Student Fee for football

[CajunJeaux]

Bc that money will never be invested towards that student. At the very least maybe for future students but it won't affect their academic side in the time they are at UL

Of course it’s not an investment towards that student individually...it’s towards the name of the school that will be hanging in your office...if you spend anytime in the corporate world (outside of Lafayette)...you will notice overwhelming majority of stakeholders come from universities with prominent athletics...as Turbine said, it’s about the image and brand perceived of when potential employer is reading your resume and where you went to school...

[CajunAmos]

I think today’s students are fed up with all the fees that are currently on their tuition bill. Adding another one to sports teams is just not palatable (even if it is later). College sports are currently being supported financially at unprecedented levels. Everyone sees the outsized salaries and facilities coaches and athletes get compared to professors and students.
Like it or not, we are at a disadvantage here in La because 1) we are a poor state and 2) LSU is able to game the system in their favor because of historical and legislative dominance.

Going forward we need to find ways for students to feel invested in UL's athletic success. Far too many of our alums never catch the sports bug and follow other programs when they become adults. Charging them more money to attend sporting events does not seem like the way to reverse this trend.

The current fees were added when the legislature started removing funding of higher education to keep programs operating. I think I looked at the North Texas fees at one time and it was $2000-$3000 per semester in fees alone. Even with all the new student fees, I still think UL fall short of the southern average cost of tuition.

[BeauCajun]

Even with all the new student fees, I still think UL fall short of the southern average cost of tuition.

See below. This chart only compares tuition and fees in Louisiana. It now looks like we are #2. Where we should be.

https://www.collegetuitioncompare.co...bles/?state=LA

[Reality Check]

We can have student athletic fees if they are voted on and approved by the students. Which we should present to them as a needed fee in order for us to move into a better conference.

LOL. Yes, explain to all 17k plus students that UL wants to move to a better conference and that they need to vote to impose higher fees on themselves to make this happen. I am sure that once it is explained that it is for the betterment of UL Athletics, they will all willingly vote yes on the new fee. In reality, since student apathy has always been very high when it comes to UL Athletics, I doubt seriously that this vote would pass.

[Cajunsmike]

Not everyone loves sports we sometimes live in a vacuum on here. My brother who just graduated from UL has never attended a single sporting event outside of a high school football game. He would vote no on a student fee because he has zero interest in UL athletics and there are a lot of students that feel the same.

I note you mentioned your brother has never attended a single sporting event outside of HS football. I realized after reading it twice that you went beyond just UL events, it is ALL events. Many young people today have the same attitude. I see it in the friends of my kids who are all young adults now.

[CajunNation]

...Going forward we need to find ways for students to feel invested in UL's athletic success....

I would think asking them to financially support the program would be investment.

You want us in a better conference? Invest.

You want your old seats back? Invest.

[CajunNation]

I note you mentioned your brother has never attended a single sporting event outside of HS football. I realized after reading it twice that you went beyond just UL events, it is ALL events. Many young people today have the same attitude. I see it in the friends of my kids who are all young adults now.

Ain't technology great? Progress!

We are raising a generation of Leonard and Sheldon beta males without the genius IQ. Although, they probably think they are smarter than us anyway.

[MetryCajun]

I would think asking them to financially support the program would be investment.

You want us in a better conference? Invest.

You want your old seats back? Invest.

Do college students like that even exist? Students aren’t investing their limited dollars into an athletic department. They will just do something else. At UL growing the budget is on the alumni. Let’s hope we have enough that care to get it done.

[cajun_lannister]

I note you mentioned your brother has never attended a single sporting event outside of HS football. I realized after reading it twice that you went beyond just UL events, it is ALL events. Many young people today have the same attitude. I see it in the friends of my kids who are all young adults now.

That is correct he rather spend his time and money hunting and fishing than going to a sporting event, and this was a guy who played four years of highs school football.

[Cajunsmike]

LOL. Yes, explain to all 17k plus students that UL wants to move to a better conference and that they need to vote to impose higher fees on themselves to make this happen. I am sure that once it is explained that it is for the betterment of UL Athletics, they will all willingly vote yes on the new fee. In reality, since student apathy has always been very high when it comes to UL Athletics, I doubt seriously that this vote would pass.

Today’s students could care less what conference we are in. Most of them probably don’t know the name of the one we participate in and definitely not the one those of us here aspire to be in.

[CajunEXPRESS]

Frankly, I think that's always been the typical student here. The fact that the P5 conference have formalized their monopoly on championships only highlights the difference. Thus we're probably fighting a losing battle in the long run, but I've never been smart enough to quit the battle.

[Cajunsmike]

Frankly, I think that's always been the typical student here. The fact that the P5 conference have formalized their monopoly on championships only highlights the difference. Thus we're probably fighting a losing battle in the long run, but I've never been smart enough to quit the battle.

I think the issue of not paying attention to athletics has gotten much worse in recent years. I was in school in the Roy Henry years and much of the campus talk was about the football team and the basketball team when Andrew Toney was doing well. Now, the students talk about everything else but athletics. As others have said, many of those in college now participated in lacrosse and soccer growing up so they have less ties to the traditional sports. For us to make a big dent in that will require significant success. That would be something like challenging for the Access Bowl and defeating name teams on the road. The basketball team would have to win an NCAA game or get to the Sweet 16 for attention. They would then have to follow it up with multiple successful seasons for the average folks to pay true attention. Very difficult challenge but I also am in the battle for as long as I am healthy and financially stable.