Student Group Helps Fund College Rodeo

The agriculture department at Pierce College found out that it’s good to have friends with money.

The Associated Students Organization has loaned the department start-up funds to bring back the annual College Rodeo, which was canceled last spring because of insufficient funds.

Nicole Land, who was elected ASO president last semester, has also taken up the reins to help plan the event--the college’s 41st--scheduled for May 1 and 2.

“We decided it was very important, since this is the 50th anniversary of the college, to honor tradition,” Land said. “This is the heritage of the college.”

The rodeo became a priority for the organization when the top three student-body officers elected in the spring were agriculture department students.

After approving other campus organization funding requests using student fees, ASO agreed to loan the agriculture department $11,000 to add to its $6,000 rodeo budget. Although the department still needs $26,000 to mount the rodeo, Land said she is confident that outside sponsors will come forth to make up the shortfall.

Ron Wechsler, a college rodeo coach who organized the event for decades before this year, said he was happy to allow students to take over.

“I wanted to make it a learning situation for students,” he said. “I’m not going to be here forever. Somebody needs to know how to do it to continue.”

Land said she has big plans for the rodeo. To spark renewed interest from the community, she said she hopes to lure a country music artist and a comedian to entertain.

Normally, the Associated Students Organization shares in the profits of a sponsored event, but this time the organization is requiring only that the initial loan be repaid, Land said.

“We wanted it all to benefit the program, so that in years to come, it’ll be self-supporting again,” she said.

The rodeo, an intercollegiate invitational event, is a fund-raiser for the college’s equine science program.

The rodeo was canceled abruptly in March when Wechsler said ticket sales from recent years had not generated enough money to support it.