diff --git a/components/hacker/HackerDash.tsx b/components/hacker/HackerDash.tsx
index f496f818..be22ddf6 100644
--- a/components/hacker/HackerDash.tsx
+++ b/components/hacker/HackerDash.tsx
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ import useSWR from 'swr';
 import TeamManager from './TeamManager';
 import TeamSetup from './TeamSetup';
 import { TeamProfile } from '../../types/client';
-import { ApplicationStatus, UserData, JudgingSessionData } from '../../types/database';
+import { ApplicationStatus, UserData, JudgingSessionData, HackathonSettingsData } from '../../types/database';
 import styles from '../../styles/Form.module.css';
 import { signOut, useSession } from 'next-auth/react';
 import TextArea from 'antd/lib/input/TextArea';
@@ -52,6 +52,15 @@ export default function HackerDash({ userApplicationStatus, setUserApplicationSt
 		{ revalidateOnFocus: false, revalidateOnMount: true }
 	);
 
+	const { data: setting } = useSWR(
+		'/api/hackathon-settings',
+		async url => {
+			const res = await fetch(url, { method: 'GET' });
+			return (await res.json()) as HackathonSettingsData;
+		},
+		{ revalidateOnFocus: false, revalidateOnMount: true }
+	);
+
 	const onFinish = async (values: any) => {
 		setLoading(true);
 		await fetch('/api/apply', {
@@ -690,6 +699,7 @@ export default function HackerDash({ userApplicationStatus, setUserApplicationSt
 						<>
 							<div style={{ padding: '20px' }}>
 								<Header user={user} signOut={signOut} />
+								<p style={{ color: 'white' }}>{setting?.HACKATHON_START}</p>
 								{/* TODO: conditionally render hacking start and end code based on time stored in db */}
 								{/* Hacking start code */}
 								{/* <div style={{ display: 'flex', justifyContent: 'center', paddingBottom: '10px' }}>
diff --git a/pages/api/hackathon-settings.ts b/pages/api/hackathon-settings.ts
index 214e8811..6ac5dfd4 100644
--- a/pages/api/hackathon-settings.ts
+++ b/pages/api/hackathon-settings.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ import hackathon from '../../models/hackathon';
 
 export default async function handler(req: NextApiRequest, res: NextApiResponse<any>) {
 	const session = await getSession({ req });
-	if (session?.userType !== 'ORGANIZER') return res.status(403).send('Forbidden');
 
 	await dbConnect();
 	switch (req.method) {
@@ -20,6 +19,7 @@ export default async function handler(req: NextApiRequest, res: NextApiResponse<
 			}
 		case 'PATCH':
 			try {
+				if (session?.userType !== 'ORGANIZER') return res.status(403).send('Forbidden');
 				// extract variables from body
 				const { HACKATHON_START, HACKATHON_END, JUDGING_START, JUDGING_END } = req.body;