After losing the ability to get student tickets last year, spouses and life partners of students can again vie for free seats in the student section at Autzen Stadium, although the reinstated privilege comes with stricter eligibility guidelines.
The ASUO Executive overturned the prior administration’s controversial decision to end spousal equivalency as a method to include non-traditional students, said ASUO President Jared Axelrod. Last year’s Executive had ended the program because of concerns that it was easily abused.
“Non-traditional students face unique situations, and we need to provide for those students as well,” he said.
The current policy requires that an incidental fee-paying student be present to obtain a spousal equivalency card and that additional documentation be provided to prove a commitment between partners.
Married couples must provide a copy of their marriage certificate, while domestic partners must show two forms of proof of long-term commitment, such as a jointly held lease, savings or checking account that has existed more than six months, vehicle or credit card.
The ASUO has handed out 162 spousal equivalency cards this year, said ASUO receptionist Caiti Hiwell. A maximum of one percent of all student tickets, or roughly 50, are held specifically for spousal equivalency card holders and are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
The former administration discontinued the program because the requirements were not very strict and the process was deemed unfair, said Adam Walsh, 2005-06 ASUO president. Applicants needed only a piece of mail showing that they shared an address with an incidental fee-paying student to obtain a spousal equivalency card.
“The more we thought about it, it didn’t make sense to give student tickets, that students were paying for, to non-students,” Walsh said.
Walsh’s decision prompted complaints of unfairness from law students.
“I got quite a few angry e-mails and phone calls,” Walsh said.
Walsh asked the Athletic Department Finance Committee, which is charged with negotiating student tickets with the Athletics Department annually, to work with the department to allow spouses and domestic partners to purchase tickets at a discounted rate.
The committee tried unsuccessfully, said ADFC Chairman Kyle McKenzie.
“I don’t think the Athletics Department liked that very much,” McKenzie said.
Instead, the ADFC added the spousal equivalency tickets to the student pool and negotiated half-price overflow seating for men’s basketball games.
McKenzie said the spousal equivalency was abused under the old guidelines, when it was “very easy” to get tickets and anyone could do it.
“I think it was manipulated a lot,” he said.
Axelrod said that misuse motivated the creation of stricter guidelines.
The ASUO also reinstated the policy because, “it’s something students wanted,” said ASUO spokesman Slade Leeson.
The policy is fair to fee-paying students, Leeson said.
“Students that want to go to football games can go, and spousal equivalency tickets aren’t preventing them from going,” he said.
Walsh said the spousal equivalency policy took student tickets away from students.
McKenzie said the Executive’s decision to reinstate the policy undermined the work the committee had done.
“It’s kind of an awkward and confusing way of going about things,” McKenzie said. “I would really appreciate the president contacting his committee before making any changes in the contract we submitted.”
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