For decades, securing seats for a baseball game at Swayze Field was a free-for-all. Picture this: It is the Friday before the week of the home opener. As the gates to the stadium open, students flood into right field to set up their chairs for the season. After many hours of camping for the opportunity, those determined students are finally rewarded with a spot in the front row of the student section.
Not anymore. On Friday, Feb. 2, students received an email from Ole Miss Athletics stating that the popular chair rush was no longer. Ole Miss Athletics will now provide portable chairs for each row of the student section, and those chairs will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.
The time-honored chair rush seemed to hit its peak last season following the 2022 championship run in the College World Series. Senior general business major Eli Rice was one of the first dozen people to join the line for the 2023 season opener against the University of Delaware on Friday, Feb. 17, 2023. Rice started camping out on Tuesday, three days before the game took place.
“We camp[ed] out throughout the week, going to class and then returning to the campsite to continue waiting in line,” Rice said.
Sophomore general business major Joe Sharpnack was among those students who camped out in years past, and he expressed his disappointment about the change in operations.
“I’m so upset about it. It was one of my favorite traditions that really didn’t harm anybody,” Sharpnack said. “It feels like the university is taking away all of the fun traditions that students love.”
Last year’s edition of the chair rush was plagued by cold temperatures and intense bouts of rain. As more and more students grabbed a spot in line, it seemed that the elements added to a feverish atmosphere outside the stadium. This culminated in a Thursday night that descended into chaos, the day before the season opener.
“A party broke out in the line with chairs and tables being broken and jumped through, and what seemed like hundreds of cans being strung out across the section,” Rice said.
Seemingly in response to these events and a growing demand for student section seats, the Ole Miss Athletics Department decided to do away with the event that had previously been a campus tradition for baseball-loving students.
While Rice was disappointed, he understood why the department did away with the chair rush.
“It’s an unfortunate thing, as many students will not get to experience the chair rush that has become legend now on the Ole Miss campus, but it is understandable as to why they have forgone it this year,” Rice said.
Other students seemed to appreciate and support the decision made by the athletics department, as it signified more opportunities for students that want to go to singular games.
“Taking away the chained chairs allows more students to be able to come and sit in the student section which provides a greater atmosphere,” sophomore allied health studies major Mia Lapinski said.
While students are divided on the removal of saved seats, many are still excited for America’s favorite pastime to return to Oxford.
After splitting their opening series 2-2 against the University of Hawaii, the Rebels played their first home game at Oxford-University Stadium at Swayze Field on Wednesday, Feb. 21 at 4:00 CT vs Arkansas State, losing 4-2.
