Our Board of Trustees (BoT) approved a max of $281 million for a new multipurpose arena on Cook Field. According to a recent poll of over 3,000 people, roughly 7% of respondents support the project. Additionally, 79% want Cook Field to remain green space. The esteemed BoT must have had a great reason to approve the arena in the face of such overwhelming opposition.
I have searched through several meeting agendas from the BoT, the slides presented at the meeting where the project was approved and the official announcement on Miami University’s website for such justification. What I have found is nothing short of wholly insufficient reasoning.
The first explanation given by the university in a campus announcement — notably in big red letters — is the term “Student-centered.” They claim this new stadium will benefit students. Despite this, the student body remains unconvinced; as I previously stated, only 7% support the stadium, a whopping 89% oppose it and the rest remain undecided.
With such statistics, it seems almost laughable to suggest this is being done for the students as the university claims. We are not kids who don’t know what’s good for us; we do not need to be told to simply trust the university. We are mature adults capable of reaching an informed opinion. Having heard the position of the BoT and the administration, we remain overwhelmingly opposed.
The university discusses, on the slides presented at the Feb. 26 meeting, how this Cook Field location “unlocks the future.” Moreover, they also mention increased corporate and donor interest in the new arena. I wonder if the future the BoT sees is one of shrunken donations, and the interest paid by donors is that of stopping their donations to Miami.
According to the aforementioned study conducted by Miami students, alumni and faculty, “69% of [survey] respondents reported they are less likely to donate to the university in the future if the project proceeds.” I wonder if the university has planned for the falloff in donations, which will no doubt stem from the destruction of Cook Field. At a time of government cuts to public higher education and an ever-shaky U.S. economy, should the BoT not at least consider the possible ramifications of building an almost $300 million stadium?
The university is very proud of mental health; it is something they boast about on tours and on their website. In Miami’s effort to prioritize mental health — an effort I applaud them for — I wonder if they have considered that being around green space has been found to cause “less mental distress, less anxiety and depression, greater wellbeing and healthier cortisol profiles” compared to locations without greenery, according to a study from Cambridge University.
Taking away Cook Field and replacing it with construction and eventually a domineering arena will likely harm student mental health. At a time when depression and suicidal ideation have increased over the past 15 years among college-aged kids, is this really the time to remove something that can help alleviate mental distress?
Instead of spending nearly $300 million on a new arena, why not listen to the students about what they would want? After all, who knows better than the students what would make their lives better?
Maybe some students want renovated dorms, where no rats are scurrying in the ceiling or in the rooms, as is the case with mine. Some might want improvements to be made to outdated academic halls, like Laws, Upham or McGuffey, which are quite literally collapsing. Some students might want increased class availability so they can get their core requirements done more efficiently.
However, the university decided they knew better. Neither the words of the students at BoT meetings, nor the negative comments online, nor the inordinately massive disapproval of the new stadium project were enough to dissuade the university from this folly.
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As I sit on Cook Field at 5 a.m. writing this article, I can’t help but think of the memories that were made here: The pickup games played, the snowball fights had, the countless alumni who, when they look back at their time at Miami, think of this space. I realize that these memories will no longer be made due to the irrational and high-handed behavior of the illustrious board.
Christian Poppell is a first-year majoring in political science with a minor in international studies. He is a writer for the Opinion section of The Miami Student and a member of the Miami University Debate Team.
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