A leader in student government at Illinois State University wants the university to suspend student fee increases for Athletics.
ISU junior Jimmy Holmes, a political science and legal studies major, said he doesn't want Athletics to get any additional money from students after a pricey donor trip in March 2021 to Indianapolis and athletic director Kyle Brennan's resignation on Thursday.
“I was incredibly livid because I already voted 'no' on the student fee proposal simply because they were increasing Athletics fees when I believe Athletics probably already receives plenty of money,” Holmes said.
ISU Athletics gets about one-third of its revenue from student fees. According to the Knight-Newhouse College Athletics Database, ISU athletics received $10.8 million from student fees last year, making up the largest share of $29.9 million in revenue generated.
The Student Government Association will vote Wednesday on a resolution asking the university’s board of trustees to freeze student fee increases that go to Athletics. Holmes drafted a resolution that he said states ISU athletics “should not be rewarded for waste, fraud and abuse of university dollars with increased fees put on the students.”
The university plans raise student fees $4 per credit hour for the 2023-2024 school year. Nearly half of that ($1.90) would go to Athletics and its facilities.
The $23,000 the university spent on the donor trip that Holmes referenced did not come from student fees, but rather from the university’s fundraising arm. Holmes said the spending is reckless regardless of where the money came from.
“You don’t get to do both. You don’t get to waste all this money and then also come begging students for more money from their student fees when you obviously can’t even use the money that you have,” Holmes said.
The university board of trustees is scheduled to vote on tuition and student fees during its May 12 meeting.
Brennan resigned following questions raised by WGLT about spending on a donor trip to Indianapolis on one of Aaron Rossi’s private planes. WGLT was planning to publish a story Thursday about the December 2021 trip when ISU pre-emptively announced Brennan’s resignation.
Brennan and another top Athletics administrator spent over $23,000 on the one-day trip that included a stop at a strip club.
