Where is Your Meal Plan Money Really Going?

Since my freshman year, here at Appalachian State, there has been a rumor that the unused funds from our meal plan go to the football team at the end of the semester. In the midst of sexual assault scandals and an irritating disparity between athletic spending and academic spending, it has been a constant source of anger amongst many of my peers. How could a football team whose expenses exceeded four million dollars just last year be getting more money? I am here to let you in on a not-so-secret secret: they aren't.

After hearing the rumor just one too many times, my curiosity was piqued and I did some digging. And by digging, I mean I barely scratched the surface and was quickly met with the answer. A short email to David Jackson, Director of Public Affairs for Appalachian State Athletics, quickly dispelled the rumor.

So where are the funds going? A brief phone call to the AppCard office yielded the answer. Much to the dismay of conspiracy theorists everywhere, I'm afraid the funds go exactly where you'd expect them to: Food Services. You see, technically, you have already paid Food Services all of your meal plan money so it's not really being given to them so much as it's staying put.  The very nice woman at the AppCard office assured me that the rumor had been around for as long as she had been working there and that, unless policy had changed in the last year since she discussed the issue with the Director of Food Services, it was still not funding the football team. 

No, your meal plan money may not be going to fund the incredibly well-funded athletics department (See: above link to Department of Education) but there are still a LOT of funds being directed that way. I won't expend the energy to do a full blow investigation of that, but if you're curious, Appalachian State releases a Financial Statement Audit Report every year that you can check out and shake your fist over. But at least you can rest easy knowing that your leftover $50 will be going to undercooked Chik-fil-a nuggets as opposed to a new football stadium.

Update 3:07 PM: I received the following email from Food Services Director, Arthur Kessler, giving a more detailed account of where, exactly, your meal plan money is going.