We're Building a Place to call Home!
Tremendous community and alumni support for the new athletic complex, anchored by the 9,000-seat football stadium, has been strengthened by a bold vote by the Student Government Association for a student facility fee to augment the private fundraising efforts.
The unanimous SGA vote for the fee allows the university to expand the
scope of the athletic complex project. The additional funding opens the
door to move all athletic activities to the new land which will in turn,
free up valuable acreage in the heart of the campus for future academic
facilities.
According to Rob Kelly, SGA president, “the members of SGA are ecstatic to have the opportunity to leave such a long-lasting impression on West Georgia. It is almost mind-blowing to think of how great of an impact these changes will have on our students as well as our campus.”
Ed Murphy, athletics director, praised the foresight of SGA for their
commitment to creating a lasting legacy on campus: “These
students impressed me so much with their responsibility and courage to
change the course of the university.”
Just one example of the enhanced scope of the project includes an athletics
administration building, rather than just a field house, to be constructed
at the stadium site to house locker rooms, weight and training rooms,
the academic support lab, an assembly area and the offices for the Department
of Athletics. A second new addition is a women’s field house
to be constructed between the women’s softball and soccer fields.
According to Dr. Andrew Leavitt, associate vice president of development and alumni relations, a faculty and staff drive will kick off in January with the theme of “Match a Student.”
“The long-range project is now more complex and requires continued commitment from all UWG supporters,” Leavitt said. “We will be asking faculty and staff to consider making a gift to the campaign to match the yearly fee of $120 that UWG students will pay. A one-time gift, or a pledge of $120 over a period of years, will help us build a place to call home.”
Groundbreaking ceremonies are being planned for the Spring of 2008 anticipating playing football on UWG’s own field in Fall of 2009.
