A petition started on Change.org that demands Riverside City College and the Riverside Community College District take responsibility for athletic facility maintenance and safety standards, covering at least 50% of current and future upkeep costs. Gabriel Graves, pro-tempore of the Senate and vice-president elect for the Associated Students of RCC, started the petition in hopes that the college and district create a permanent, district-funded line item for facility maintenance so that more of ASRCC’s budget can go toward non-student athletes, which represent the majority of the student body.
The 2024-25 ASRCC fiscal year budget is just over $1.1 million. Of that amount, $535,000 goes directly to fund various athletic clubs at RCC. Items funded include equipment, uniforms, transportation to and from games and game expenses among other needs.
In response to concerns to the ASRCC and its sports funding, Senate Pro-Tempore and Vice-president elect Gabriel Graves detailed the struggles the ASRCC has faced in terms of balancing the budget to appropriately fund the sports programs at RCC.
Graves took the time to address the overall budget for its club and sports programs and how this could be affecting the students in the long run despite its success.
“A large portion of our funding is going directly to athletics, which serves a disproportionate number of students,” Graves said. The college sponsors all of this and more, in addition to various repairs. In a new proposed budget for the upcoming year, the ASRCC have advocated and approved over $50,000 for these repairs. “Now in the new budget, we are being asked to cover the facilities maintenance like repairs to the baseball field and the pool in order to be safe for the students and to also be meeting the competition regulations in order to host games,” Graves explained.
Graves also said that the amount that the ASRCC spends in the athletics department is “too much,” and he feels that “the majority of students don’t have a vested interest in athletics.”
“The fact that we are being asked to cover these expenses is egregious, especially when you consider that students are not allowed to access these facilities that we are paying for with our student fees,” he said.
Chris Clarke, RCCD executive director of external relations and strategic communications, backed up Graves’ claims. “The college pays for the majority of the costs associated with sports/athletics from the General Fund (instruction, equipment, supplies, facilities, salaries, etc.).
Historically, ASRCC has covered costs for travel, transportation, uniforms, etc.,” Clarke said. Graves also explained that he had his issues with how the ASRCC budget is being funded, stating that students “pay into the facilities and the academic departments when we pay our tuition, as well as the money that the state gives to our school to have a number of students enrolled.”
Graves gave a closing comment on why the petition started. “We as students definitely shouldn’t be expected to pay for these things that are absolutely essential for our athletes to compete and to have an active athletics presence on campus.”
The RCCD Chancellor and RCC Vice President of Student Services, Thomas Cruz-Soto, did not respond to a request for comment.
