Is Hoo Crew Rent-Seeking?

UVA students are awarded tickets to UVA Basketball games through a lottery system, and the likelihood that a given student is selected in the lottery is directly proportional to the number of Sabre Points (accumulated by attending designated UVA sports events) the student has earned. 

I have heard from several sources that members of UVA's Hoo Crew have the ability to increase the number of Sabre Points attributed to their accounts. If true, this would mean that members of the Hoo Crew can heighten their chances of being selected in the lottery, giving them an advantage over other students who have to expend time and energy attending various games and matches to accrue enough points to give them a decent chance of winning the student lottery. 

A note at the bottom of the About section of Hoo Crew's website says that, although the organization is made up of UVA students, "it is not a part of or an agency of the University. Rather, "it is a separate and independent organization which is responsible for and manages its own activities and affairs." This is significant because the Sabre Point lottery is under the jurisdiction of UVA's Athletic Department. It would seem, therefore that members of Hoo Crew have connections in the Athletic Department that give them the opportunity to artificially increase their Sabre Point count. 

This means that members of Hoo Crew may be engaging in rent-seeking by lobbying the Athletic Department to gain an advantage over other UVA students and other members of Hoo Crew. While this lobbying may encompass the resources expended to work political connections in the Athletic Department, it also includes the time and energy spent by Hoo Crew members attending meetings and sports events to give them membership status in the organization. Each individual member of Hoo Crew is expending time to maintain their membership in Hoo Crew and to gain a standing within the organization that allows them the connections to manipulate their Sabre point totals. Hoo Crew members do not guarantee tickets by adding points to their accounts but do significantly increase their odds. Therefore, members of Hoo Crew invest resources (namely time) into their club involvement, not knowing whether they will win one of the limited number of student tickets. As more students join Hoo Crew, competition for tickets increases, and members engage in rent-seeking to give themselves a significant chance of winning a ticket. The rent therefore increases as more members invest time in the organization, and a welfare loss develops as many members waste time trying to increase their odds, only to lose in the lottery.