On Tuesday, April 2 the United Student Government (USG) at Fordham University Rose Hill announced that the Student Activities Fee (SAF) Referendum passed with a 95% approval rate, raising the SAF for the 2024-25 academic year by $95.
The referendum, which began on March 4, was put into place due to a lack of funding for on-campus clubs and organizations for events and activities. The referendum was one of the most voted-on causes USG has held in Fordham history, with 15% of the student body casting votes over the two-week period. The announcement of its passing follows Fordham’s announcement of a 4.4% tuition increase to food and housing for the 2024-25 academic year.
Over the past few years, USG found an apparent need to increase the fee. “With the increasing cost of goods due to inflation along with an overall increase in student involvement and clubs on campus, the budget committee has been struggling to fully fund all the clubs at Rose Hill for quite some time now,” said Reese McDonnell, GSB ’26, USG budget committee vice chair. “The Student Activity Fee has not been changed in 11 years, and for all of my time on the budget committee, I have seen a need to increase the amount of funding for clubs.”
Over those 11 years, USG had only attempted to change the fee once during 2023. However, it failed due to the vote being held through an online voting system. “It [the 2023 referendum] received around 400 votes. About 70% of those 400 voted ‘yes,’ but the USG bylaws read that a referendum, if done electronically, must reach 15% of the student population (around 960 students). We realized that running the election electronically had actually hurt the campaign while it was being run last spring,” said Lucas Hjertberg, FCRH ’26, USG budget committee chair.
The student activity fee will be increased from $135 to $230 at the start of the fall semester. According to USG’s Instagram account, the increase translates to a $400,000 increase for USG-sponsored student clubs and organizations beginning in the 2024-25 academic year.
Students have mixed opinions on the increase. “We pay so much money to this school, we just got a tuition increase, why are we increasing the activities fee, especially if a lot of the money is going to clubs I’m not involved in?” said Brandon Cordy, FCRH ’27.
“I think with the 4.4% tuition increase, adding an extra fee is just a little bit excessive right now,” said Lauren Rocco, FCRH ’27. “I need to start going to these events to get my money’s worth then,” added Jada Feldman, FCRH ’27.
Some students are excited at the prospect of clubs getting more funding for events, allowing them to host more activities on campus. “With how expensive going to Fordham is, $95 more dollars just feels like another drop in the bucket,” said Cameron Kelly, FCRH ’27. “I’m a pretty involved person on campus, so I feel like I will get my utility out of it.”
Hjertberg added, “Compared to the back-to-back 6% and 4.4% percent tuition increases, this $95 will directly impact the student experience. It is a tangible change that us at USG are beyond excited to see happen here on campus.”
