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BREAKING NEWS: External sound systems allowed starting at Saturday’s tailgate

By on October 6, 2009 5:29 pm in Featured, University / 12 comments

 
BREAKING NEWS: External sound systems allowed starting at Saturday’s tailgate
(Libby March/Staff Photographer)
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Central Michigan University will amend the new tailgating procedures to allow students to use external sound systems in Lot 63 starting with this Saturday’s tailgate before the football game at noon against Eastern Michigan.

The sound systems will have to adhere to certain requirements pertaining to emergency situations, according to a joint statement released by the athletics department today.

University officials are working with a student ad-hoc committee formed by Student Government Association President Jason Nichol to ensure there is greater communication and understanding of tailgating expectations in Lot 63.

Nichol said the committee is looking at other possible amendments to the policies, but their primary focus at this time involves the ban on external sound systems.

“The students stood up,” said Nichol, a Mount Pleasant senior. “We hope (this change) will draw the majority of the fraternities and sororities back. It will also draw more people away from Main Street. One of the unique parts about CMU is that tailgating culture, (and Athletics) has been really receptive to the student input.”

SGA Vice President Brittany Mouzourakis, a Garden City senior, said such a committee is formed whenever there is a pressing issue on campus, in this case tailgating.

The statement was released today from Interfraternity Council President Brandyn Lawson, CMU Police Chief Bill Yeagley, Athletics Director Dave Heeke and Nichol. It discusses the group’s intentions, as well as the lift on the external sound system ban.

Individuals with external sound systems can pre-purchase a parking pass for Lot 63 and will be required to set up sound systems three and a half hours before the start of the game.

“This is something the students are supportive of and will increase participation in the student lot,” Heeke said. “Quite frankly, students have the choice to tailgate, like any of our fans, wherever they want. But, the more students that come out, the better the atmosphere and overall experience becomes.”

A limited number of these parking passes will be available for sale at 8 a.m. Thursday at the Athletic Ticket Office for $6.

“All other tailgating expectations remain unchanged and will be reasonably enforced,” the statement read.

Senior Reporter Jake May contributed to this report.

Click here to see all other stories pertaining to tailgate.

 

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  • Stephen

    I really hope this catches on. People should just try it out. Alcohol should not be the life of the party. The people should be!

  • Segun

    Alcohol is not the life of the party but it helps the shy ones to open up and feel the grove. tailgating is not about alcohol so with the rule being relaxed about external sound system, I guess that will do the trick, the frats and sororities will be back most definitely…

  • whatever

    yeah that’s nice and all stephen. You have fun standing in a parking lot by yourself sober. I’ll stick with having some beer and chilling with friends instead of a bunch of judgmental snobs who got a bug up their butt about people who like to drink.

    Now with external sound systems back how about just doing the rest and changing it all back. I’m coming up for the weekend to visit my fraternity brothers (Grad 99) and I’m not going to go just because you can have a stereo there now. I’ll still be at the game but why bother with the possibility with having to deal with some tool cop harassing me for the other stuff?

    I’m not the only one either…..good luck to SGA prez nichols, the greeks aren’t really planning on coming back. You’ll see some of them out their with flags up just to direct alumni who don’t know about stuff like this, where everyone else is.

  • Ben Blade

    Frankly, I find this ploy insulting to the intelligence of the CMU student body.

    So now that we can bring sound systems, we’re just going to forget about all the other unnecessary regulations??? Do they think we’re that stupid or just easily distracted?

    I think the sound system ban was one of the most reasonable of the new rules. The excessive alcohol limitations, civilian checkpoints, and added police coverage are what drove the students away. Not the absence of sound systems.

    Get a clue Dave Heeke and company. Just because 3 students were on the board that created the new rules doesn’t mean the interests of the student body were adequately represented.

    Oh, and Segun, the “frats and sororities” will not “most definitely” be back. A few of us may trickle through. But it won’t be the way it used to be. this administration has a longer way to go to earn the greek community and the student body back.

    That said, let’s beat EMU on Saturday!!!! Fire up Chips!!!!

    Benjamin Joseph Blade
    I’m not ashamed of anything I’ve said here.

  • Jack

    This probably won’t change must. Honestly, the reason tailgating was so huge before was because all of the greek life was there. With all of those people, that dragged in huge crowds of regular student’s for a good time. Stereos won’t fix anything and everything about tailgating being changed is still messed up.

    And I think the random little facts they throw in CM-Life about tailgating changes being good are hilarious. Yeah, there’s less emergency runs because you have probably 90% LESS people there. Wow, such a valid stat.

  • Andrew

    Lovely. So they’ve come to grips with the fact that their new policies are turning away students by the hundreds, but they’re only going to rescind one of the many absolutely asinine rules they’ve put in place?

    If the administration needs to feel all warm and fuzzy about themselves, keep the alcohol limits in place. Let them attempt to enforce that. But for the love of Pete (and Pete is a pretty sexy bitch) remove the other restrictions.

  • CMU Alum

    CMU’s student body, both greek and non-greek, should continue to protest the absurd tailgating restrictions. Mr. Blade is dead on – the student body is much smarter than this, and a continued protest is the only way to show it. I’m sure most of the students and alumni could go completely without music if the drinking restrictions disappeared. What kind of quid pro quo is that? The students and alumni want alcohol, and the university gave us music. It now seems as though the university has recognized their mistake, but has too much pride to know how to swallow it. They are the “authoritative” figure here, and they won’t dare allow the students to undermine them. This “because I said so” parental attitude is down right childish, and by subjecting adult students and alumni to their restrictions, they will once again have an empty parking lot.

    If we wanted music, we’d ask for music.

  • M

    The ban on external sound systems definitely seemed like one of the soundest and safest new rules, along with no glass bottles, and to allow the sound systems seems to undermine why the rules were set-up in the first place. With this being said, I think students need to honestly think about the rules still in place-if you’re so worried about the alcohol rule (to be honest, a pint is over 11 shots, which more than constitutes heavy binge-drinking), wouldn’t it be easy to get around? I understand the university is trying to save face and to have rules protecting the health of the students, but isn’t what makes tailgating fun all of the people at it?

  • CMU Alum

    M -

    You are exactly right. However, what attracted all of the thousands of people to our tailgate were the lax rules on alcohol, and that is just the reality of the situation. The University has already experienced record lows in tailgate attendance this year, and that is a direct result of the alcohol restrictions. It is simply the idea of the restrictions that is a turn off to students. Whether or not the rules are reasonably enforced as the article mentions, the fact remains that they can be enforced at the discretion of the university and the patrolling officers and makes those in attendance feel as though they are walking on eggshells, thus taking away from the atmosphere. If it was the people, and the people alone, that made tailgating fun, there would not be any debate over the new tailgating rules.

  • dave

    whatever says:
    October 6, 2009 at 6:29 pm
    yeah that’s nice and all stephen. You have fun standing in a parking lot by yourself sober. I’ll stick with having some beer and chilling with friends instead of a bunch of judgmental snobs who got a bug up their butt about people who like to drink.

    ——————————————————
    Yes whatever, because nobody judges someone who shows up without an alcoholic beverage. Aren’t you being just a tad hypocritical here? Its a tailgate, not a college party, if someone wants to show up and have little or no alcohol, thats their perogative. I happen to show up and drink at my buddies truck, but I don’t trash someone simply because they don’t drink alcohol. Thats a personal decision. Boy do we have some closed-minded students at this university.

  • cmu junior

    My personal opinion is that it’s going to take A LOT more than allowing external sound systems for tailgating to get back to how it used to be. I think that the administration has finally realized that the (majority of) students just aren’t going to tailgate anymore and that they made a mistake. I don’t see them revising any other rules, however. That would make them look weak and I don’t imagine that they’d want that.

    I also don’t think that the reason that the students are so angry is purely drinking. I think it’s mainly the principle of the matter. Most students don’t feel like the university should be able to tell students how much we can or can’t drink.

  • Keith

    Totally agree cmu junior. I think that it is mostly the principle of the situation that has us all so fired up. Legally they can limit the amount we have to drink because it is there property that we are on. But the old way was not a bad way at all. Only irrisponsible people were making the problems and if anything hard liquor should be the main enforcement since usually I get too full before I get too many in me or the game starts before I can drink what I consider way to many. Not that I would. I also go for the game and wouldnt want to miss watching us win. Im only worried that the massive amount of people who come up to enjoy homecoming. they may go to tailgate to be close to the game and then the rule makers might think they have finally won. They just need to realize that it will only be alumni if it is a big crowd. FIRE UP!