be watching for tailgaters using drinking-game paraphernalia. The new guidelines restrict any object used for binge drinking, including beer bongs, roulette wheels and boards used for the table-top tennis game, "beer pong."
Tables larger than a card table were never permitted at MSU tailgates in the first place, so Saturday's game should be no different if students were following the university's rules, Dunlap said.
Beck said students should leave any drinking games at home.
"We're just asking people not to bring them," Beck said. "It's now a condition of entry to not have those items, and if you violate the rule you will be considered to be trespassing."
Dunlap added that trespassing will result in arrest.
MSU spokesman Terry Denbow said he hopes to see some tailgating changes on Saturday.
"I would like to see a lot fewer ambulances being called and fewer people urinating in public," Denbow said. "I want the grounds crew to tell me they weren't grossed out by what they had to clean up."
Denbow said the university will increase the number of portable rest rooms in the Wilson tennis court area to decrease public urination.
But no matter what happens on Saturday, Bell said the fate of tailgating is on the line.
"It's almost a catch-22 for us because if everything gets better, (university officials) will say the guidelines worked and should be enforced," Bell said. "But if things don't get better, officials will say that the restrictions are just not enough."
