By Hannah Kremer, Staff Writer

With the persistence of ticket scalping of student tickets for men’s basketball games, the Student Government Association (SGA) has formed a ticket scalping committee to discuss solutions to resolve the issue and prevent students from falling prey to scams.

Due to their popular demand and first-come-first-served availability, students who obtain free tickets to see the Xavier men’s basketball team play from the Cintas Center student section have been selling them on popular campus platforms, including Campus Groups and class stories on Snapchat.

Their limited availability, especially compounded with highly anticipated games, such as the Crosstown Shootout, often results in a high resell price. There have been prices and bids as high as $300.

First-year Philosophy, Politics and the Public major Megan Cooper expressed her discontent with students who participate in this practice.

“Students who purchase tickets with the immediate intent of selling them are hindering people who actually want to go to the games,” Cooper said. A frequent men’s basketball game attendee, she now purchases her tickets directly from Xavier rather than purchasing tickets from Xavier students.

With growing frustration among the student body, SGA has taken particular interest in the issue and discussed how they can intervene in recent meetings.

Sophomore SGA senator Jake Galvan, who spearheaded the creation of the ticket scalping committee, has made this issue a priority.

“It’s really great that we have a vibrant community that is willing to pay money for basketball games. Still, with scamming and scalping, it is a problem that must be stopped,” Galvan said.

With the problem resurging this past fall with the start of the basketball season, Galvan felt urged to address the issue.

“By the end of the term, most senators like me were ready to dive right in and pursue other opportunities. My first thought was to address this problem when we had the time and political capital needed to release a project on ticketing,” Galvan said.

Two weeks ago the ticket scalping committee began contemplating different solutions to the issue, which the student body may see as soon as the end of February. However, these plans have yet to be voted on.

One proposed solution being developed is a reporting system, in which those who catch someone scalping can report them. The scalper would be required to appear in front of SGA, each case judged based on the perpetrator’s circumstances.

Coinciding with this system, a policy has been proposed to be added to the terms and conditions of the Xavier ticketing website. 

When a student signs up to purchase tickets, they are to agree to a set of conditions to have access to formal tickets, and the proposal seeks to add a clause on ticket scalping.

“No one actually reads the terms and conditions. Or at least I don’t,” Galvan said. “We are proposing something to compliment it as well. This would be a little box at checkout that says ‘I agree to the terms and conditions,’ and it could be a statement specific to ticket scalping.”

Whether either of these proposed solutions are implemented is still up for debate.