In recent interviews, UTRGV President Guy Bailey and Vice President and Director of Athletics Chasse Conque said they are not aware of a specific date for the University of Texas System Board of Regents’ vote on the proposed Athletics Fee.
UTRGV students voted Nov. 10 to approve an increase to the Athletics Fee which would allow for the creation of a football team, two marching bands, expansion of the spirit program and a new natatorium for the swimming and diving teams in collaboration with the City of Pharr.
In a Nov. 11, 2021, news release, the Athletics Department stated the regents’ vote on the fee increase would happen in early 2022.
“The system and the regents are obviously still working throughout the summer, but the meeting schedule picks up once the academic year starts,” Conque said in an Aug. 2 interview with The Rider.
In an Aug. 4 interview with The Rider, Bailey said he does not know when the board will take up the vote but stated they will review fee increases for all UT schools at the same time.
“We can still hit our target dates,” Conque said. “And that’s one thing we were strategic about. … We wanted to make sure that we gave ourselves enough runway to hit that mark.”
The fee increase would raise the current $15 Athletics Fee to $26.25 per credit hour, capping at 12 hours.
Bailey said the increase would affect only around 10% of students at UTRGV, mainly out-of-state students or students with families that have higher incomes not covered by the university’s tuition advantage programs.
If approved, expansion of the spirit programs and competitions for swimming and diving at the Pharr Natatorium would begin in Fall 2024. The first year for the marching bands and football team would begin in Fall 2025.
During a news conference held Nov. 11, which announced the results of the student body vote on the Athletics Fee Referendum, Bailey acknowledged student concerns regarding the poor condition of art facilities in Brownsville and said the university was working on plans to unveil a solution to fix them.
Bailey gave an update on plans to improve facilities on the Brownsville campus.
“We’re currently in negotiations with a foundation and with a group in the City of Brownsville to do that,” he said. “And as soon as those negotiations are finished, we’ll have not just art space there, we’ll have a whole initiative.”
The initiative will include an entirely new art space as well as other academic buildings and new housing buildings, Bailey said.
