It’s time for the Student Senate to show the athletic department the money – again. Eastern’s tuition and review committee will be making some very important recommendations tonight and making sizeable increases to the athletic department’s fees should be part of their game plan.

The new concept of this group of senate members determining how to divvy up the $29.20 budget allocated to increasing student fees and then making a resolution to the senate, will take effect tonight.

The activity, Health Services and pharmacy, Student Recreation Center, union/bond revenue, computer technology, Textbok Rental, health and accident insurance, grant-in-aid and athletic fees are all eligible for annual increases this year. And the tuition and review committee could have a pretty good say in whether these nine boards get the increases they’re requesting.

It seems every program and department across campus is underfunded and desperately in need of money, and Eastern’s athletic department is no exception.

This year, Director of Athletics Rich McDuffie is asking for a $10 per student increase in the Athletic fee and a grant-in-aid fee of $5.50 per student. Yes, that’s just over half of the total money allocated to increasing student funds. But before anyone wants to start ranting and raving, let’s take a brief run down the athletic department’s funding over the past few years.

When McDuffie took over in 1997, he devised a multi-year strategic plan designed to meet the needs of student athletes and to come in compliance with the Federal Title IX gender equity law.

The plan was designed to bring the athletic program up to date after several years of financial and legal neglect. When McDuffie took over, the athletic department hadn’t received a grant-in-aid fee increase since 1987, and the athletic fee had only been increased twice since 1992.

Since ’97 the Student Senate provided two athletic fee increases, one of $6 for fiscal year 2000 and one of $7.50 for fiscal year 2002. The senate has also provided for three grant-in-aid increases for $8.75 in fiscal years ’99, ’00 and ’02.

Now, I’m sure the question that is raised next is: If they’ve had those increases in the past why do they need more now? The answer is simple: Because they are really that far behind.

Even with the recent increases, the athletic department has only averaged $1 per year in actual growth funds (not inflation) since 1987. And the athletic fee has only averaged $2.14 a year, which is well below inflation over that period of time.

Now, I haven’t seen or heard any of the other presentations or pleas for increased fees, but I can say one thing for sure – the athletic department certainly is in desperate need of a sizeable increase.

I’m sure all the other boards seeking increases deserve it, but let’s crunch some numbers and see how the funding of Eastern’s athletic department matches up to those on the same level of competition.

Eastern’s current total athletic fund is $56.05. The athletic fee at Western Illinois is $74.50 or 25 percent higher than Eastern. The athletic fee at Southern Illinois is $88 or 36 percent higher than Eastern’s while Illinois State’s athletic fund is $132 per student or 58 percent higher than Eastern’s.

Not only do all three schools have higher fees, but they have higher enrollments, creating a much larger budget. Multiply each of the three school’s enrollment by their athletic fund and here are the totals:

ISU – $2.75 million

SIU – $1.96 million

WIU – $957, 116

And then there’s Eastern’s athletic fee which when multiplied by 11, 700 students comes out to a grand total of (drum roll please) … $655,700. And mind you, this is with the recent increases over the past few years.

Not only is Eastern’s budget significantly smaller, but there are 22 intercollegiate athletic teams at Eastern, which is more than any of the other state schools on this list.

Not only has Eastern’s department been underfunded, but it has still managed to be more successful athletically than these other schools.

“For substantial less money, we’ve managed to be more successful than ISU, SIU and Western,” McDuffie said. “That’s just a tribute to our staff and how well they’ve worked with what little they’ve had.”

It’s not like McDuffie and the athletic department is asking for a $90 student fee increase like Western Kentucky got last year. Their request wouldn’t even bring them close to the fees of the other three schools listed above. McDuffie is simply trying to complete the final step in the initiative he started four years ago.

“I’m sure everyone asking for money really needs it. We need it and they need it,” he said. “But it’s not like we’re asking to pull even with those other schools, we’re just trying to put our program in solid footing.”

Success in athletics isn’t free. It costs money. When I arrived here four years ago, the athletic teams here were dismal to say the least. But since then I’ve had the privelege of watching Eastern’s basketball team gain national recognition and front-page fame on the USA Today for its appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

I’ve seen the football team earn a national playoff bid and this season the team is a legitimate contender for a national championship. These things wouldn’t have happened without the fee increases the Student Senate approved the past four years.

But this success won’t continue forever. If McDuffie can’t conclude this initiative than the athletic programs will once again go into a nosedive. So my question to the tuition and fee review committee that meets tonight is simple: We’ve come so far, why stop now?