Students have heard rumors and read updates on the Fitness and Wellness Center’s status. It is no secret the parties involved have fought an uphill battle trying to raise the funds necessary to begin construction.
But students’ hands are not tied.
Our country’s volatile economy has tightened the belts of almost every industry in the U.S., most recently the automakers. Debt-based spending has become the norm, while invisible – and many times nonexistent – money is traded back and forth through plastic cards. Corporations left and right have cut jobs and raised prices to keep their heads above water. Unfortunately for the Fitness and Wellness Center, the construction industry is no exception.
Universities rarely have enough cash on hand to build a multi-million dollar facility on command. Students at other universities have taken it upon themselves to contribute.
In 2000, Sonoma State University students “voted for an increase in the Student Union fees to support the design and construction of a new Rec Center,” according to www.sonoma.edu.
In September 2003, Stephen F. Austin State University student leaders formed a Student Recreation Center Committee. In April 2004, student body president Chad Harrison presented the committee’s findings on the lack of a dedicated center to the university’s Board of Regents. The student committee worked closely with administration and brought a $120 per regular semester fee to a vote. The student body voted 1,237 to 263 in favor of the fee.
Early in 2006, students at Texas Woman’s University voted in favor of a new fitness and recreation fee to build, operate, maintain and program fitness and recreation facilities in Denton, Dallas and Houston. TWU student life vice president Richard Nicholas said, “Our fitness and recreation staff and student government leaders campaigned hard for this referendum.”
A university education is not cheap, but ACU students who have grown impatient can take action. An additional fee is only one way to help obtain a Fitness and Wellness Center on campus, but it should not be overlooked.
