Rules remain the same for spring tailgate
Students can expect to see the 2009 football tailgating procedures return for 2010 — but university officials will remain in communication with students to examine the procedures.
“The university and athletics will continue to deliberate safety measures to continue to make sure the tailgate environment provides the greatest degree of safety,” said Senior Associate Athletics Director Derek van der Merwe.
Spring tailgate begins at 3 p.m. Saturday in Lot 63, south of Kelly/Shorts Stadium, and does not require a parking pass.
Although the procedures will remain at status quo through Saturday’s spring football game, van der Merwe, Central Michigan University Police Chief Bill Yeagley and CMU Police Associate Director Fred Harris will meet with the Student Government Association, fraternities, sororities and other student groups before the end of the semester to evaluate the procedures.
The goal is to make sure students are safe and that the procedures do not detract from students enjoying the experience, van der Merwe said.
“The greatest thing was that it opened up dialogue with students, fraternities and sororities,” he said.
The changes to tailgate, implemented in July, limited alcohol consumption to six beers or one pint of liquor per student, required students to pre-purchase a $6 parking pass, spread out the vehicles within the parking lot to make room for emergency vehicles, initially banned external sound systems in vehicles and included a perimeter with controlled access points. University officials also stepped up the law enforcement presence in Lot 63.
Before the end of the football season, CMU administrators modified the procedures to allow students to bring external sound systems if they call in advance, Yeagley said.
One of the main goals with the altered tailgating procedures in the fall was to reduce the number of alcohol-related injuries, and that number dropped dramatically, he said.
The drop in injuries was not only because of the new procedures, but because of the significant decrease in tailgate attendance.
Hundreds of students chose to tailgate elsewhere, particularly on Main Street, to protest the new procedures.
“We knew there was going to be some period of acceptance,” van der Merwe said. “We had to bring awareness to the safety issue. We had to do something.”
However, after the reintroduction of external sound systems, many students returned for Homecoming tailgate on Oct. 10, when CMU defeated Eastern Michigan 56-8.
“My hope is we get the numbers back and ... folks enjoy themselves and that the numbers of injuries maintains a very, very low-to-zero level,” Yeagley said.
