SGA has partnered with Uber for Business to provide free and discounted rides to students from campus. Collegian file photo.
OLIVIA KLAFTA | STAFF REPORTER | oliviaklafta@butler.edu
Butler University’s Student Government Association is entering its fourth week of its partnership with Uber for Business. With the partnership, Uber provides Butler students with free rides from campus to three resource centers in Indianapolis and discounted weekend rides to Kroger in Broad Ripple.
The resource centers include the St. Vincent Stress Center, which provides mental health services, the Indiana Youth Group, a support center for LGBT youth and the Julian Center, a center for domestic abuse support. Rides to Kroger are $5 off on Fridays and Saturdays from 5-10 p.m. The remainder of the bill is charged to the user’s personal Uber account.
Kelsie Kasper, a senior sports media major, said taking Ubers is “convenient but expensive,” since it adds about $7 to her tab for the night when taking an Uber from campus to Broad Ripple and back. The Uber discount allowed her to get a ride to Broad Ripple for 58 cents, after the bill was split among four friends. Kasper said the partnership would have been helpful in her first few years of school when she didn’t have a car.
“I know we don’t have a lot of options here on campus and it’s a great way to get out of that Butler Bubble and it encourages you to go out and explore in a more inexpensive way,” Kasper said.
Sam Varie, SGA student body president and a senior strategic communication major, said the response to the partnership has been overwhelmingly positive.
“The important thing is that we are dismantling barriers to services,” Varie said. “While this provides a great access to social scenes in Broad Ripple, it’s also providing integral support services for our students.
Malin Peterson, SGA executive vice president and a senior youth and community development major, said she also felt that the partnership received positive feedback.
“I think until you see that the option is there, you don’t really process the fact that it is an option,” Peterson said. “I think this is a tremendous opportunity for students to engage with and to have that availability and the option to get that support they need and then also just to have access to Kroger and be able to use it as a social means.”
Hayden Marshall, a sophomore political science major, has only used Uber once or twice prior to the SGA partnership was created. Despite this, Marshall said he would consider using the partnership.
“It seems like a really good thing offered by our campus,” Marshall said. “Butler does a really good job of showing it supports a lot of diverse groups and showing that it will drive you to find places to support you and will keep off the risk of drunk driving down to Broad Ripple.”
Kate Tobin, a sophomore international relations and French major, said she would consider using the service in the future and the discount is “an opportunity people shouldn’t pass up.”
“I don’t see how it wouldn’t benefit people, especially if you don’t have a car, like freshman,” Tobin said. “I think it’s really smart, obviously there’s resources on campus for that stuff, but just broadening the resources available for students, especially students who are struggling. I think it’s beneficial for a lot of people here.”
Patrick Keyes, a junior entrepreneurship and innovation and marketing major, said he could see himself using the partnership to go to Broad Ripple on the weekends. He also said the free 24/7 rides to the resource centers is a great opportunity for students who need the help they provide.
“That’s really amazing because a lot of the time there’s people here that can’t go to those places otherwise, that’s really cool,” Keyes said.
