TMG's Newsmaker of the Week: SMU Campus Police
Only in pandemic America: SMU campus police cleared out the entire Mustang student section from a grassy hill beyond the south end zone during the first half because a large majority of the crowd wasn't following coronavirus protocols such as wearing masks or social distancing.
“After numerous attempts by staff and security to get the students to comply with these safety requirements, it became necessary to clear the area,’’ an SMU official told ESPN. “While some students did move to other areas in the stadium where they could watch in small groups at safe distances, many did leave.’’
Athletic director Rick Hart had issued this warning after SMU’s previous game, saying, “The majority of fans in the stadium behaved responsibly and were socially-distanced and masked. That said, we will be working to adjust the behavior of a small subsection of fans who did not follow our pledge to protect, which was sent to all ticketholders."
“While no one at SMU wants to see fans leave, it is important to preserve our privilege to host games with fans in attendance during a pandemic,’’ Brad Sutton, SMU senior associate athletic director/external affairs, told ESPN. “The health, safety and well-being of our fans and students is our highest priority, and we must enforce safety requirements to the greatest extent possible and to operate as we have promised local officials. Our hope is that students will be able to return for our next home game, and we will continue to work toward that goal.’’
Here’s what they missed. The 18th-ranked Mustangs kicked a late field goal to beat Memphis 30-27. That gave SMU its first back-to-back 4-0 start since 1983 and 1984. Its next home game is Oct. 24 against No. 15 Cincinnati.
For promoting pandemic safety, the SMU campus police are TMG's Newsmaker of the Week.