Student government collaborated with various USC administrative offices to enhance safety at football games by offering Uber discounts and distributing water bottles in the student section.
Student government partnered with USCPD, Athletics, and Student Affairs to make sure Uber discounts are available for every home game.
Student Body President Patton Byars said that the Uber discount initiative expands on former student body president Emmie Thompson's past plans. The discount for the most recent game was set at $5, but for the upcoming game against LSU, it will increase to $10. The discount amount varies by game, with adjustments made based on the specific event.
"We want to make sure that students are getting more bang for their buck," Byars said. "If they're spending $40 on an Uber, $35 might not do much, but $10 off might take it to the next level."
Student Affairs, Parking and Transportation Services and USCPD provided funding and helped with voucher distribution to make Uber discounts for home games possible, while the Athletics Department assisted by sending mass emails to students.
"We took off where (Emmie) left off, which was one game, and I said, let's make this all (football) games, home games at least," Byars said. "We were able to get more funds from the university to make it a bigger program, so instead of it being $15,000 it's now $25,000 that will be spread across the season."
Byars said that law enforcement is put in a hard spot with a lot of different people coming in one area and student government wants to do as much as they can to ensure student safety, even if they are not in the stadium. As a result, Uber discounts don't run just until the game, they run until the next morning at 10am.
According to Byars, student government wants to continue to push the initiative and expand it in the future.
"Hopefully this is just the beginning," Byars said. "Last year was year zero, this is year one of a bigger Uber discount initiative... We're still behind from other institutions and what they do; we're going to catch up and we are catching up quick. But I don't want to just meet the standard, I want to be the standard."
Captain with the University of South Carolina Police Department Eric Grabski said USCPD is very grateful to partner in initiatives like this with student government because it involves student safety and it's a convenience to the students. He said that the feedback has been positive, with many students expressing their appreciation of the initiative.
Director of Parking and Transportation Services Brian Favela said that there are shuttle services, which run back and forth from main campus to Williams Brice Stadium. He believes the Uber discounts will help alleviate crowds and queuing, along with helping get people to different destinations around Columbia differently.
"Our shuttle service is not like a taxi service or an Uber service," Favela said. "This will allow students to go do other things that they do at night after games or during the day."
In addition to Uber discounts, student government will hand out free water bottles to students upon entering the Williams-Brice Stadium on their way to the student section, while supplies last. This initiative was through a partnership between Student Government, Student Health and Well-Being, and the Athletics offices. Funding for the water bottles came from Health and Well-Being, while Athletics oversaw the logistics, making sure the water reached the stadium.
Byars said that the nature of tailgating in the SEC can lead to fainting and the university wants to prevent that as much as possible. He said that providing free water bottles is economical for students and an important safety precaution.
Byars said that this initiative was inspired by something that former Student Body President Luke Rankin did for a football game against Alabama.
"It is the hope to do it for every single home game this year and hopefully the next student leaders will push and make this only a bigger thing," Byars said. "Hopefully the next stage of this next year can lead to water bottles for upper deck students as well because they need it as much as lower deck. The hope is to expand on this game by game, and most importantly, year by year."
The water bottle initiative is currently a pilot program limited to the lower deck of the student section, but Byars hopes that with student government’s advocacy and positive results, it can be expanded to include both the lower and upper decks in the future.
Byars said there has been widespread support from professional staff, law enforcement and students about the water bottle initiative.
To take advantage of the Uber discount, existing users should click the link provided in the email during the discount period and select "Join" in the Uber app to enroll in USC Student Government’s Uber for Business program. After joining, users should switch to their school profile within the app to activate the discount code, which will then be automatically applied when requesting a ride.
New Uber users need to click the link in the email, choose "No, create a new Uber account," and complete the required fields to set up a new account. Once the Uber app is downloaded and they are logged in, they can follow the same steps to use the school discount.