With heavy doses of fully-loaded hotdogs, cornhole beanbag tossing and copious amounts of beer, tailgating has become a favorite pastime of students and alumni on Saturday mornings in the fall.
This Saturday marks the first MSU football game with a season opener vs. Western Michigan. With a large group of students and alumni preparing for Spartan football, police are gearing up for another year of tailgating and the problems that stem from it.
“On a regular basis we deal with alcohol overconsumption and the behaviors that result,” MSU police Lt. Jennifer Brown said. “Students drink too much and with both kids and adults drinking that can lead to bad choices whether that’s driving a vehicle or
urinating in public or vandalizing cars or fights.”
Brown said the level of problems that they encounter can vary from game to game. Oftentimes problems arise when fans of the visiting team clash with MSU fans, hyped up by school spirit.
“The only difference we see is from game to game and with some of our rivalry teams. Ohio State, Notre Dame, Michigan; those games cause higher arrest numbers,” Brown said.
Although drinking is legal for of-age students on campus, it is illegal for everyone to have open alcohol off campus in the city of East Lansing, East Lansing police Capt. Kim Johnson said.
“We don’t have off-campus tailgating; it’s illegal,” Johnson said. “People can have private parties at their homes and if they come off of their property, we have to enforce the rules. On campus, it’s different. People are walking around with open alcohol and enjoying the atmosphere. The rules are different.”
Johnson said police will not be conducting extra patrols in East Lansing, but he expects a busy day for the police.
“We run our regular day-shift patrols before the game,” he said. “Game days are always busier than other days during the year. For different calls of service, not necessarily tailgating. When we get more people in town, we have to answer those calls.”
Some students said they are not looking forward to partying during tailgate, but watching the game with friends and showing their Spartan pride.
Advertising senior Allison Doherty said tailgating with friends is her favorite part of football Saturdays.
“It’s nice to see all of my friends for the first time,” Doherty said. “It’s not as much the drinking but running around to all of the houses and seeing all of my friends. Just getting up, tailgating and going to the game is exciting.”
Premedical freshman Casey Taylor said he is looking forward to a calm, collective tailgating experience.
“I like sitting down with friends and eating good food,” Taylor said. “It’s great just getting pumped for the game and getting to meet a bunch of new people.”
Support student media! Please consider donating to The State News and help fund the future of journalism.
