EAST LANSING, Mich. — While the Michigan State University Campus was unusually sparse for a gameday, the surrounding neighborhoods were highly active.
Many crowds moved indoors or migrated as East Lansing Police went house-to-house on foot speaking to people in their front yards.
According to East Lansing’s Mayor Aaron Stephens, police were instructed to issue $500 fines to residents who wouldn’t comply with the COVID safety guidelines.
“We’re fully staffed and we’re ready to go,” said Mayor Stephens. “I know the police departments have been working in tandem with some MSU folks. We’re ready to respond to whatever happens.”
While law enforcement was actively trying to control the crowds, Mayor Stephens explained it’s hard to catch everyone not following the rules.
“We still can’t be everywhere at once. There’s 48,000 people in East Lansing. We’re dealing with a lot of calls and a lot of other issues that aren’t COVID related,” said Mayor Stephens.
Graduate Student Jacob Wright said he and his group of friends were conscious of keeping their numbers to a minimum.
“We wanted to keep it kind of small just because of COVID," said Wright. "We didn’t want to get sick or anything. We didn’t really want a ton of people over here to increase that risk.”
As a student Wright feels gameday brings a high chance of spreading the virus.
“Yeah I feel a little bit of responsibility. We’re in a huge campus here. So, I think it’s on all of us to take precautions to wear masks and social distance and all of that stuff," Wright said.
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