After months of negotiations last semester over the future of club sports funding, the Student Union and the administration have come to a standstill, Athletics Director Sheryl Sousa acknowledged Saturday. Sousa and Union officials said the Union rejected the administration's proposal in May, one that followed the Union's own proposal in February.

Union officials characterized the administration's proposal as too controlling of Student Activities Fee money, cash the Union thinks should be solely controlled by students.

Although the administration and the Union have been unwilling to release the administration's proposal over the last six months, Union officials last week said the proposal could have jeopardized a number of club sports. The officials said it would have given the Athletics Department the authority to allocate a portion of the Student Activities Fee to whatever club sports it saw fit, with few concrete guidelines.

"It's inappropriate for any branch of the University to have such control over student funds," Union President Alison Schwartzbaum '08 said. "It's the students' money. Students are supposed to allocate that."

Sousa declined to discuss the specifics of the proposal.

In the midst of sweeping reforms to the club funding system last semester, Union officials decided that administrative support was needed to supplement the money club sports teams receive every year from the Student Activities Fee. The Union asked for $55,000 for Athletics in a February proposal, one that some administrators called unfeasible.

While the Union is eager to reach a compromise, Schwartzbaum said it is not willing to give up control of student funds.

Jacob Bockelmann '09, an F-board member and rugby club president, said negotiations continued until the end of last semester and through Senior Week, but were hindered because Union officials working on the proposal were largely unavailable.

In its own proposal, the Athletics Department requested use of a portion of the Student Activities Fee in order to purchase equipment for the clubs and have more oversight over them, Schwartzbaum said.

Sousa said it's reasonable that Athletics use a portion of SAF funding for club sports.

"Let the trained athletics professionals have responsibility for directing the University's club sports program and develop a comprehensive plan that addresses the concerns of the current system and gives direction to the enterprise of club sports in general," Sousa wrote in an e-mail to the Justice.

Bockelmann said the administration's proposal did not specify whether club sports would be assimilated into Athletics or remain student-run. He expressed particular concern over the fate of noncompetitive sports under the proposal, such as skydiving and surfing.

"We want to do what's right for club sports," Schwartzbaum said. "It's such an important part of this campus, and so many students are involved. They deserve to be safe and to play their sport without incurring huge costs to their own bank account."



Justin Sulsky contributed to this article.