Lincoln University students soon will be paying $13.25 more per credit hour in student activity and athletic fees, with the increases approved Thursday by six LU curators.
Some of those increased revenues will be used to help pay for financing improvements to LU athletic facilities, with Lincoln's curators voting Thursday to seek a 10-year, $2.5 million loan at 1 percent interest - if the LU Foundation Board doesn't get a loan for the projects.
Student Government Association President Shaquire Jones, an LU senior, told curators Lincoln students had endorsed the two fee increases in an Oct. 17-19 vote.
The vote followed a Sept. 29 town hall forum and several weeks of promoting the election.
Jones noted, out of 2,158 students eligible to vote, 505 actually voted.
The action item memo to the curators noted that was a 23 percent turnout.
Jones said 65 percent of the 505 students voted for adding a $10 per credit hour Student Athletic Fee for all main campus students. (Jones didn't say, but that calculates to 328 students, or 15.2 percent of all eligible students).
He reported 66 percent (333 students, or 15.4 percent of all eligible student voters) supported increasing the student activity fee from $6.75 per credit hour to $10.
And 78 percent of the voters (394, or 18.25 percent) endorsed adding the Campus Activities Board chairman to the SGA's executive board.
Jones said one student - who wasn't named - had questioned the wording of the proposals online, but the executive board determined it wasn't a big issue.
LU President Kevin Rome told the curators that student had voted against the proposals.
Jones told the board: "This is something that, as a student, I see the benefits from. This is something I support and other students want to see it.
"This is something that's good for our university - so why not push for it?"
Athletic Director and Basketball Coach John Moseley thanked the SGA and curators "for pushing this. This is a game-changer for intercollegiate athletics at Lincoln University, and it wouldn't have been done without the SGA and its executive board that worked really hard to make that process smoother."
Rome told the board: "The goal is, once the loan is secured, is to do naming rights and to sell different aspects of this.
"We'll work very closely with the Foundation to secure funds that will enable us to complete this loan much sooner than we normally would, because of the opportunities for fundraising.
"Everything that we have we hope to put a name on."
The plan would include adding money for "18 additional scholarships across athletics," Moseley reported, with 10 of those aimed at the football program.
The money also would be used to upgrade the synthetic turf ($1 million), improve the lighting ($300,000), scoreboard ($80,000) and sound system ($40,000).
"Our anticipated goal is to have a night game Sept. 10 against the other Lincoln University (of Pennsylvania)," Moseley said.
Among the other planned improvements is $600,000 for the locker rooms and office.
LU curators also approved spending $268,126 to New Jersey-based Technogym, "based on the quality of their equipment and the advanced technological features," LU Philanthropy Director Willie Jude II told the board.
The money pays for new equipment for the new LU Wellness Center/Jefferson City Parks Multi-Purpose Building scheduled to open in February.
"We want to make sure that we provide the best experience for our users, as possible," Jude said.
Although LU is buying the equipment, Jefferson City Parks Director Todd Spalding also reviewed the four bids received and provided the board with his letter of support for the purchase recommendation.
Rome said the building is progressing.
"There shouldn't be any weather delays - only equipment delays" that would prevent the building from being ready for a February opening to the public.
Curators also approved proposed rental fees for basketball courts, the walking track and the fitness center, including daily drop-in fees and annual passes.
The Jefferson City Park Board still must approve the proposed fees.
Curators were told the proposed fees are "cheaper across the board" than similar fees at the YMCA in Linn, Columbia, Rolla or the metropolitan areas.
The board also accepted the most recent audit from the Springfield-based BKD accounting firm, which gave the school an "unqualified opinion," BKD's Matt Cash reported, "which is the highest opinion we can express as auditors."
But, for the first time in a number of years, the audit included a finding for a needed improvement.
"It was simply a ledger issue," Rome explained after the meeting. "We received an appropriation that we didn't normally receive - so it wasn't placed in the right place. It's very minor."
Lincoln also will be getting a one-of-a-kind analytical mass spectrometry system for use in biological and microbiological research. A U.S. Army grant will pay the $199,999 cost.