Students are one step closer to having a place of their own near Jack Trice Stadium.

A trio of students, led by Government of the Student Body President Mike Banasiak, left a meeting with school officials Monday with a plan to obtain a general public parking space near the stadium. While the space will be open to anyone at first, Banasiak said GSB will continue working with administration until Lot S-4 becomes students-only.

The administration has no control over general public parking, so alcohol will be allowed within the space Banasiak plans to use.

“We want to see results; we want to see something happen for students,” Banasiak said. “I thought we came up with a good compromise … if anything, it will be better than what we have right now.”

Banasiak said Athletics Director Bruce Van De Velde confirmed it would be possible for a section of the parking lot, within an area designated S-4, to be deemed general public, but Van De Velde said he’d rather the space be used as a student-only tailgating area.

“The whole idea here was to try to designate an area close to the stadium for students,” Van De Velde said. “If you’re going to do it for the general public, then you really haven’t accomplished what you wanted to accomplish. I really would like to see something for students only.”

The Student Gameday Experience Committee, a GSB initiative which has tried to find a solution to the tailgating problem, has all but finished its work, Banasiak said. The Wednesday meeting he and GSB senators Nick Leitheiser and Dan Christenson attended with administrators was intended to find a compromise. However, he said, debate became bogged down due to issues concerning drinking, security and student well-being.

One of the first major points of contention came when Vice President for Student Affairs Thomas Hill renewed his stance against a student parking area allowing drinking.

“Right now I feel very strongly about it,” he said. “With at least 50 percent of the student population being not of legal age, that creates a problem for me. And if I’m going to be a responsible administrator, I have to look at that.”

Hill said it wasn’t the place of the administration to facilitate underage drinking.

“The most tempting thing for a young, under-21 student to do is to drink,” he said. “With that knowledge, why then would I create this temptation? And add to it? To me, right now, that doesn’t seem to be a responsible position for an administrator. And that’s what I’m struggling with.”

But Banasiak said the space would likely be subject to several regulations to combat behavior administrators used to justify in part changing the tailgating lot from being open to the general public to being available only for National Cyclone Club members. Tailgating holdovers such as beer bongs, public urination and “party buses” will likely not be allowed within the space. The space will also likely be reserved for those who have tickets to the game itself.

Progress in the meeting reached a breaking point after GSB officials were questioned by Hill about the reaction of Jerry Stewart, the Department of Public Safety representative on the council. Banasiak said Stewart had not been enthusiastic about the plan. He also said none of the ideas the committee had considered had received a positive reaction.

Hill said it was important to hear from DPS officials about the plan; otherwise, the committee’s recommendation would be “missing a piece.” He asked the students and Dean of Students Pete Englin to talk to DPS before the group met again.

“We think it’s DPS’ position to be very skeptical because they’re the ones that are going to have to deal with the brunt of the activities that are going on,” Banasiak said. “We completely understand that. I just feel that we have a compromise that they’ll be willing to try out as well.”

Banasiak, Englin and the others will meet with DPS officials this week. Englin said the situation would likely be finally resolved within a week or two.