The next time you go to cheer on your favorite Penn State team, you’ll need to leave your backpacks, bags and purses at home. The university says a “No Bag Policy” is in effect for all athletic events during the 2013 fall semester.
Dana Kitting and her daughter, Sara, missed the start of the West York High School baseball championship at PSU.
“We thought we might need a jacket, umbrellas, our purses, money everything else in there. Now we have to lug it all back,” says Dana.
They’re heading back to their car, because their bags are no longer allowed inside the ball park.
Jeff Nelson is the Penn State assistant athletic director of Communications. He says the policy is “an additional layer of security for our spectators, participants, workers at athletic venues.”
Nelson says the policy was enacted in April for the Blue and White game, one week after the Boston Marathon Bombings.
PSU fan Craig Route says, “As long as we know ahead of time and we can plan, I think it’s going to be okay for us.”
If you’re a lady who carries her life in a purse, the policy can be inconvenient. To get through the gates, you can carry your items in you pocket or a see through plastic bag.”
Nelson says, “If someone has a medical need or child, then you may bring a 1-gallon clear plastic bag with the items you need.”
Penn State joins University of Michigan and Michigan State as a Big Ten school with a no bag policy. The NFL is also enhancing security with a strict bag policy at all stadiums, in light of the bombings in Boston.