The Campus Conservative

This past November, over 1,100 UT-Tyler students turned out to vote on a question of whether to raise the mandatory athletics fee. . The student government (who officiated the election) saw a historic student turnout and in the end, students rejected the proposal. According to election results, 621 students showed up to vote against the measure out of 1,106 student voters. Just compare this turnout with 660 students in 2016. In other words, November’s turnout was substantial.  So why was this year’s turnout so high and what does it mean for the future of the athletics program?  Unfortunately, the increased turnout marks the beginning of the end for UT-Tyler’s athletics program. For as long as there is an election awareness campaign that turns out the commuter student population, as there was in this election, then these students voters will always defeat a proposal to support the athletics fee. Therefore, it is only a matter of time before the athletics program dies for lack o...