SU Elections Q&A 2021: Golden Bears and Pandas Legacy Fund Referendum

As students head to the polls this March 3 and 4, they have the option to renew the Golden Bears and Pandas Legacy Fund.

This fund charges students $4.64 to full-time students each semester. The fund mainly focuses on supporting student-athletes, free sporting admission for students, and creating student jobs and work experience with sports teams.

This is the second time this fund is up for renewal. Last year it failed as a plebiscite, but was granted renewal by Students’ Council.

Representing the legacy fund in this Q&A is Cameo Hanlon, a fifth-year strategic management and organization student and player for the Pandas basketball team.

Follow this link to watch the Legacy Fund’s referendum pitch video.

The following interview has been condensed and simplified for clarity.

What is this referendum trying to accomplish?

Cameo Hanlon: This referendum is looking to preserve the Legacy Fund fee. That’s a Students’ Union dedicated fee of $4.64 collected from every undergraduate student in the Fall and Winter terms. It’s been around since 1991, and we’re not looking to increase it, we are just looking to make sure it continues to exist, which is incredibly important, because that money creates a fund that ends up paying for a variety of things. A lot of it has to do with our varsity teams and allowing them to have meaningful competition and the resources they need to succeed.

More importantly, a huge chunk of this money actually goes towards providing student jobs for the greater U of A student community, providing practicum placements, and scholarships. It also provides opportunities to enhance the student experience through entertainment, contests, giveaways, and free food. It provides students a safe and accessible way to gather as a community.

The Legacy Fund impacts a lot of different realms, so it’s incredibly important to preserve, especially considering we’re coming off a COVID-19 year. I really hope that we have some strong initiatives in place for us to be able to meet next year and gather as a community.

For students who don’t know, what is the Golden Bear and Panda Legacy Fund?

Hanlon: The $4.64 collected from every undergraduate student goes into a big pool called the Legacy Fund. This money is managed by the Students’ Union, which is important to note, because that means there’s a lot of transparency and accountability as to where the money goes. Student groups and sports teams and different initiatives can apply to the Legacy Fund every year to get this funding, and all of these groups that apply for the funding actually need to be able to match it. So that $4.64, turns into $10. We’re kind of doubling our money without actually having to double our money as a contributor. 

By the nature of the fund, the initiatives vary year by year, but some of the examples of things it’s done in the past are it’s allowed our varsity teams to host pre-season games. They’re usually in September, and they allow for students to come out and watch them as well as for our teams to get some meaningful competition before they’re in their conference schedule. The Fund has paid for our student legacy nights, which provide either a free slice of pizza or a free pressed sandwich for every student that comes in the door. It’s paid for Guba and Patches, which we all love, and they’re present at all Week of Welcome (WoW) events and school parades and our varsity games as well. 

It pays for the salaries of any students working for athletics on game day operations. So, anyone selling you a beer or taking your ticket, they’re paid for out of the Legacy Fund. Also, anyone looking to pursue an internship with athletics has an opportunity to do so because of the Legacy Fund. We’ve had student kinesiologist internships, management ones, sports psychologists, nutritionists. Those are a few of the examples of things the Legacy Fund has done for our community and does every year. So keeping that in place is vital to supporting our students and our varsity athletes.

If this referendum passes, how much will students be paying and how was that cost determined?

The $4.64 fee has been unchanged for a very long time. That was established way back in the day, and I presume that they wanted to keep it reasonable for students. We don’t want to ask for $20 for every student because that’s very significant. We like to think of the $4.64 contribution as one coffee each semester. It’s hopefully a very manageable sum of money for many students, and that amount ends up creating such a massive impact because we do have so many students at the U of A. The fee was put in place for the reasons of preserving our varsity teams as well as providing opportunities for our greater student body and enhancing the student experience, and that was added all of those years ago due to some restructuring surrounding funding at the U of A, where there was a need to generate a little more funds to create these operations.

Why should students care about the Golden Bear and Panda Legacy Fund?

The Golden Bears and Pandas Legacy Fund is something that is extremely positive, whether you are a student-athlete, whether you’re interested in watching sports, or whether you are just partaking in on-campus life. It allows for not only our student-athletes, but any students to contribute to the U of A tradition of excellence. It means that our varsity athletes can compete on the national and international stage and make our university proud. Additionally, our students can gain invaluable work experience and become young professionals. I think in those realms, it’s very important to continue to provide these opportunities. 

Especially this year, when we’ve been forced to not gather as a community and we’ve had to stay apart, I think it is so crucial for us to have this fund in place for when we are able to come back, and there’s these really, really engaging opportunities for us to gather, safe places for us to connect with one another and unite around something. This Fund facilitates school pride, and I think it really fosters that. Those are some of the main reasons I think it’s really, really important to continue to contribute to the Legacy Fund.