Univ. Of Hawaii Asking For More State Money To Support Athletics

The Univ. of Hawaii is asking state lawmakers to renew the $2.7M appropriation the school has gotten since '17 as a "recurring annual feature of the budget," which would raise the "amount of annual support athletics receives from the combination of state and school coffers" to approximately $17.2M, according to Ferd Lewis of the HONOLULU STAR-ADVERTISER. UH is also asking that the legislature "begin picking up the tab" on approximately $1.5M in "fringe benefit costs for 30 current athletic department staffers." UH athletics received $15.68M in "direct external support" for the fiscal year that ended June 30. UH athletics closed the last fiscal year with a deficit of approximately $1.9M, its "seventh consecutive deficit finish and ninth in the past 10 years." The continuing deficits have "forced athletics to 'borrow'" from the rest of the school's budget so that "bills are paid." UH President David Lassner has charged the athletic department with "eliminating the net loss and becoming fully self-supporting" by '20. UH said that the percentage of all external funding it receives is "less than the majority of its competitors" (HONOLULU STAR-ADVERTISER, 2/11).