Football fanatics rooting for Chicago and Indianapolis can come together for one last peaceful assembly to support both teams before the Colts and the Bears clash on Sunday.
A Ball State University freshman petitioning to have classes canceled Monday after the Super Bowl will be hosting a rally later this week.
Freshman Cameron Halberstadt and junior Robbie Frye met with Kay Bales, vice president for Student Affairs, to discuss organizing a rally to support their cause, Bales said.
President Jo Ann Gora has already decided classes will not be canceled Monday, she said.
"According to them, classes are not canceled, but I'm still going to keep at it," Halberstadt said. "Personally, I don't like giving up, so I'm going to keep at it."
Although school will not be canceled, there will still be a rally, Halberstadt said. He will meet with Associate Director of Programs Brian Dietz to plan when and where the rally will be, Halberstadt said.
The rally won't focus on canceling Monday's classes but instead will be about supporting the teams and cheering them on, Halberstadt said.
Halberstadt began a petition on Facebook last week and partnered with an Indiana University student who began a similar movement, he said.
"I wanted to create something just as a joke," Halberstadt said. "In less than a day over 1,000 people joined it, so we're taking it more seriously now."
The Facebook group, "Cancel Classes After Superbowl Sunday," had about 2,800 members as of Tuesday afternoon.
Another smaller group, "Ball State Should Cancel Classes After the Superbowl," had about 150 members.
"I originally created a group about the Colts being in the Super Bowl," Halberstadt said. "We're going to be out. It'll be a late night for having fun. I just thought having Monday off would be a good way to celebrate."
Halberstadt said he has been working with his IU counterpart, freshman Zac Fautz, to recruit as many people as possible to sign their petitions.
"I started the petition about a week ago as a way of trying to reach out to students and celebrate the Super Bowl," Fautz said. "I was bored at about 2:30 in the morning and I decided to do something funny. I started a Facebook group and the next day when I checked over 1000 people had joined."
The students have focused on spreading the word about the petitions through Facebook because most college students use it, Halberstadt said.
"If we can get three to five thousand it would be nice, but I know that's not going to happen," he said.
Halberstadt also placed flyers around campus at the LaFollette Complex, Teachers College and along roadsides, but most of them were taken down, he said.
Fautz and his friends have also provided paper petitions on campus to get more students to sign it, he said.
The IU petitioners plan to march in front IU President Adam Herbert's house Friday, Fautz said. The petitioners will march even though administrators have already said class would not be canceled, he said.
"I think it's highly unlikely the university would respond to such a request," IU spokesman Larry MacIntyre said. "We place a pretty high value on academics."
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