Pepsi to boost Broncos with $25K gifts
By Jeremy Herb
Pepsi Bottling Company plans to donate more than $100,000 overall in the next several years to Santa Clara spirit organizations, including the Ruff Riders, according to sources familiar with the agreement.
The money will be given in $25,000 annual donations, which begin next fall and last through 2012, and are part of the new beverage contract that made Pepsi the official soft drink provider on campus.
The $25,000 yearly figure -- which is a third of the budget of many larger chartered student organizations -- will be jointly managed by the Office of Student Life and the Athletic Department. The funding will be specifically used for "activities of school spirit," said Vice Provost for Student Life Jeanne Rosenberger.
While the criteria to decide how the money should be spent has yet to be finalized, Rosenberger said it "would seem obvious" that Ruff Riders, pep band, cheer and dance team would be the primary recipients, though the money could potentially be used for anything that would help encourage attendance at games.
Amy Polacko, a spokeswoman for Pepsi, said that when the contract was established, Pepsi left it to university officials to decide how to best use the funds, a decision given to the provost's office.
Pepsi did not wish to elaborate on the details of the agreement, citing a policy that they do not disclose details of contracts.
In the Pepsi contract, the university receives both a flat rate amount from the contract signing and a percentage of the revenue from soda sales.
For the Ruff Riders, the extra money would allow them to provide more bus trips, giveaways and pregame activities that would help the largest student-fan club on campus continue to grow.
"Unfortunately, Ruff Riders does not have the funding right now that a lot of other schools get for their programs," Ruff Riders president Mike Zozos said.
When Coke was the beverage company on-campus, it also donated to school spirit, but the amount was much smaller, and Coke had to approve every use of the funding.
"It became a little bit of a headache," Rosenberger said. "I'm hoping that if we develop criteria (for the funding), that it will be an easier situation."
The Pepsi donation comes at the same time that Associated Students is debating where the spirit clubs should be governed. Currently, the clubs fall under both AS and Athletics, a joint governance that isn't allowed in the AS bylaws.
Student Senator Ben Tate, who chairs the task force responsible for the fate of Ruff Riders within AS, acknowledges funding restrictions and hinted that the university's largest student-fan club would benefit from Athletic Department sponsorship.
"We feel that there are better ways to fund them than through discretionary funding with clubs, because it's such a large organization," he said.
The Ruff Riders has proposed that with additional funding, the costs of big trips like their recent trek to Spokane, Wash., would drop, allowing even more students the opportunity to go.
A.J. Perry, a Ruff Rider vice president next year, said that any extra money the Ruff Riders may receive will not alter their fundraising plans for the end of the year.
"Even if we have more money next year, it doesn't mean we get to say, 'We're done' and stop working," Perry said. "We're still going to offer the Broncoholics shirts and other fun Ruff Rider merchandise to show your school spirit."
Contact Jeremy Herb at (408) 554-4546 or jmherb@scu.edu.