Here at SUNY Oswego, a discrepancy was recently found in the funding between our men’s and women’s club sports teams, and two of our very own students are taking a stand about it.
Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion of Oswego’s Student Association Omar Van Reenen and Student Association Public Relations Director Emily Stasko, are bringing our campus together by encouraging students to take a stand about the funding gap, a movement they are calling Equal Pay for Equal Play.
In the workforce, women are known to make 20% less to the dollar than men; meanwhile, Oswego’s women’s club teams are found to be receiving 65% less funding than the men’s teams. That gap prevents teams from affording equipment that is necessary to play their sport, including helmets, bats and scrum machines (just to name a few), let alone to be able to get into leagues.
“Right now we have the opportunity to model our society to show women they can have opportunity out in the world. Students should jump on board and make a difference now,” Van Reenen said.
Van Reenen and Stasko held an open forum on Feb. 12 in the Shineman Center, which houses all of our STEM majors. At the forum, the Women’s Club Softball team disclosed that their budget isn’t always large enough for them to afford to pay for an umpire, leaving them unable to even play their sport. Van Reenen and Stasko are putting together a new bill that will prevent this in the future.
“The rubric isn’t working for club sports, and that is quite clear by the numbers,” Stasko said. “We’re going to be tabling soon and in that process we’re going to have a lot of teams getting involved and speaking. They will have the bill in front of them, so people can sign and sponsor it. We’re trying to be as transparent as possible in this process.”
The current rubric is outdated for club sports teams, showing that Men’s Club Ice Hockey is allowed $37,500 while the Women’s Club Ice Hockey is given $7,200. This difference means the women’s team receives 80.8% less funding. While not all gaps are as large, they range anywhere from 41.1% to 80.8% in difference.
The question then becomes, how can students help support Equal Pay for Equal Play?
“[Students] need to inform themselves,” Stasko said. “This is not about taking money away from other clubs. It’s about being able to have the basic equipment and rights that other teams have. There is no reason for a team we fund to not have enough money to play, when others can travel far and near. They should not judge the issue at hand.”
Van Reeen is urging all students to attend the senate meetings.
“Tell your senators why this is important,” he said. “Your voice matters. We want students to be a part of this every step of the way. Reach out to be heard.”
When it comes down to making changes on campus, both shared how passionate and driven they have been since they were young. Van Reenen cites his passion stemming from growing up with powerful, strong women.
“A lot of people supported me and believed in the movements I stood for,” he said.
Stasko said she had dreams as a fifth grader of becoming the first woman president. But within the past year through her involvement with SA and other extra curricular activities, she has “rekindled my love for politics,” which Stasko explained came from values her parents taught her.
Passion runs thick here at SUNY Oswego, as seen by the number of students who have stepped up to make their voices heard, and the students still figuring out how to be heard. There are always numerous campaigns on campus, looking to improve our community. While Van Reenen and Stasko are busy on the clock fighting for Equal Pay for Equal Play and other campaigns, they recommend other students to help bring more change to our environment.“Vote. Run. Win. Come to the Senate meetings. Know who your senator is. As a student you have to become self-aware, and take a step forward to seek it,” said Van Reenen.
“Don’t be scared,” said Stasko. “If you see something that isn’t right, go for it. Know you can make a difference. This is my last semester, my end of the road here at Oswego. Going forward I will look to getting involved with other movements, like nonprofits, a place to volunteer my efforts, making sure my voice is still heard.”
While misconceptions are made about Equal Pay for Equal Play, Van Reenen wants it to be known that the main mission of the campaign is to make sure our campus treats women’s club sports as equally as men’s. Every student contributes to the budget and when it comes down to it, all clubs should be able to have the opportunity to succeed and progress.When asked to generalize how these two inspiring students would want to change the world, their answers were just as heartwarming as their motivation.
“I think through representation,” said Van Reenen. “Whether it is a little girl seeing the first woman president, or the little boy from Africa that comes to America for college, and shows that even in the most judgemental society, you can make a change and overcome. We need to encompass each other, not just have them at the table, but have them involved with the conversation,” he urged.
As for Stasko, changing the world was all about acceptance. “Our society has made us into judgemental people,” she said. “Why do we care what other people see? I know I’m guilty of it too, and we all are. But if we had a society that was more accepting, we would have a better environment to live in.”
There are also questions concerning how SA will respond to this movement, and how other students can impact the decision of the senate and their senators. When campaigning to become a senator, SUNY Oswego students sign a document endorsing that potential senator, and if they meet the correct amount of signatures to become a part of SA, they’re elected. So what is it that students should know to do regarding SA?
“Make sure when elections come around, whoever you vote for stands for what you stand for,” Van Reenen said. Make sure there is a seat at the table for everyone, and all voices are included in the conversation. If everyone is not included, then diversity isn’t there.”
“SA is structured in a way that you can get a petition and sign up, so if there is only one type of student doing that, how will there be a change?” questioned Stasko. “If you see something you don’t like, it’ll continue unless other people sign up. We need diverse voices and there should be more athletes in that room in this case. More women, more everything. Go make that change.”
The main takeaways Van Reenen and Stasko want students to understand from the Equal Pay Equal Play movement is that students need to rally together to help this bill. The inspiration that these two students have shown us is infectious. We are all capable of making change Lakers. So let’s make this campus a better community!
Don’t forget to follow the campaign on social media!
Twitter: @oswegoequalplay.
Instagram: @oswegoequalplay.