A possible solution to the pending dissolution of the swimming and tennis teams proposing to divert money raised by athletic event parking is under review by Kansas University administrators.
The proposal was sent about a week ago to KU Chancellor Robert Hemenway's office, said Branden Bell, off-campus student senator. He and others formed a senate committee to investigate if the men's swim and tennis teams could be saved.
"The money we've proposed would come about halfway to saving them," Bell said of the idea, which involves reallocating money from the KU parking department to the KU athletics department.
Bell suggested moving about $340,000 from the parking department and setting it aside for the nixed teams. That money, he said, came from parking fees raised for athletic events.
"We're basically taking money from one stack that doesn't need it and putting it into another stack," Bell said. "I've looked at their budget for the past five years, and I've found that they've never run into a position where losing this would create a deficit for them.
Bell's said his proposal was one of a handful originally offered when discussion arose about cutting the swim and tennis teams. The proposal apparently wasn't viewed as a viable solution, he said.
KU officials have said the men's swimming and tennis programs will be eliminated unless $740,000 can be raised by June 30, along with pledges for $1.36 million to sustain the programs.
The decision to drop the sports was made after athletic officials said they projected a $3.6 million shortfall in the athletics department in the next five years.
By cutting the two programs, officials said, the department would save about $600,000 a year.
But Bell said he believed athletics officials overestimated the amount needed to revive the program.
"Those numbers are inflated," he said. "When you look at the expected savings, our solution works. We're confident that other fund-raising programs could meet the other half. There's just a certain reluctance from the KUAC to admit they were wrong. It's really necessary to keep public pressure on them to show them it can be done."
Bell's proposal has been received and is currently being reviewed by KU administrators, including Hemenway, said Mary Burg, Hemenway's executive assistant.
But Don Kearns, director of KU's parking department, said money raised from athletic parking fees couldn't be used to pay for the discontinued teams. Because of the bond agreements on KU's two parking garages, all revenue raised by the parking department must be used to pay off debts on the structures.
"It's not as simple as just moving money around," he said.
"Even if the bond (agreement) was changed, we'd still have to increase rates somewhere else."
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