MSA provides T-shirts to protest Reactor closing

MSA aims for broad student support to push through proposed legislation.

By Megan Pearl

Published Oct. 2, 2009

Rally for Reactor T-shirts are being sold by the Missouri Students Association for $3.

The T-shirts will be worn Thursday, Oct. 8 to advocate the student tailgating cause in what has been designated as a "silent rally."

"When they took Reactor we had nowhere to go, nowhere to call our own for us to get our spirit before the game," freshman MSA Senator Xavier Billingsley said. "It's not just for Greek life and not just seniors. We as student fans need somewhere to call our own."

Recently, MSA officials and MU administrators have been talking about what needs to happen with tailgating. When Reactor Field was shut down, 800 public tailgating spots were lost due to inappropriate fan behavior. The new tailgating plans must address those problems. The administration has given students the job of finding a solution.

"The students have to come up with a proposal that addresses safety and security concerns, and also meets state and local laws," Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Cathy Scroggs said. "We haven't received any proposals yet."

MSA attributes the lack of formal proposals to never needing them in the past, as well as the rejection of the administration to make any changes before the Nebraska game.

MSA President Jordan Paul said the organization has worked with the administration successfully in the past without formal proposals for issues not requiring funds. He said he felt the movement needed strong student support, and not just proposals and resolutions.

Undergraduate and graduate students, teachers and construction workers have all bought T-shirts to support the tailgating cause.

"We've sold a little over a thousand T-shirts so far," Department of Student Communications Director Tim Noce said.

Although the title of the campaign is "Rally for Reactor," it has been acknowledged by MSA the chance of Reactor Field reopening is highly unlikely because the parking lot is being used for other things during the games. The Rally for Reactor campaign means to increase the student voice in decisions about tailgating on campus — a cause that has been granted by the administration — and Reactor Field has become a symbol of the student voice in the tailgating issue.

"The T-shirts are really bright and hopefully people will notice," DSC Publicity and Promotions Chairwoman Kaitlan Whitteberry said. "We picked Oct. 8 because it is a game day so it's easy to remember. We haven't been telling students to wear the shirts to the Nebraska game though."

For MSA, selling the T-shirts and creating the petition has been a new experience in student body involvement because of the wide variety of students who tailgate.

"We're also getting the word out about MSA," Whitteberry said. "Most people don't even know that we have a student government, and now more people are aware that there is an organization that they can go to for decision-making issues on campus."

Noce said much of MSA legislation is passed through the MSA Senate body and then implemented on campus. Reactor Field has presented a new problem of decisions that the representative student body does not have control over.

"In my experience, MSA can just pass legislation and get things done," Noce said. "The reason we're doing the petition and the T-shirts is because usually the MSA pull is enough, but this is a different beast."