Dry days at the Kibbie Dome

MOSCOW - An hour before kickoff at the Vandal season opener, University of Idaho alumnus Bryan Norby stood among a group of fans in a parking lot outside the Kibbie Dome sipping beer from a plastic cup.

Norby, of Boise, said he was aware of a recent Idaho State Board of Education decision not to allow alcohol during tailgating on university campuses. And that the board also rejected a request by UI to include alcohol sales at its Fan Zone pregame event, effectively limiting alcohol to suites and a corporate sponsorship tent with limited access.

"Frankly, I thought they repealed Prohibition 90 years ago," Norby said. "It's another legislation of morality."

Norby's sentiments were repeated by numerous fans outside the dome Thursday, many of whom were casually, but inconspicuously, drinking beer.

MEANWHILE, AT WSU ...

At Washington State University, the Cougars played their first game of the season Saturday while awaiting approval from the state's liquor and cannabis control board to extend alcohol sales to general admission seats.

Earlier this summer, CBS Sports reported a nationwide trend of colleges allowing alcohol sales at their football stadiums.

The number of schools offering beer - and in some cases other alcohol - sales to the general public at football games is around 40, CBS Sports reported.

The Cougars could join that list as soon as Sept. 17, when they next play at home against the Vandals.

WSU President Kirk Schulz has suggested expanding alcohol sales in Martin Stadium could "enhance the experience" for fans and help put a dent in an athletic department revenue shortfall that has totaled about $13 million the past two years.

The university's current policy allows sales to fans in club seats and suites and in designated areas outside the stadium. The proposal being reviewed by the liquor and cannabis control board would extend sales to all but the student area.

DIFFERENT STATES, DIFFERENT RULES

Just eight miles apart, UI and WSU operate under markedly different alcohol policies.

Washington administrative code states that alcohol is permitted on campus, "subject to restrictions."

Idaho's rules prohibit alcohol "in areas open to and most commonly used by the general public on campus grounds."

The WSU Board of Regents delegates authority to the school's president for decisions such as the pending alcohol request, according to information provided by the Washington Attorney General's office.

In Idaho, where the State Board of Education oversees public colleges and universities and serves as the UI's board of regents, the decision to allow alcohol on campus rests with the board.

TAILGATING, NO ALCOHOL

Though Idaho fans had been tailgating for 20 years with the understanding that alcohol was permitted, State Board President Emma Atchley pointed out board policy has prohibited the practice for years.

The university previously designated the Kibbie Dome parking lots used for tailgating as private property, removing them from state board purview. But the board dismissed that practice this year and asked the university to bring forward a request. The resulting proposal, an amendment to the board's policy that would have permitted alcohol during tailgating under specific conditions, was rejected.

Arguing in support of the change in advance of the board's vote, UI President Chuck Staben said amending the policy to allow alcohol in designated tailgating areas would align policy with reality.

"Existing policy is not entirely consistent with practice," Staben said.

Atchley, a UI alumna from Ashton, voted in favor of the proposal, but stands by the board's decision.

"The board did not vote to change the policy, and so I support the existing policy, because that is what the board decided," Atchley said in a phone interview before Thursday's game.

ACCESS, WITH A PRICE TAG

Board policy allows alcohol at football games only in specific situations that include a fenced or otherwise controlled area and admission only for those with a written invitation.

The Litehouse Center/Bud and June Ford Club Room, where alcohol is served during UI games, meets that criteria, Atchley said.

It's up to the university, she said, to decide who will be invited.

"Each individual institution has to make their own decisions about what areas and who are allowed, within the larger parameters of the board policy, to have alcohol at the games," she said.

One season ticket with access to the Litehouse Center is $2,000, including a donation, UI spokeswoman Jodi Walker said.

Atchley rejected the notion that the board's policy and refusal to allow alcohol during tailgating is overreaching. The board is motivated, she said, by student and public safety.

"What is best for students? That is the lens through which the board acts," she said.

Further questions about fans' perceptions that the policy is unfair prompted an emotional response.

"What benefit occurs when you have alcohol service to six or seven thousand people?" Atchley asked. "You have to increase security, you have more incidents, you have more press coverage of the incidents."

A more lenient policy, Atchley suggested, could result in fans stumbling around and vomiting.

"We don't want to see that be the norm," she said.

NO INCIDENTS, NO PROBLEMS, COP SAYS

The Idaho state education board's decision to stick with its policy that bans alcohol left enforcement to the Moscow Police Department.

Campus Division Cmdr. Tyson Berrett said before the game he didn't expect problems, and that the 14 to 16 officers patrolling the dome and surrounding parking lots would focus on public safety and education.

"Obviously we can't see in motor homes or travel trailers," Berrett said. "I'm not going to put another officer's safety in jeopardy, sending him into a crowd of people just to see if somebody has an open container."

As game time drew close and fans made their way from the parking lot to the dome, Berrett said he'd asked one adult fan to dump out a can of beer and throw it away. Otherwise, the evening had gone as he expected, with "no incidents and no problems."

"The fans are as polite and energetic about football as they've always been," he said.

STUDENTS STAYED AWAY - FROM TAILGATING

The section of the parking lot where Norby was celebrating seemed relatively unaffected by the new rule, as many alums gathered to visit and drink beer. The west end of the lot, though, where students traditionally gather, was nearly empty.

"There used to be rows and rows of people," said sophomore Dustin Winston, 19, of Middleton. "Usually there'd be a lot more."

Junior Jessica Johnson, 21, said many students skipped tailgating before the game in favor of downtown Moscow bars, which she said offered vans to shuttle patrons to the game.

"The environment's just like, completely different," Johnson said, as she stood in the parking lot before the game.

Vandal parents Kathy and James McCarthy of Idaho Falls said their friends who usually set up to tailgate didn't do so Thursday, opting instead to see how the new policy panned out.

"It looked pretty empty out there compared to when we have come here before," Kathy McCarthy said.

Inside the stadium, though, the game saw above-average attendance of 11,987 fans.

"IT'S THE GAME"

Norby said he thinks some fans probably chose not to attend Idaho's game Thursday because they disagree with the state board's rejection of the tailgating proposal.

"It impacts a lot of people that go to the games," he said.

For his part, Norby said, nothing changed.

"I think as long as you're somewhat discreet, you're OK," he said.

Drinking isn't the only reason to tailgate, Norby said. But it's part of it.

"This parking area has always been very social," he said. "Alcohol isn't the driving force that brings people out here - it's the game."

Norby, one of about 300 fans with access to the Litehouse Center, said he objects to the policy he said allows imbibing only for high-level donors.

"It appears to me if you spend enough money they're not going to enforce it," he said, "because that's where their money's coming from."

---

Stone may be contacted at mstone@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2244. Follow her on Twitter @MarysSchoolNews.