Students to black out stadium for OSU-Texas game

Zach Aitouddahi might be orange to the bone, but he wants something different Saturday.

Aitouddahi, a psychology senior, wants all OSU fans to wear black instead of orange to the Oklahoma State vs. Texas football game Saturday at 7 p.m.

It's time for fans to embrace the other color of the Cowboys, he said.

"It's not like black isn't one of our colors," Aitouddahi said. "I have tried to emphasize that, like ‘hey, we have more than one color.' "

He has seen a blackout attempted every season since his freshman year, but nobody has taken it to the lengths he has.

"Recently I got involved with Paddle People, and I got a call from their president and he said we will back you 100 percent," Aitouddahi said. "Once I got the Paddle People, I knew that it was going to be a big deal, and then the Spears School of Business called me and said they want to make T-shirts and the shirts benefit the United Way."

Aitouddahi started a Facebook group called "Blackout Texas This Halloween," which has nearly 6,000 members in it. Aitouddahi said although he has garnered a lot of support, the only people not backing him are those who matter most.

"We have everyone supporting us except the athletic department," Aitouddahi said. "(Athletic Director) Mike Holder refuses to endorse the blackout and said he doesn't mind if I endorse it myself but said he is not going to back me at all."

In one of the e-mails Holder sent Aitouddahi, Holder said that while he supports fan participation from the students, the athletic department is sticking with orange.

"We have invested too much effort into orange to support a blackout of the Texas game," Holder said. "However, if the students decide to show up in black, I will be happy, as long as there are a lot of them, and they make a lot of noise. Our students look good in orange or black when they are sitting in Boone Pickens Stadium."

Director of University Marketing Kyle Wray said he appreciated Aitouddahi's passion for football but he thought more OSU fans want to wear orange.

"I think if you check the message boards, then you will see people really want to wear orange," Wray said. "We have a vested interest in that, and we have tried to get people to wear orange for a long time and it's very distinctive."

Wray also addressed the possibility of the football team wearing black jerseys for the Texas game.

"False, no chance," Wray said. "I don't even know (if they have black jerseys). There are lots of rumors out there. There was a guarantee that the team would wear black jerseys Saturday — not happening."

Other rumors have spread about the football team wearing black jerseys for the Thursday night game against Colorado on Nov. 19.

"I have no idea," Wray said. "It could possibly happen; it might not happen."

Aitouddahi said students should support the blackout because the shirts are supporting the United Way and it's something different and fun.

"They said they have worked so hard for the sea of orange," Aitouddahi said "I mean it's one game, it's not like it's two games or wear black for the rest of the year."