SDSU officials consider Hobo Day 2020 date

Public voices concerns over Hobo Day 2020 scheduled on Halloween

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BROOKINGS – Hobo Day 2019 is just past, but the public is already in an uproar over Hobo Day 2020 falling on Halloween. 

Some have made comments on social media, and some have contacted South Dakota State University directly to voice their concerns, primarily about safety.

South Dakota State University officials are in talks with city officials and campus groups about the logistics of the two events on the same day, according to Mike Lockrem, director of University Marketing and Communications at SDSU.

He noted that the university has the authority to change the date, but no decision regarding the date or a potential change has been made.

Concerns voiced

The public has voiced concerns over having two big events on the same day. 

Youngsters are out and about on Halloween, knocking on doors for candy and having a fun time. Hobo Day weekend tends to bring more calls to the police due to intoxication and house parties, among other activities.

Brookings Police reported this week that it received roughly 200 more calls for service over Hobo Day weekend compared to the regular weekend that preceded it.

Lockrem acknowledged the concerns and that university officials take them seriously.

“It’s the first time we’ve actually played a game on Halloween day at home, I think, since … the late 1990s, so it’s been kind of uncommon,” he said.

“We’re looking at what options there are, what it means overall with the schedule that we have to work with and engaging with the city and trying to make the best of determinations moving forward,” Lockrem said.

He was quick to point out one thing will not change.

“Whether it’s Hobo Day or not, we’re still gonna have a home football game on Halloween,” he said, and that in itself brings challenges.

“We just need to have the discussion in terms of what that means outside of Hobo Day, what it means to have a game on Halloween Day, too.”

The university is engaging in talks with the city, law enforcement and student groups like the Hobo Day Committee to get feedback. The talks are covering a wide range but do include the possibility of the university moving Hobo Day 2020 to another date, Lockrem acknowledged.

Lockrem hesitated to put a timeline on the Hobo Day decision simply because of the logistics involved.

“I don’t want to put a date on it just yet. We are working within other people’s schedules on when we can have those conversations, but I know that the efforts are being made to have those as quickly as possible,” he said.

“Then we’ll come back together and look at the information that we have before us. Certainly it’s something we have to continue discussing and fairly quickly,” Lockrem said.

Unique situation

To understand how the “unique” situation came up, Lockrem explained that the football schedule is set by the Missouri Valley Football Conference, “so we just have to work with the days and the home games that we’re given,” Lockrem said.

With the football schedule in hand, SDSU officials then decide when traditional events will be scheduled.

“We can determine what our sponsor games look like,” Lockrem said. That includes Hobo Day, Beef Bowl, Dairy Drive, Precision Ag Bowl, and Military Appreciation Day. “So we’ve got to put into the schedule all those different events that we have around a Saturday football game.” 

The way the 2020 football schedule came out left SDSU with only two home games in October – one of which is against the University of South Dakota on Oct. 10.

“While we can look at that date, putting Hobo Day on the same day we play one of our biggest rivals creates another set of circumstances,” Lockrem said. He admitted playing USD “escalates that atmosphere,” and so does having a game on Halloween.

As to moving Hobo Day to another date, that brings other concerns.

One home game is in late September, “which is uncommonly early for Hobo Day,” Lockrem said, adding the next one after Halloween is a non-conference game against Dixie State on Nov. 14, with the final home game on Nov. 21.

“All of those scenarios are part of that discussion and looking at what the best solution is moving forward,” Lockrem said.

Contact Jodelle Greiner at jgreiner@brookingsregister.com.