Athletic fee refund petition

Many fans as well as athletes hoped to have a promising semester of football, basketball, cross-country, and volleyball. However, after an abrupt end in the spring semester due to COVID-19 with the cancellation of championships and spring sports it has lowered the Reddie spirit amongst the student athletes. That promising hope came to a halt on August 14 when the Great American Conference made a post regarding suspended competition throughout the fall semester.

Henderson State’s Sports website hsusports.com published an article regarding the decision. HSU’s chancellor, Dr. Jim Borsig weighed in on the decision saying he does support the decision, however, there was a plan of action in place that had been established by both the athletic and sports medicine directors. The Reddies director of intercollegiate athletics, Shawn Jones chipped in on the conversation as well stating every possible way to make sports happen this year was taken into consideration.

A petition was started to refund the athletic fee to students a week ago on change.org by Tyler Draper. This petition was started as a result of the cancellation of the 2020 fall sports. The athletic fee that all Henderson students are charged with is $19.75 which equates to $237 per student that is full time and enrolled in at least 12 hours of class. The petition currently has over 600 signatures with the goal being 1,000.

On Sept. 5, the school made a comment on a Facebook page saying “University fees cover expenses for the entirety of the academic year and are not limited to activities in one semester. We are not aware of any plans to refund fees.”