finding a home for see events - the diamondback : opinion
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University-wide article I co-wrote to express the impact Cole Field House Renovation has on student organizations.TRANSCRIPT
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GUEST COLUMN
Finding a home for SEE eventsThe university should be willing to protect student events
After the university’s announced renovation of Cole Field House, there was anoutpouring of excitement and anticipation for the future of Maryland’s footballprogram. This energy was met with nostalgia and concern because one of the campus’smost historic buildings would undergo a 180-degree transformation. As student leaders,we are concerned for the many student groups, campus programs and vital resourceshoused inside Cole that face uncertain futures once renovation begins.
As it stands today, Cole is open to the entire university community. To the averagestudent, Cole is home to some of the university’s largest events: Student EntertainmentEvents’ Homecoming Comedy Show, Greek Week, the crab feast, Terrapin Hackers’Bitcamp and more. For large events on the campus, Cole is the place to go. Take, forexample, SEE’s Nov. 1 comedy show starring Kevin Hart. There was no other campusvenue that could accommodate the 5,000-person crowd while still falling within theorganization’s budget.
The closest alternative campus venue for SEE’s comedy shows, as well as countlessother large-scale student-hosted events, is Xfinity Center. Production costs in XfinityCenter are tens of thousands of dollars more than in Cole. Unfortunately, no student
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Posted: Friday, December 5, 2014 1:00 am
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organizations have the funds necessary to put on events at such rates. Without Cole ora similar alternative, it will be impossible for any groups to host large-scale events.
In order for student groups to host the large-scale events the university is accustomedto, the campus community is faced with two options. The first is to ask students toagree to a sizable increase in their student activities fee. Student groups are primarilyor, in many cases, entirely funded through this annual fee.
The second option, which is the more realistic of the two, is to urge the administration,the athletic department and other key stakeholders to grant student groups subsidizedrates for Xfinity Center. Just because we are losing a venue doesn’t mean the universitycommunity has to lose decades-old traditions.
These large-scale events, however, are not the only programs being affected by theCole renovation. What will happen to the 21 sports clubs that use Cole for practicespace? Where will the Asian American Studies Program be housed in the future? OrVeteran Student Life and ROTC? What will become of The David C. Driskell Center?These questions, and many more, must be answered by the administration and theathletic department before any ground is broken on this project.
In their recommendation to advance the project, the Board of Regents FinanceCommittee stated: “UMCP shall work with the student leadership and make a goodfaith effort to ensure that the resultant space needs are met in a timely and costeffective manner.” We welcome that dialogue. We are proposing the creation of a Colerenovation task force as an official mechanism for administrators to work with thestudents to make that good-faith effort a reality.
If this university is willing to invest $155 million to enhance the college experience for106 students, it should be willing to do whatever it can to protect and preserveprograms and student groups that serve thousands. We are eager to work with theadministration to make this project beneficial for the entire community.
Isha Aggarwal is a the president of SEE and a senior communication major. She can be reachedat [email protected].
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Posted in Opinion on Friday, December 5, 2014 1:00 am. | Tags: See, Guest Column, Cole Field House, Xfinity Center
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