Valentine’s Day was filled with broken hearts for Boston University’s sports fans. After the heart-wrenching defeat at the hands of Boston College in the Beanpot final, a somber mood descended on campus. Nevertheless, the BU Athletics Department took the opportunity to press on with announcing new additions. The university is facilitating the addition of a varsity men’s lacrosse team – a move that will be received favorably by the student body. Lacrosse is definitely a popular sport that will attract fans, school spirit and revenue to BU athletics; however, it leaves the existing club team uncertain as to whether its participants will be members of the new program.
The department will also build a field to be used by the field hockey team since it has not been able to practice at BU in more than a deade. The team will play at the new New Balance Field, below which will be an underground parking lot. The new project will cost approximately $24 million. Finally, the department announced that a women’s lightweight rowing team would be the latest addition to the line-up of BU athletics, effective by the 2013-14 season.
Lightweight women’s rowing sounds awfully specialized and is another instance where BU’s athletic specialty programs exclude a majority of the student body. A team that will be made up of females less than 130 pounds holds a grim future of lackluster audiences, no new or exciting competition and would only further a dwindling sense of school spirit here at BU.
It’s a shame the Terriers didn’t emerge victorious from the Beanpot Monday night, because that would be the only reason an announcement regarding BU spending $24 million on a field and a parking lot would have gone unquestioned. The plan for the new field has been in the works for ten years, and since the field hockey team is well-respected, it’s understandable it deserves its own playing field. What is unacceptable is that millions of dollars will be contributing to a brand new parking lot.
Parking space can only enhance the overall campus to such an extent. The new project seems to be synonymous with all of the other adventurous yet obscenely costly addition BU intends to make. The want to improve the campus is admirable, but why spend millions of dollars on new projects, when there is indescribable ooze allegedly coming out of Danielsen’s walls? Surely there is a more cost effective way to improve BU athletics. The harsh reality is that $24 million surely won’t just be “partially” funded by your undergraduate student fee.