A recent proposal to increase a student fee was shot down by the Student Government Association. 

Marshall Athletic Director Christian Spears visited the SGA to propose a fee increase of $6 per credit hour. In turn, the excess money would be used to fund the maintenance of athletic facilities. 

Spears offered SGA a cut of the rental income from renting out athletic facilities — a business partnership, as recently elected Student Body President Connor Waller described it.

“Essentially, a kickback for supporting this initiative,” Waller said. “He was seeking SGA support for the initiative prior to taking it to the Board of Governors.” 

Waller, curious to know the amounts in question, did the math and estimated the answer. 

“Assuming that the average student enrolls in 15 credit hours per semester, this would equate to $180 per year – $720 over the course of four years,” Waller said. “Estimating that undergraduate enrollment will hover between 8,000 to 10,000 students, athletics would be receiving between $1,440,000 and $1,800,000 from students.” 

SGA, Waller said, did not support the initiative. 

“As representatives of the student body, every decision we make impacts each and every student,” he said. “This request by Spears would be a large financial burden for students.”

Waller also said questions were abundant as SGA had less than 12 hours of notice about Spears’ appearance and, upon questioning, did not provide a specific plan or data. 

The meeting, Waller said, grew strained as both parties disagreed. 

“I am beyond proud of SGA’s approach to this issue,” Waller said. “The questions asked and the following discussion represented a legislative body truly concerned about student issues.”

Spears, who replied to The Parthenon’s request for comment, said he did present a revenue-sharing plan to SGA, and added he “did not explain it well, and, for that, we are sincerely sorry.” 

In Spears’ words, athletic facilities, subject to wear and tear, would be rented more often, providing more money flowing inward. 

“As you can imagine, there is quite a bit of wear and tear on facilities when you rent them to third parties,” he said. “However, there is rental revenue and great potential for more.” 

He said SGA could steward their cut of the revenue money any way they see fit. 

“We think it would have grown to six figures in revenue, but we did not give them a specific plan,” Spears said. “We all decided that it wasn’t the right time to review the opportunity, so we did not ask them to vote it up or down.”

Continued partnership, Spears said, is a priority for him. 

“We simply said let’s continue to partner on the great things we already do together,” he said. “The spring and fall fountain ceremonies are a great example of our partnership with SGA.”

He added students should feel great about SGA representatives. 

“They care, and they are inquisitive, and they want to make sure all students have a great experience,” Spears said. “Again, that’s our goal as well.”

Holly Belmont can be contacted at [email protected].