Bill Kibler, vice president for student affairs, said the throwing of cups by Mississippi State student football fans is unsportsmanlike and unacceptable.
Sitting in the student section of an MSU football game puts students at risk of being hit by flying cups and beverages during MSU football games.
This problem has recently resulted in a physical fight in which five students were arrested during the game.
According to Kibler, the cup-throwing has also been the direct cause of injuries.
“We’ve had people whose heads have literally been sliced open by one of these plastic cups full of beverage and ice,” he said. “It comes down from however many feet up above them and hits them on the head just right. We’ve had people get stitches.”
Scott Stricklin, athletic director, said he agrees that the cup-throwing is a danger to other students.
“We just ask everybody to have a great time but to be respectful of everyone else in the student section,” he said. “We want everyone to handle themselves in a first-class manner.”
Stricklin said he believes only a handful of students are choosing to do this.
“This does not seem to be a widespread problem in the student section, but it is enough that it has become an issue,” he said.
Those students who do choose to throw their cups should be aware the offense will not go unpunished.
Kibler said students caught throwing cups during the game will not only be removed from the game, but they will also have the rest of their season tickets revoked.
“If we remove somebody from a game, or even if we don’t find out who they are until after the game is over, we cancel the remainder of their ability to come to football games for the rest of the season,” he said.
Kibler said there is a probability of more security being placed inside the student section during games to enhance the likelihood of catching offenders. He also said there is a possibility of more security cameras being installed in the stadium.
“This will be video equipment that will enable the stadium staff to zoom in directly on anybody. They would even be able to see the face of a perpetrator,” he said. “These are cameras where we can capture the tape and rewind it and go back and look and see who it was that actually threw a cup at that point, which will enable us to hold individuals that continue to do it accountable.”
Kibler said he believes most perpetrators are not targeting specific people when they throw a cup.
“They’re not trying to hit a specific person, but they’re ignoring not only the potential for injuring someone else, but they’re also ignoring the fact that they are soaking various people down below them,” he said.
Timothy Stieffel, senior civil engineer major, said getting soaked with beverages ruins the experience of the football game.
“If students get hit with beer or whatever (beverage), they’re soaking wet for the rest of the game,” he said. “Throwing cups is childish and immature.”
Kibler said the goal is to stop the cup-throwing entirely.
“We want the students to recognize that this is a problem, and it’s unacceptable,” he said. “It’s not a good reflection of the Bulldogs and the kind of behavior that we ought to have during ball games.”