Issue 1, 2024
Small Victories
Stadium access granted amid pandemic restrictions
When football kicked off its season at 9:20 pm on Sept. 12, the old stadium was empty of all but the teams. No fans, no band, no nothing; COVID restrictions limited access so severely that even alumni magazine reporters got to park close.
Little went right that night, a 38-23 loss to Coastal Carolina, but when the Jayhawks next returned to the Hill, hope had returned. Or, if not hope, at least fans. Attendance was limited to 10,000 at the Oct. 3 Homecoming game against Oklahoma State, but symbolism mattered: It was the first time fans had been allowed to attend an athletics event or even been invited to return to a campus toiling under strict access edicts.
“Jayhawks were genuinely happy to be together for some sort of normalcy,” reported Alumni Association president Heath Peterson, d’04, g’09, who hosted a few Association members in the north end zone seating area. “It was good to be together again.”
KU’s hopes of righting the ship were damped by midseason opt-outs by two stars, junior running back Pooka Williams and junior linebacker Dru Prox, neither of whom confirmed any intention to return.
“I’m not going to worry so much about the guys we didn’t have as much as the ones we did,” coach Les Miles said after a 52-22 loss to Iowa State. “We aren’t perfect, but we can still put this team together.”
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