UH officials will use the entire amount in the so-called “rainy-day fund” to pay for the deficit. The fund has a total of more than $1.5 million.

The school’s Board of Regents had asked the athletic department to set up the fund, paid for by surpluses, to offset budget shortfalls.

This will be the third time the school has withdrawn money from the fund. Then-UH president Kenneth Mortimer withdrew $300,000 after the school received a cut in funding from the Legislature. In 1998, Mortimer authorized withdrawing $500,000 to complete construction work at the Stan Sheriff Center and make up for an 0-12 football season.

UH officials said the current deficit is largely the result of a $440,000 drop in the dividend from the Honolulu Stadium Endowment Fund, the reappropriation of more than $300,000 in interest from football-ticket sales and declining attendance in all sports following the Sept. 11 attacks.

The Honolulu Stadium fund was created from money earned from the sale of the South King Street property.

UH deposits the money from the football-ticket sales into a bank account. In past years, the athletic department was allowed to keep the interest. This year, UH president Evan Dobelle has asked that the interest from all university-related accounts be turned over to the school’s general fund.

UH also had to pay $100,000 to offset the $1 million deficit incurred by the Humanitarian and Silicon Valley Bowls, both of which are operated by the Western Athletic Conference.

Other unbudgeted expenses included a new baseball scoreboard ($199,988), the athletic director's search ($29,250) and summer school for fifth-year players ($141,000).