University President Dave Frohnmayer announced a proposal at Wednesday’s University Senate meeting for a brand new academic center for athletes, raising concerns among some faculty senators that the project was against the University’s academic mission.
Athletic Director Bill Moos was unavailable for comment, though he told The Oregonian in December that the center would cost in the range of $4.2 million and added that Nike representatives were involved in the planning process.
The current academic center for athletes is “housed in dumpy facilities in Esslinger,” Frohnmayer said in an interview later.
“We … continue to not be competitive in the kind of facilities we offer our athletes,” he said, referring to the academic center.
Though the facility would be entirely funded by private donations, biology professor and University Senator Nathan Tublitz said a facility dedicated primarily to athletes was inappropriate and contrary to the University’s academic mission.
“Having a facility that is just for athletes when the rest of the student population has poor facilities is not in keeping in our mission to maintain high academic standards for all students on campus,” he said.
But Frohnmayer said criticism that the facility would be just for athletes was “misplaced and out of line.” He said that the first floor would contain a library, cyber café and state-of-the-art lecture hall that would be available to all students.
“In concept it could serve tens of thousands of people,” he said.
But Tublitz called these “minor concessions” to the community, noting that the building’s principal function would be to serve athletes. He accused the University administration of bowing to pressure from private donors who would fund the facility’s construction.
“We should not allow donors to make academic decisions that do not positively impact as many students as possible,” he said. “Who the hell needs a cyber café? We need more assistance for our students, not another place to drink coffee.”
Art History Professor Jeffrey Hurwit, a member and former president of the University Senate, said he would support the project as long as the building’s function was integrated into the University’s academic mission.
“Right now, we’re talking about something that doesn’t exist,” he said. “Let’s just make sure that the facility is as broadly useful as possible.”
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