UNM students want to cut $500,000 in fees to Athletic Department

The University of New Mexico’s Athletic Department has been a money loser in recent years. Now UNM students say they are tired of subsidizing athletics with their student fees — fees that are meant to enhance their college experience.

“This is our money, not the Board of Regents’ money and not the money of any administration or any faculty or any staff. This money is coming from the students’ pockets,” said Noah Brooks, President of ASUNM and the Vice Chair of the Student Fee Review Board.

For the last four years, UNM students have been paying $4 million a year in fees to help keep the Athletic Department afloat.

“Every year the students recommend to give less money,” said Brooks.

However, he said every year they get overruled by the Board of Regents.

Athletics gets one of the biggest chunks of student fees, more than 10 percent. Brooks said the university is struggling with lower enrollment, and they don’t want areas of UNM to continue to be cut when athletics can find ways to boost funding.

“They have the ability to increase their revenue through ticket sales, and they have the ability to bring in revenue from other sources, where as these other units don’t have that ability,” said Brooks.

Full-time undergraduates are now paying more than $1,800 a year in fees. The Student Fee Review Board only wants to dole out $3.35 million to the Athletic Department next year, a cut of more than $500,000.

“Nobody wants to penalize them for the mistakes that other people have made, but we can just not afford to give athletics $4 million,” said Brooks.

The Student Fee Review Board made their recommendations to the President who will then make her suggestion to the Board of Regents.

“We hope that they will allow us to allocate the money the way that we want the money to be allocated,” said Brooks.

In the Review Board’s proposal, student fees would go up $18 for the next school year. The Board of Regents could have a much different idea later this month when they meet to decide on fee hikes and where the money will go.

In a statement, UNM Regents President Rob Doughty said he “respects the student input,” but then said he is also “very interested to hear where the students believe that athletics money should be coming from.”