When it comes to Miami University’s strengths, people often call to mind the beauty of Miami’s campus, its nationally-ranked study abroad program or the Farmer School of Business, consistently placed in the top 20 in the nation.
Very few people think of Miami as a “sports school.”
With the recent developments coming out about Miami’s decision to potentially place a new arena on Cook Field, the first question that comes to mind is, “Who is this benefiting?” Miami’s basketball team has but rarely packed the house into Millett Hall’s 9,200-seat arena, with the highest-attended game being on Dec. 15, 1976, with 10,634 fans in attendance, when the RedHawks played the University of Cincinnati.
Now, Miami men's basketball games average 2,307 spectators per game, a number that hardly justified the construction of a new multi-million dollar facility, especially if the new arena overtakes an iconic piece of Miami’s campus: Cook Field.
With the price and potential location of the new arena up for discussion on Friday, Feb. 28, it is very clear to students where Miami’s financial priorities lie. So the question we at The Miami Student would like to pose to the Miami administration is,
“How will this benefit students?”
Will this new arena bolster attendance at RedHawk basketball and volleyball games? Will attendance numbers soar at the mention of a newly constructed arena? How will this support a “vibrant and reinvigorated campus experience” when little of students' current campus experience is centered around an indoor arena?
Millett is notorious for being far from campus, which partially leads to low attendance at games and understandably is a reason to move an arena. Ironically, the plan is now to move the university’s primary student recreation fields, a role Cook Field currently holds, to the Millett site on the outskirts of campus.
Casual pick-up soccer games will become harder to coordinate. Freshman without cars on campus will have to walk much farther to play their intramural sports. You are moving an actual important part of many students’ experiences in favor of a theoretical, multi-million dollar gamble that students will benefit more from a new, closer arena and hotel. At least our opponents will stay closer to their games, right?
We simply ask for more transparency from the university. What specific events will be held there outside of sports? Will there be new activities or ways for students to get involved at the site? Perhaps the university stands to benefit commercially from the arena, but we struggle to see how the benefit to students will outweigh taking away Cook Field and enduring years of construction in the center of campus.
Don’t forget about us if the dollars start rolling in.
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The Miami Student’s editorial board is made up of Editor-in-Chief Kasey Turman, Managing Editor Olivia Patel and Opinion Editor Sam Norton, and reflects their beliefs. The contents of this staff editorial do not necessarily reflect the beliefs of the entire editorial staff.
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