If the student section looked empty at Saturday’s game, it may not have been because of the early 11 a.m. kick-off time.
University of Wisconsin-Madison Police Department officers supplied extra officers to monitor the student section during the Wisconsin v. UTEP game on Saturday due to increased seating complaints from students over the past two games, according to UWPD Sgt. Brent Gruber.
Gruber said students have complained about not being able to sit in the section designated on their ticket because their seats have already been filled by the time they get to the stands.
UWPD ejected 91 University of Wisconsin-Madison students from the game Saturday, which is up from the past two games. Officers ejected 49 students from the Utah State game and 20 students from the game against Northern Iowa.
Extra officers on duty during the game checked tickets and made sure students sat in the section marked on their ticket, according to Gruber. A majority of the ejections at the game were for people sitting in a section other than what was marked on their ticket.
Traditionally, students file into the student section and fill Sections P, O, N, M, L and K on a first come, first served basis without regard to the section, row or seat number marked on their tickets.
UW-Madison sophomore Lauren Peterson said not only did an official direct her to sit in her designated section, which was already full, but also the assigned seat on her ticket.
Another change students noted at the game was that officers closed off Section K without warning, according to UW-Madison sophomore Lauren Ehrich.
“[The officers] were all in the aisles, on the stairs, and they were all situated around Section K, so it was clear if you were in there, you weren’t supposed to be,” Ehrich said.
Ehrich said the unexpected Section K closure was “frustrating” and “caught people off guard.”
“We were sort of annoyed because nobody understood why there was a whole section open,” Ehrich said. “[The officers] offered no explanation.”
Gruber said he was not aware of why Section K was closed.
