Don’t build SDSU athletic hopes on making students pay higher fees

Re “SDSU committee recommends 41% increase to student athletic fees” (Dec. 15): San Diego State University is preparing to impose a sharp increase on its Instructionally Related Activities fee, asking students to generate an additional $8 million or so a year for the athletic department. This comes as the University of Utah announced a $500 million private equity deal to support its athletics.

Athletic Director John David Wicker and President Adela de la Torre: We gave it our best shot. I say that as an alumnus (class of 2011), season-ticket holder, donor and lifelong fan of SDSU athletics. Let’s be honest: A decade from now, the major programs of collegiate athletics will have left SDSU and its peer group of schools behind. Meanwhile, today’s students majoring in fields like anthropology or communication will still be paying off loans that partially funded this fee increase.

The future of college athletics requires billion-dollar financing. Is taxing our students really going to help us keep up? Again, let’s be honest.

— Matt Bishop, La Jolla