IU should put academics before athletics

Like many universities, IU places athletics above higher education.

The current construction of the $20 million Cook Hall basketball development center exemplifies this mismatching of priorities, which has never been more evident in our school.

The economic recession has forced IU to absorb a $60 million budget cut. To cope with this blow, President Michael McRobbie and IU administrators have leveled a multi-year salary freeze on faculty members, cut many departments’ budgets, made numerous layoffs and are increasing health care costs. Yet amid this turmoil, a $20 million basketball facility is being built adjacent to Assembly Hall.

The building owes its creation to the Cook Group, which has contributed $15 million to the For The Glory of Old IU capital campaign. The campaign’s purpose is to “raise $80 million for much-needed student-athlete facility projects and renovations, endowment and on-going annual support of student-athlete scholarships.”

Associate Athletic Director Scott Dolson said Cook Hall will provide extra practice space for basketball players when the courts in Assembly Hall are in use.

Additionally, the men’s and women’s basketball teams will now have equal facilities.

“It’s going to be a great sense of pride for our department and the whole University,” Dolson said.

I am not condemning the Cook Group for their donation. I am instead disgusted by our University’s financial priorities, where the emphasis on raising money for athletics outweighs the need for financial assistance in struggling academic departments.

“Why can’t we also see the same amount of effort and enthusiasm to raise money and protect jobs?” IU support staff member Bryce Smedley said. “How does building new sports complexes help the primary goal of IU?”

The administration’s decision to treat the athletic department like the school’s star quarterback leaves the remaining departments suffering. The school’s support staff, professional staff and service maintenance have sustained the heaviest job losses, and there has been virtually no hiring of support staff since the layoffs. This not only hurts those who were fired, but it unfairly overworks faculty members.

“Budget cuts forced a two-for-one staffing situation,” support staff member Peter Kaczmarczyk said. “Departments were told that every time a position opened up, the funding line would be cut in half.”

Those who disagree with my argument may claim siphoning money into athletics will generate revenue that can then be used to help depleted departments. But just look at the athletic department’s recent spending history. In the past seven years, millions of dollars have been spent on a new roof for Assembly Hall, the new North End Zone Facility and press box and locker room renovations. How much more do we need to build before the money goes to the right places?

The goal of the campaign is to raise $80 million, and they’ve already spent $55 million on new facilities. Yet I doubt any money generated by these facilities will be generously given to other struggling departments. 

And I don’t buy the excuse that because these funds are being used to fix and improve athletic buildings, it is a righteous endeavor. Before the University fixes athletic buildings, it needs to fix the job losses, the salary freezes, the budget cuts and the unpaid furloughs. Don’t help the richest departments and ignore the poorest.
 

E-mail: joskraus@indiana.edu