Student Government Association President Steven Sumbler is preparing to give the students of Southern University a bigger and better Springfest by cutting SGA costs for the Bayou Classic.
In a recent SGA senators meeting on November 5, Sumbler announced that due to a smaller budget than in previous years. He had to reduce the number of officials in the SGA traveling party for the Bayou Classic. This move was made partly because of having to spend extra money for the use of the Baton Rouge Centroplex, an off-campus venue, for the homecoming concert.
“Money is tight right now; very, very tight. Mr. Jackson spoke to me last week and informed me that (who goes to) Bayou Classic was a presidential intention not a senate intention. This is the perfect time for me to stop and reanalyze everything and look at the dollars and cents,” said Sumbler. “We have to be realistic, we can’t just buy things that you want, and you have to buy things that you need. It was a hard decision for me to make, but I feel comfortable with the decision I made.”
That decision that Sumbler made was to eliminate the traveling party from the Bayou Classic expenses. The only SGA members who will be on the traveling party for the Bayou Classic will be Miss Southern and her court.
The idea of taking a traveling party to New Orleans originally was the brainchild of Tonya Adams, SGA president 1993-94. From that point on, each president was given the option on who they would bring to the Classic.
“I was put in a tight jam. It was a hard decision of choosing who and who not to bring. I made a decision that I feel comfortable with,” said Sumbler. “We will be saving money next semester to have the class weeks and we need money for the Springfest concert.”
In previous years, the SGA would bring 60 members and spend approximately $9,769.47 on hotel rooms, game tickets and food allowances.
The new system of only bringing the court will spend a total of $4851.81. The total savings will be $4,917.66, cutting the grand total by more than half.
“I can bring 60 (students) to the Bayou Classic so they can enjoy that or we can take the extra money and put it on a concert so over 4,000 students can enjoy. So what’s the fair decision-60 people who will spend three days and two nights in New Orleans and cost nearly $10,000 or bring A-list artists to Springfest for the whole school to enjoy. I decided to bring the court because they were elected as a representation of their class and the decision I made I will stand by,” said Sumbler. “The decision I made is for the majority not the minority.”
