Yes or no: A choice is set to be made during the Feb. 28 Student Government Association elections and the choice has nothing to do with choosing a new executive board.
After analyzing survey data and consulting the Athletic Department, President Courtney Anvender and Derrick Neuner, associate sports editor of The University News, proposed a possible referendum to be included on the upcoming election ballots to the senate during the Wed., Feb. 16 SGA meeting.
The referendum that would be posed to the student body calls for support of a $15 per semester “Athletic Fee.” The fee, if passed by the student body, would result in students having access to free tickets for home men’s basketball games.
“We didn’t feel comfortable imposing a tax on the students,” Anvender said. “This is simply giving the students a choice.”
With the formation of the Student Season Ticket Task Force last fall, this whole process was initiated and has culminated with the suggestion of the referendum. Only because of student feedback, did the task force see this as a voting item fit to be included.
In fact, with 48.6 percent of the 842 student responses saying the cost of attending a game kept them away and with 75 percent saying they would attend games if the cost was included in tuition, the task force has legitimate grounds for presenting this proposal.
Having passed through senate with a unanimous in favor vote, the referendum will have students vote to see if they would pay $15 per semester for the reservation of 1000 seats at home games. While the distribution technique of these seats has yet to be determined, the cost is drastically lower than current prices. Ten dollars per game and $135 for a season ticket has kept attendance rates low, according to the survey data.
The fee would equate to students paying two dollars per game.
It should be noted this is not a mandatory fee being forced upon students by SGA. Students will vote on this referendum when they cast their votes for SGA executive board candidates on Feb. 28. Though it may not be a forced tax, those who developed the idea feel it should be passed.
“[Saint Louis University] is an incredible place but it lacks an athletic tradition,” Neuner said. “Obviously this is geared toward the basketball games but it’s time to start building enthusiasm behind the athletics.”
The survey data suggests that enthusiasm is low as currently 34.9 percent of students stated they attend, on average, zero games and 38.5 percent attending only one to two games.
“I think this can be a great thing for the SLU community if we can fill the seats at Chaifetz [arena],” Anvender said. “It’s one barricade removed from preventing attending the game.”
Though the debating and ultimate passing of the Athletic Fee referendum took up most of the meeting, other legislation was completed.
Both Camp Kesem, a summer camp geared toward children ages six to 13 who lost a parent to cancer, and Decadence, a coed a cappella group, were officially granted status as Chartered Student Organizations.
