Ruff Riders leave AS for Athletic Department

By Lisa Porter

After years of acting under both Associated Students and the Athletic Department -- which is against AS bylaws -- the Ruff Riders are making the switch to being under jurisdiction of athletics.

The change was sparked when the Student Senate noticed that the Ruff Riders organization wasn't receiving receipts for all of their expenses.

"Each organization in AS has to turn their receipts in so we can follow their expenses," said AS President Jenny Moody.

"That's when the red flag came up with Ruff Riders," Moody said. We weren't seeing all of their receipts and we weren't seeing the things that we should see."

Ruff Riders received $50 per quarter from AS -- a relatively small amount for such a big club -- but they could also petition for discretionary funding. However, they were receiving additional money from the Athletic Department, which caused the confusion about where the AS money was being directed.

Funding that Ruff Riders would receive aside from AS, such as the $25,000 grant from Pepsi for Ruff Riders, Cheer, Pep Band and Dance, was going undocumented by AS, and was the cause for the proposal to move to athletics.

It is against AS bylaws to have clubs running under two organizations partly because of the financial confusion that could ensue.

When this was brought to light, AS also realized there were several other clubs running in similar fashion. As a result, all club sports have also been shifted under campus recreation in the Athletic Department.

The shift for club sports acts in their favor, Moody said, because it moves the team offices to Leavey where they can store equipment and supplies, as well as be closer to sporting events.

Moody stressed that the shift is for the betterment of the clubs, as did Manager of Marketing and Promotions for the Ruff Riders, John Schuster.

"What we did in the past worked, but now it's more streamlined and more straightforward," said Schuster.

As far as seeing any outward effects, it will be difficult to tell that anything has changed.

"The average fan is not going to notice a thing," said Schuster.

According to Schuster, the transition from being under AS and Athletics to just being under athletics has been nearly seamless. He accredits professionalism by university officials as well as organization and hard work by the current spirit club captains and executives.

The Center for Student Leadership has also provided athletics with one of their full time employees to act as assistant recreation director. That position will help with the club sports that are newly shifted to athletics.

"I've been pleasantly surprised that it's gone very well," Schuster said. "There's no controversy or issues and we're all on the same page. I thought it was beautifully done."

Contact Lisa Porter at (408) 551-1918 or lporter@scu.edu