Many decade-old tents have had to pull up their roots and relocate after new regulations made it difficult to hold spots in the Grove.
At the beginning of the 2015 football season, the Athletics Department implemented several new changes to tailgating in the Grove. The biggest alteration broke the tradition of spot-saving the day before gameday by clearing the Grove at 6:30 p.m. on Friday and allowing everyone to enter an hour later.
Sophomore risk management and insurance major Taylor Daniels, however, said the new Grove rules make Friday night proceedings more chaotic, despite the University’s intentions.
“I feel like it has kind of stepped on tradition because of too many regulations,” Daniels said.
The Ole Miss football website was updated after the start of the season with a new “Frequently Asked Questions” section. Underneath three of those questions, the answer includes the sentence: “Please respect the traditions of those that have tailgated in the same area for seasons.”
Michael Thompson, senior associate athletics director for communications and marketing, said the comment was to aid legacy tents which have been in the same spot for years.
“It’s first-come, first-serve, but the Ole Miss way is to be considerate of others and respectful of others,” Thompson said. “There are a lot of families that have been tailgating in the same spot for years. We would ask for people who are new to this or that are coming out for the first time to be considerate of those that may have been in particular spaces for a long time.”
Thompson said this season has been smooth thus far.
“Everybody that we have heard from has been very positive,” Thompson said. “I think there were a lot of people who were on the fence in the beginning before we got some games underneath our belt. Since they have experienced it, the people who were skeptical have been pleasantly surprised.”
Junior accounting major Morgan Harrison said she does not agree with the new rules.
“I do not really like the new change because sitting in the Grove on trash can Friday to reserve your tent spots quickly became a part of the Grove tailgating experience,” Harrison said. “The people who prefer to tailgate at the same spot every year are not guaranteed that spot.”
William Burns, a student tent vendor with Southern Setup, said he thinks the athletics department has done a great job.
“We have just had to adapt to the new rules and systems in place to make sure that the Grove and gameday are a good experience for all that are involved,” Burns said. “Not much has changed other than the fact that you don’t have to be out there all day on Friday. My overall experience has been pretty great.”
