Ohio University has raised $5.3 million for the Perry and Sandy Sook Academic Center so far and hopes to reach its goal of $5.8 million by January.
Ohio University is closing in on its goal of $5.8 million to build an academic center for student-athletes.
More than 300 donors have contributed $5.3 million for the Perry and Sandy Sook Academic Center, according to OU Spokeswoman Katie Quaranta.
OU Athletics hopes to secure the remaining dollars by Jan. 1, even though at this time the completion date of the Sook Center is unknown, according to Director of Athletics Jim Schaus.
“Once the funding goal has been met, the approval and construction process can begin,” Schaus said in an email.
OU announced its plans for the Sook Center — a tutoring facility for student-athletes located at the north end zone of Peden Stadium — last September, after the Sooks, both OU alumni, donated $2.25 million to the OU Foundation last June to get the project started, according to a previous Post report.
Previously, the goal was $5.5 million, but Schaus said although the scope of the project has not changed, the figure was adjusted to accommodate for cost of living increases as the project will be built a few years later than when the money is being raised.
Schaus said in an email the current academic area for OU's roughly 440 student-athletes "is aging, too small and not configured to meet the needs of the student-athletes."
“The space is critical for these students to maximize their academic and career potential, meet NCAA standards, graduate and prepare for future career opportunities,” Schaus said in an email.
The Sook Center will include a classroom, computer lab, tutor rooms, offices for staff to have student meetings and meeting rooms for group study, Schaus said.
Beth Quitslund, OU's Faculty Senate chair, said she is in favor of improving academic space for students, but said she does have qualms about the Sook Center.
“Expanding the study and tutoring space exclusively for student-athletes reinforces the academic separation of those students from their peers,” Quitslund said in an email.
Quitslund said OU doesn't have enough space for supplemental instruction, tutoring or exams for students with disability accommodations.
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“The fundraising priorities of Intercollegiate Athletics have not, in my opinion, been developed with the best interests of the whole university in mind,” Quitslund said in an email.
Mike Laster, a sophomore guard on Ohio's men's basketball team, said he plans to utilize the Sook Center once it's built.
"I'm definitely going to go over there and use (the Sook Center)," Laster said. "My grades are pretty good, and I'm pretty on top of my stuff for the most part. As long as I have a computer, because I don't have a computer (now), I'll be alright."
Calley Cessna, a freshman studying pre-nursing, questioned why other students don’t get an academic center.
“What about the students who aren’t involved in athletics, but they are involved in a lot of academics or student government?” Cessna asked. “Why don’t they build another facility for all students to study … like another library?”
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