Students are once again the victims of foul play, yet this time financial aid, housing, faculty nor the student Senate have anything to do with it.
The athletic department has spoiled the students for years by allotting ‘free’ game tickets, pre-paid by students, to students. Yet this year things are different.
Homecoming is here and the masses are excited, but the unexpected twist is that only the first 6,000 students get ‘free’ entrance to the game.
Everyone else will be charged a $30 entry fee. To add insult to injury, the athletic department didn’t offer a reduced ticket price for students.
Although other schools may put a cap on the number of free student tickets, their students are aware of the fee. FAMU has trained students to expect the ‘free’ extras from the school. It’s been like this for years.
Students are forced to pay an overwhelming $8.75 per credit hour to the athletic department; which means a full-time student with 12 credit hours pays approximately $105 per semester to the athletic department. Now they’re asking for $30 more.
This is absurd.
Athletic Director Alvin Hollins recognizes the possible burden this places on students but said, “It’s unfortunate but we have to get as much money as we can.” The 17 other sports need funding too, continued Hollins.
If the homecoming game is known to generate major funds, why wasn’t general admission increased? It was; a whopping $5 increase. According to Hollins, a higher increase was never discussed.
Common sense dictates an increase in general admission if funding is needed badly. These people: guests, alumni, whomever they may be, are generally able to pay more money for a football ticket; unlike the majority of college students, who have already paid for their tickets via tuition and aren’t able to repay for a prepaid ticket.
This entire fiasco goes just fine with this year’s homecoming theme because unexpected and uninformed changes are occurring everywhere. Old Rattler Spirit equals tickets for free, New Rattler Strike, results in double charging students.
Robyn K. Mizelle for the Editorial Board