Dippikill Reaches Settlement With Employees on “Wage and Hour Claims” As SA Seeks to Reassess Fiscal Relationship

By Vince Gasparini | April 7, 2025

After five months, Student Association President Jalen Rose revealed that the ongoing closure of Camp Dippikill was due to “wage and hour claims” between Dippikill Inc. and eight employees, who reached an undisclosed settlement in the dispute last month, according to Rose.

“The settlement was ultimately a business decision to efficiently resolve these claims,” Rose told the ASP.

Photo Credit: UAlbany Magazine

Rose said the employees have been working and being paid throughout the five-month long negotiations, and that the decision to close reservations to the Adirondack wilderness retreat was made in order to avoid “any further issues.”

In order to pay the settlement, Dippikill Inc., the subsidiary organization that operates the camp under the guidance of SA, had to clear its $250,000 budget and also use interest-accrued funds from an SA reserve account.

At the SA Senate meeting this past Wednesday, two pieces of legislation were introduced regarding the wilderness retreat. The first was a request for $30,000 in order to operate for the remainder of the month, which passed the Senate with 14 “yes” votes, seven “no” votes and seven abstentions.

“Given Dippikill has zero dollars, this $30,000 is to pay the employees for the month,” Rose said. “If they didn’t have that, then we’d have to cease operations, and even though they’ve been getting paid now to maintain the property, they wouldn’t be able to maintain the property without getting paid.”

The second piece of legislation, which passed with 23 “yes” votes, one “no” vote and three abstentions, allows SA to form an ad hoc committee to investigate “the future of the relationship between the Student Association and Dippikill Inc.,” according to the bill. The bill stipulates that the committee holds a public hearing before the final Senate meeting of the 2024-2025 academic year.

When asked his opinion on the status of Dippikill, Rose said he was in favor of the camp no longer being held under the SA, as it is “no longer in a position to financially support the organization,” according to Rose. He said that SA is currently operating at a roughly $250,000 deficit, and that the cost to operate Dippikill is about the same amount.

However, Rose also said that he does not want Dippikill to be unavailable to students, and is hoping to come to a solution that allows students to continue to have access to the wilderness retreat for future use.