Two different sources near to the situation told the Hayride that the story told by LSU Band director Roy King through her attorney Jill Craft regarding his suspension yesterday is correct. Namely, King was suspended because the LSU Music School dean, Todd Queen, demanded King surrender control of the Band’s budget to the Music School.

King refused, and he was suspended. The dean doesn’t have the power to suspend the band director; it’s the office of the President which has that power.

Queen was hired in 2014 by LSU president F. King Alexander. Our sources suggest he’s doing Alexander’s bidding.

The LSU Band has a budget of about $1 million a year which funds the band itself, plus the Golden Girls and the Color Guard. The funding comes from the LSU Athletic Department, not the Music School.

Money grabs by the university seem to be the order of the day. Greek students are furious today, for example, over a change by the LSU student dining office which looks like a direct attempt to force them to overpay for food on campus…

Incoming Greek students living in residence halls will be required to remain on a full LSU Dining meal plan instead of opting out and signing up for the Greek Paw Points Meal Plan, Margot Carroll, the assistant vice president of Auxiliary Services, said in an email. The new system will be implemented in the fall.

According to the Auxiliary Services website, all first and second year students living on campus, except for those in East Campus and West Campus Apartments, are required to have meal plans. Carroll said the Greek Paw Points Meal Plan, which costs $700 for 700 Paw Points, would no longer be available.

In the past, students were able to opt out of the University meal plans in exchange for the Greek Paw Points Meal Plan after joining a Greek organization, as some fraternities offer their own meal plans and include the cost in dues. Now, these students will be required to remain on one of the traditional plans for the full year, just as their non-Greek counterparts are.

“The proposal was shared with all impacted LSU departments, including Greek Life and [Student Life and Enrollment],” Carroll said. “Eliminating this exemption is in alignment with LSU’s primary mission and priorities, especially in these challenging budgetary times.”

Former Delta Chi president Jonathan Kloor said the option to switch to the fraternity meal plan has been available since he joined his fraternity. He said the change has come as a response to budget cuts as the University is “trying to save as much money as possible.”

Kloor said the cost of joining his fraternity is around $1,000, and the policy could make recruiting new members more difficult for fraternities across campus.

“They’re already spending a tremendous amount of money to go to college now, and the luxury and the desire to enter the Greek system is going to be harder for them financially compared to what it was in the past,” he said.

It’s relatively clear what’s going on there – the university recognizes that the kids in fraternities and sororities will generally have more money to spend and can afford to be whacked with full-priced meal plans, so it’s going to force the kids in those fraternities and sororities to swallow them.

Coming on the heels of the university’s attempts to regulate student tailgating, which has them in a complete uproar this week, the turmoil on that campus is becoming undeniable.