MSA plans new student tailgating space
The organization will reserve the lot between Cornell Hall and Stankowski Field for home football games.
Published July 31, 2010
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MU graduates Eric Durban and Shawn Garrison reply to an "M-I-Z" call outside of the Edward Jones Dome while tailgating before the Missouri-Illinois football game in St. Louis, Mo on Sept. 5, 2009. The Missouri Students Association plans to reserve the parking lot between Cornell Hall and Stankowski Field for student tailgating this fall.
The Missouri Students Association is planning on reserving student tailgating space in the parking lot between Stankowski Field and Cornell Hall to replace previously popular tailgate sites shut down in recent years.
“The only difference is you bring your own (drinks) and no cars allowed,” MSA President Tim Noce said. “Anyone can come. We will have special rules and regulations set up for this tailgate by the end of the summer.”
Tentatively, MSA plans to have the tailgating space at the corner of Maryland Avenue and Rollins Street available for every home football game but will reassess the plan after the first couple home games.
“Right now we are having a pilot event for the first few games to see how it turns out,” said Ben Hansen, MSA Department of Student Activities director. “As with any vision, it will change as it actually happens.”
Reactor Field and Frat Pit, two former tailgating spaces, were shut down by the university due to problems with students’ behavior, Hansen said.
“I think one of the biggest reasons was that there was binge drinking,” Hansen said. “Some people were drinking a lot and then they weren’t even going to the game, they were just staying there the whole time. Other reasons were fights were breaking out and under aged drinking.”
MSA is setting certain restrictions to the new tailgating space to prevent the same problems that plagued Frat Pit and Reactor.
“Just like anything else, any other tailgate on campus, you are going to run into the problems that you have any time you have alcohol,” Noce said. “We are looking to do that by making it no cars allowed, so people can only bring what they can carry. The tailgate will be shut down at kickoff, enticing people to go to the game and not party throughout.”
Organizations will be able to set up in the parking lot for a fee, Hansen said.
“The spaces inside the parking lot will be reserved for student organizations, so the only people that are going to attend the event will be MU students and their friends,” Hansen said.
Beyond the areas set up by specific organizations, there will also be activities provided, Hansen said. Activities will include sports and hopefully music.
“The idea is to borrow stuff from the Rec that student orgs can check out from MSA,” Hansen said. “There will be washers and the ropes and ladders game, and then there might be the one with the sand bags where you throw them into the holes.”
MSA has already coordinated with administration to make the student tailgate possible and will have to comply with police requirements and other regulations set by MU.
“The students approached us about the possibility of a tailgate area,” Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Cathy Scroggs said. “Our effort has been to help support the students to get an area for students who want to get together before the game and enjoy each others company.”
Noce said MSA is hoping the tailgate will become a tradition like the Grove at Ole Miss or the Vanderbilt student tailgate.
Comments (6)
12:09 p.m., Aug. 1, 2010
Mike W said:
People who are under the impression that Reactor Field and Frat Pit were two dens of total indecency, and unique to Mizzou, are complete idiots. Reactor Field was 99% under control every time I tailgated there (which was often). In two years I saw maybe 3 fights. Was there binge drinking? Yes by the incredibly low definitions of what "binge drinking" is, there was. However I can't say I've seen any different behavior at the scores of bars and night clubs in downtown Columbia, or anywhere that allows drinking for that matter. The CPD (no doubt along with the University to some degree) seem to have found a way to curb underage drinking downtown. How was that not working at Reactor field? Tailgating is a tradition across the country. Schools like Ole Miss have strong football traditions despite long stretches of on field ineptitude because of their tailgating. People talk of tradition at Mizzou but I was there for two pre-Chase Daniel years. The seats were half filled and interest wasn't nearly what it was before our break out year in '07. That isn't tradition, sorry. Need more proof? Ask the basketball team. How many people were packing Mizzou Arena before halfway through the 08-09 year? Aren't we supposed to be a basketball school? It's pathetic. Tradition is looking forward to Saturdays regardless of how your team is doing, because you want to celebrate your school, your team, and hang out with friends. And not everyone has tickets to the game, so what are they supposed to do? Go home? No, they want to hang out and have fun too. Mizzou isn't stopping, or even curbing, under age drinking or drunken behavior. They're just spreading it out, that's a fact. Mizzou would like to act as if drinking doesn't occur on or near it's campus. It wants to ignore alcohol. A severe overreaction for the decades of openness and debauchery that actually did at one time take place here. You want to have a great football tradition year after year? Embrace tailgating, ie embrace your fans. If you think there are problems, police it. Reactor was never some uncontrollable mob. It was just an eye sore that Mizzou was tired of, so instead of looking for constructive solutions, they just took the easy one.
8:54 p.m., Aug. 13, 2010
Stan M said:
hmmm lets look at this chronologically, frat pit was closed down for binge drinking and fighting, and were forced to relocate to the next biggest student tailgating spot. while it was still open, I saw maybe one or two fights in reactor during the 08' football season. yes there was obnoxious underage drinking, that is difficult to control everywhere. once FRAT PIT was closed down, however, there were suddenly huge groups of bros fighting each other after they took over reactor in the early part of the 09 season. im fully aware im going to get the label of "hating frats cuz im just a g.d.i." but seriously the greek community has ruined two tailgating spots cause they cant stop fighting. disagree if you want, but i was there when KA bros were in a mob trying to fight some other frat before mizzou mutilated furman in 09'. anyone that was in reactor in 08' KNOWS that there were not huge groups of people fighting there. as previously stated, there were some fights, but they involved very few people and were nothing compared to the magnitude of the ones that occurred in 09. if you disagree you were probably in frat pit so you would have no idea anyway what reactor was like before it was graced with your (somehow) more immature drunken behavior than normal drunken college students. solution? make frat boys drink in their houses so they fight each other, oh wait they already do that too hahaha
6:25 p.m., Aug. 16, 2010
Mike W said:
What you fail to realize is that "Frat Pit" was only home to the tailgating of about 5, at most 6 of the 29 fraternities on campus. At least 15 fraternities were already tailgating at Reactor before the '09 season, when the situation suddenly began to deteriorate in your eyes. To solely place the blame on fraternities for Reactor closing is a shortsighted, and frankly ignorant way of looking at the situation. I did not witness the alleged KA fight you seem to have, but I do not doubt it. However, I tailgated at Reactor in both 08 AND 09 and did not see a sudden increase in violence. In fact, the worst fight I remember seeing was between a few rednecks who I very much doubt even went to Mizzou (one of them pulled out an axe handle after getting his ass kicked, it was kind of awesome). Either way, I did not notice a violence problem, nor do I believe that supposed "violence problems" were anything but an "icing on the cake" reason for Mizzou to suddenly close down Reactor. A stronger point you could have made is that perhaps the migration of some of the "problem" fraternities such as KA (who have had many disciplinary problems as of late), ATO (who has since been kicked off campus), AKL (who has since been kicked off campus) and the remnants of SAE (who had been kicked off already by Fall 08) from Frat Pit to Reactor proliferated this violence. However, being a member of the Greek Community, I did not ever see, or heard about, massive "frat brawls" going on at Reactor (and that my friend, would have been some hot gossip, sadly). There may have been one or two large fights, but putting that many drunk people together would cause that regardless of who was there. No, the reason Reactor field was closed goes far beyond fraternities. The Reason reactor was closed is because the mess left afterwards (although diligently and nobly cleaned by volunteers by Monday) was an eye sore to Mizzou. What was perhaps more of an eyesore were the underage drinking statistics administrators had to look at. Either that or Mizzou and the City of Columbia were just too lazy to responsibly police it and give their students what they owe them as fans, a fun, spirit filled tailgating environment. Honestly my guess is all three. But again, please, do not blame fraternities, because it's obvious you are poorly informed. I would say I don't blame you, because you aren't Greek and probably did not realize the situation with Frat Pit and what not, but when you decide to make those sweeping accusations you have a responsibility to back up what you claim with more than hearsay. And if you don't prepare to be called out on it.
8 a.m., Aug. 17, 2010
Truman said:
Uh, to tailgate dont you need a vehicle? I mean its called tail gate!
9:37 p.m., Aug. 23, 2010
Pete said:
Not sure what you guys are talking about... Reactor was a media lot, and lot for (limited) people with passes in 2009. There were no fraternities tailgating there last football season, so I have no idea where you would see a KA fight before the Furman game.
8:11 p.m., July 31, 2010
Shane S. said:
Mizzou students have proven numerous times that when presented with opportunities, they are too irresponsible and immature to handle them. Hopefully this works out better than before, but nothing ever changes on Saturday mornings in Columbia. Frat Pit and Reactor Field didn't shut themselves down.