To those who left comments on my letter, I felt I needed to respond.  I am sorry to disappoint you, but I do, and did know that the athletics department and the academic department are kept completely separate.

The point of the article was simply this: if the athletics department has $100 million to spend on Commonwealth Stadium, then we should be able to pay our professors and staff.

I have to ask, how anybody can think it is responsible to waste, YES WASTE, millions on a football team, who quite frankly would struggle against the cheerleaders from my high school, when people are losing their jobs and we as students are losing educators.

I am simply advocating for this: in times of economic stress, the university should divert funds from the athletic department to the academic.

We are first and foremost a place of education and for us to place the needs of sports above those of our education is abhorrent at best.  It all boils down to this — whether you’re athletics, academics, dining services or housing: “the University of Kentucky” is stamped across your paycheck.

We as moral individuals should not let fancy accounting and sleight of hand tactics hoard funding for a handful of students while the masses are left scrounging for the scraps.

Thomas Kelsay is a  sustainable agriculture junior. Email [email protected]