Students first?

If you walk by Miami University’s Cook Field, you’re likely to see a few of the following scenes:

Three friends laying sprawled out on a picnic blanket, their faces turned up to the warm sun above them.

A couple of students chatting as they loft a football between them, the weight of their classes lifting off their shoulders.

A group of kids squealing as they run to capture a loose soccer ball, their neon cleats flashing between vibrant green blades of grass.

This is the harmony of engagement and community you hear when you step onto Cook Field, an open area with two-toned grass and astroturf that has served as the hub of campus recreation for 70 years.

Unfortunately, under President Gregory Crawford’s recommendation, the Board of Trustees is choosing to forsake this haven of student life to construct a new “District Arena,” which will house a new sports stadium, parking garage and other multipurpose spaces.

While the idea of a new construction project has certainly garnered the enthusiasm of many top administrators at Miami, students have vocalized their disdain for the removal of such a heavily utilized space.

Cook Field should be preserved for future generations of students because it emanates Miami culture, provides a valuable source of green space and exerts a positive influence on student mental health.

An aspect supporting the preservation of Cook Field that is often overlooked is the environmental impact associated with the space. Moreover, Cook Field serves as a notable “green space” at Miami, which is a natural area placed amongst a developed location. Despite the obvious inclination against developing natural places, green spaces are especially important for the environmental health of universities.

“Heat island effect” is a tendency for developed areas to have more “surfaces that absorb, retain, and then release heat, which leads to these areas having higher temperatures compared to more rural, undeveloped areas.” Surfaces covered by grass, however, can help reduce heat island effects by deflecting radiation from the sun and releasing moisture into the atmosphere.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, green spaces also have the capacity to improve water and air quality, reduce flooding, capture water for reuse and increase habitat connectivity. Even though Cook Field is only half grass, it can still provide all these benefits.

In addition to environmental health, this green space plays a role in student health that can’t be overlooked.

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Springer Nature, a global publisher of scientific, technological and medical journals, cites one study that examined the relationship between built environment factors and mental health issues among university students. Using a comprehensive analysis of 811 students from 10 universities, the researchers found a “negative correlation between green space exposure on campus and the level of mental health issues among university students.”

More specifically, this study references the value of visible green spaces, making the centralized location of Cook Field vital. This same study connected the dots between the presence of green space and students’ mental and physical health, finding that “students who walked regularly [had] a lower incidence of mental health issues than those who drove.” Thus, the centralized and recreational nature of Cook Field creates a positive influence on both student mental and physical health that would be taken away with its removal.

A core trait of any university is its sense of culture and community, and Miami’s would be significantly diminished following the destruction of this shared space. In 2023, Miami held the #1 spot on College Magazine's list of "The 10 Most Beautiful Campuses in the Midwest,” which cited the university’s “natural area beauty.” Miami itself even uses pictures of students gathered on Cook Field to advertise the college to prospective students.

The addition of a large parking garage and a tall, blocky building likely won’t continue to make Miami live up to this depiction and could even lead to a drop in enrollment. Franco Brown, a design director at LPA Design Studios, cites the value of places like Cook Field in higher education contexts.

“The social and cultural opportunities available to students on campus are key factors to their overall higher education experience, inducing a sense of belonging and collegiate pride that promotes their well-being and, ultimately, reflects on their academic performance,” Brown said in a blog post.

There is rarely a day that students can be found absent from Cook Field, and taking it away not only deprives them of an outdoor area of communal recreation, but chips away at the core of Miami’s reputation.

Despite the detrimental effects removing Cook Field would likely have on students and the environment they live in, Crawford and other involved members cite the construction of the new Arena District as “student-first” above all else. But is this true?

According to Miami’s website, the initial committee, faculty, staff and alums “considered feedback from more than 1,500 Miamians” in their decision through a survey they sent out to Miami students. However, in addition to this survey sample only making up about 7–9% of the total student body, The Miami Student revealed that “less than 300 [of those surveyed] said they wanted the arena constructed on Cook Field,” meaning that less than 2% of the student body who responded in the survey has actively supported the demolition of Cook Field.

Despite this seemingly obvious desire to keep Cook Field, the recommendation for its destruction was unanimously supported by the initial committee, and Crawford stated that he was “thrilled that so many Miamians engaged in the process by offering support, sharing suggestions, and contributing valuable feedback about the potential sites.”

Miami students have since begun a petition to save Cook Field that has received over 3,500 signatures, more than 11 times the number of students surveyed who want to destroy it. Since the project was so vehemently advertised as “student-first” and “student-based,” there's a question about the true motive for carrying out the project.

Miami’s decision to tear down Cook Field stands in blatant opposition to students’ desire to keep such a beloved communal space, and it shows a disregard for students’ true opinions and interests.

In addition to pushback on the construction, destroying Cook Field has the potential to correlate with a diminishment in Miami community culture through the loss of a centralized green space and area of shared recreation. Cook Field provides an outdoor, visible green space that correlates to positive trends in student mental and physical health.

If Miami truly wants to put its students first, it needs to actually listen to them and preserve such a beloved aspect of the campus.

howellas@miamioh.edu

Abby Howell is a sophomore double majoring in psychology and individualized studies. She is the president of Ox-Wee: Supporting the Otwee-Miami School of Hope. She’s also an honors college student and Student Ambassador for the College of Arts and Sciences.