320 seats in Section 115 of the Washington Grizzly Stadium will be reserved for UM students. In addition, 316 more seats will be made available to students first at the guest pass ticket rate. If by the Wednesday prior to game day students have not purchased the reserved tickets then those student-reserved tickets may be sold on the open market.

 

Dear President Dennison,

I would like to thank the Administration for their foresight in crafting the expansion of Washington-Grizzly Stadium. The nearly 4,000 new seats added on to the stadium will benefit the University of Montana Administration, UM students and alumni, as well as the local Missoula economy. The students are extremely grateful toward the private investors who are supporting this expansion.

The University of Montana Athletic Department and the Athletic Director, Wayne Hogan, is also worthy of praise. Earned revenues for the University of Montana athletics program are substantially higher than those generated by other schools in the conference. A large part of that success is due to the student fanbase at UM, the fans who will spend nights camped out simply to secure a Grizzly Football ticket, missing class if necessary. While it would be unreasonable to suggest that every one of the near 13,000 athletic fee paying students at UM should get a ticket to the games at Washington-Grizzly Stadium, I would hope that it can be seen as a reasonable suggestion to increase student seating as part of the 4,000 new seats.

UM students have been clear. The previous and the current ASUM senate both refused to raise the athletic fee, and an increase in the athletic fee was voted down in a recent referendum. I appreciate the opportunity to be able to work with the Administration to address student concerns with the stadium expansion. That is why I am writing to suggest some modifications to the seating plans at Washington-Grizzly stadium. I believe these suggestions, if implemented, would be a win for students while still ensuring the Administration's ability to pay back their investors.

Student Proposal: The original fee increase proposal offered 636 new seats in Section 115 of Washington- Grizzly Stadium. After the fee increases were voted down in senate and in a referendum, the Administration offered to give 200 seats to the students- out of 4,000. I suggest increasing that number to 320 seats in Section 115 for students. In addition, I suggest making 316 more seats available to students first at the guest pass ticket rate. If by Wednesday of game day students have not purchased the tickets then the tickets may be sold on the open market. This proposal would partially make up for previous and projected enrollment increases by increasing the number of seats, while still granting the Administration a revenue stream for the other half of student offered seats.

President Dennison, I thank you for taking time to look over this proposal. Due to the early deadline for submission items to the next Board of Regents meeting I am requesting Vice Chairman and Student Regent Christian Hur place this item on the agenda for the July meeting. However, I am confident that this is an issue we can continue to work on over the next few weeks.

I will be out of Montana until June 25th for two and a half weeks of mandatory Army training, but I look forward to speaking with you towards the end of the month. I hope this is a proposal that you would find beneficial to your goals for the university as well.

 

Sincerely,

Aaron Flint

ASUM President