St. Cloud State considers fee to save football
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You can always play in a back lot
You want football? Then pay for it yourself.
It's a tough message coming from Saint Cloud State University, where officials and student leaders are considering a referendum to see whether students would pay money -- possibly $2 per credit -- to save sports such as football from being cut.
As MPR's Tim Post reported Aug. 18, budget problems have prompted the university to propose a half-million-dollar cut to the athletics program, and it's targeting some sports for elimination. Hockey makes money, but football is one sport at St. Cloud State that does not pay for itself.
It will be up to student leaders to decide how much to ask for. A $2-per-credit fee could raise about $500,000, the St. Cloud Times reported. The earliest a vote could come would be October.
St. Cloud State President Earl H. Potter III told the Times:
“The students have to make that commitment. There’s no way I can avoid cutting sports unless the student body says, ‘Athletics are important enough to us to tax ourselves an additional amount to balance the budget.’ If the students say no, sports go.”