From LBPOSTSports.com: Friday afternoon around 3pm, the official results of the Beach Legacy Referendum were announced—last week we told you about the referendum, which would have instituted a $95 per-semester fee for Long Beach State students, all of which would have been reaped by the Athletic Department. The result, sadly (for fans of Long Beach State), was a pretty resounding “No,” as students went 3,912 against and 2,615 for, about 60/40. The online election, which drew over 6,500 student voters, is thought to have drawn the largest participation of any election in school history.
The short-term effects in the Athletic Department are pretty easy to understand, with reactions ranging from anger to dismay. The money was planned largely for scholarship and facilities upgrades, improvements that the school said was necessary. “Without those facilities and scholarships,” Athletic Director Vic Cegles told us before the vote, “I don’t know how we can continue to compete and win championships.”
With high-quality coaches in a number of sports, and a new search for a women’s basketball coach just beginning, it certainly raises a number of questions as to how the school will recruit personnel, as well as student-athletes. President F. King Alexander told the Union Weekly he thought the referendum would help to end the university’s image as a commuter campus, something he’s stressed since taking over. The large “no” turnout seems to contradict that idea, perhaps sending a message to potential recruits or hires that Long Beach State is, in fact, a cheap commuter school whose students are largely uninterested in athletics.
That said, the uphill battle of convincing thousands of students (many of whom legitimately aren’t interested in athletics) to self-impose a $95 fee in the current economic climate, was likely simply too much, even without much organized opposition, aside from a few Facebook groups. The task was especially difficult since the fee was planned to start in Fall 2010, at the same time as the Student Rec Center fee (already an additional $110). Wayne Stickney-Smith, who was running the AD’s campaign, agrees. “Maybe one or two thousand people were influenced by the ‘No’ campain, but I think the rest just opened the [election] email, saw the $95, and just had sticker shock.”
For the Athletic Department, we imagine the next few weeks will be spent looking over the doomsday predictions for what would happen if the referendum failed (ranging from dropping sports to becoming a D-II university), and figuring out how much of it is true. It’s undeniable that if the university is going to continue on the upswing, more money is needed—right now, it seems that increasing the revenue stream will be the priority. In an email to BLR supporters forwarded to LBPostSports, Cegles said, “I promise you that we will get up from this defeat, brush ourselves off and find another means to fund the facilities, scholarships and budgets we need to build championships.”
As to where that money will come from, it will probably be a while before there’s an answer. 49er diehards (and Bob Keisser) are calling for President Alexander to simply raise the fees himself, which is within his power. But as athletics-friendly as Alexander is (and he really is), that move could be political suicide for a man who is a national authority on keeping university costs low—especially since his student body just overwhelmingly voted against the fee.
For long-time Long Beach residents and natives, the story of the BLR is all too familiar. Long Beach comes to the cusp of increased greatness, peers over, and shrinks back. This missed opportunity was at least (apparently) motivated by individual financial concerns, and not a larger self-esteem problem, but still: if you’ve lived here long enough, you’ve heard this song before. Or, perhaps, as Cegles more poetically put it, “There are times when individual and team commitment, focus and effort are maximized and yet you do not win the championship game.” Better luck next time, Beach faithful.
Click here for the full article by Mike Guardabascio…