UO Senate votes 42-2 to oppose Pres Schill’s new $2M student fee for Duck tickets

Senate Pres Elliot Berkman had tried to keep the Senate from voting on this, but the students were persistent and persuasive, and in the end the only nay votes were from an LCB accounting instructor and a Math prof. The gist:

2.1 THEREFORE BE IT MOVED THAT the University Senate calls on UO Administration and the Board of Trustees to respect ASUO’s autonomy and authority over their own budget.

2.2 BE IT FURTHER MOVED THAT the University Senate supports the decision by the ASUO Student Senate to reject the proposals from the UO Administration that ASUO send a portion of the money they have saved as a result of not paying for tickets during the pandemic to UO’s Athletic Department, and to instead support basic needs programs and return money to students.

2.3 BE IT FINALLY MOVED THAT the University Senate opposes the new mandatory Athletics fee on students for the ticket lottery, and calls on President Schill to work with the Athletics Department to provide adequate funding for student tickets from the Athletic Department’s other sources of funding, or adopt a voluntary plan by which those students who want to attend intercollegiate sporting events can purchase a package of tickets from the Athletic Department for the student section at reduced prices.

Meerah Powell has the full story for OPB here, with many good quotes from the students, e.g.:

As part of the UO Senate’s resolution Wednesday, the Senate explicitly opposed the Athletics Department’s proposed mandatory fee. It also called on UO President Schill to work with the department to identify other funding sources, or to adopt a voluntary plan for students interested in attending games.

Mayne with ASUO’s Athletics and Contracts Finance Committee said she thinks a university that collected nearly $300 million in contributions and in-kind donations to its athletics department last year should be able to provide tickets to students without this fee.

An alternative, Mayne said, could be looking to what other universities are doing, which members of ASUO have researched. She said for example, the University of Alabama, home to the perennial football powerhouse Crimson Tide, has a program that has students opt-in to buy tickets to football games. Student advocates suggest the Ducks could try something similar.