photo by: Bremen Keasey

A proposed student fee package at KU that would have included an 80% decrease in funding to the University Daily Kansan, the KU student newspaper, was voted down on Wednesday night.

The University of Kansas Student Senate Finance Council voted 17-6, with one abstaining, against the proposed student fee increase for next year, according to a report from the Kansan.

The proposed plan would have increased student fees, which each student pays to subsidize various organizations, amenities and activities on campus, from $522.05 for the 2024-25 calendar year to $531.65 for next school year. Despite the overall fee increase, the funding for the Kansan would have dropped from $3.64 per student to 75 cents per student.

Courtney Lane, the editor-in-chief for the Daily Kansan, told the Journal-World in a statement the rejection of the fee decrease for the Kansan was exactly what the staff of the paper was hoping for.

“This is a step in the right direction, but it is far from over,” Lane said.

Lane spoke in opposition of the proposed bill during the meeting of the finance council Wednesday night. Since the student fee package was approved by the KU Student Senate’s Fee Review Committee Monday night, over 7,600 people signed an online petition created by the Kansan against the decrease in funding, as the Journal-World reported.

The Kansan was able to pay for 19 positions — 16 on the editorial staff and three on the business team– with the funding from the student fees, which Lane said helped the paper’s coverage of KU be more consistent and higher quality because students could dedicate more time to their work. The proposed 80% cut could have threatened “the very existence of our campus’s only daily student news organization,” as the petition read.

Since the finance council voted down the student fee package, the item will go back to the Fee Review Committee to create a different package. The finance council recommended keeping the fee that goes to the Kansan flat for next year, according to reporting from the Kansan.

Until then, the Kansan staff said it appreciates the community’s support, with Lane adding the student newspaper will keep on working.

“Every section will continue to do their job and provide the coverage our students need,” Lane said.