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While it’s far from clear that a majority of students want a new recreation center, let alone know a new one is in the works, it seems inevitable that it will be built.
There appears to be little resistance to the plan. The Student Government Association has made it a top priority, the Department of Intramural and Recreational Sports wants it, and one would imagine that Student Affairs is salivating about the space in the Student Activities Center that would be freed up by eliminating the current basketball courts.
In order to build the new facility, it’s evident that a student fee would have to be added. According to SGA President O.J. Oleka, the fee could be as much as $150, but it could also be substantially lower.
Full-time University of Louisville students already pay $202 per semester in fees, in addition to the mandatory meal plan. SGA should take great care to ensure that any additional fee is as minimal as possible.
It’s been proposed that everything from aerobics classes to intramural fees be “free” to students at the new recreational center, because of the student fees. At last week’s town hall, one student asked Oleka if there was any way for individual students to pay for the services they use, rather than passing the burden on to everyone. “I think what will happen is that everybody will pay for a few people to use these classes,” she observed.
In response, Oleka said that idea made a lot of sense and was something worth looking into for the rest of the planning process.
It is only logical to make individuals pay for the classes they take, as well as the intramural activities they enter. Many students have never played an intramural sport, and have no interest in taking a step aerobics class. Spare those students the burden of having to pay the way for the athletic involved few.
