Although top Ohio Athletics officials vowed to finance the new multipurpose center completely by donations, two months after the initial deadline, fundraising remains short and student-fee dollars might be used to bridge the gap.
Despite fundraising difficulties thus far, Ohio Athletics officials say they are confident the remaining $1.1 million needed for the project can be raised in the next two to three weeks by targeting a handful of big-ticket donors.
Resorting to student-fee money to finance the facility’s construction, they say, remains highly unlikely.
Athletics has collected more than $9.87 million — including the initial $8 million gift — through a vigorous fundraising campaign that included a pair of mailings that went out to thousands of former student-athletes, Bobcat Club members and season-ticket holders, among others, and included sit-down visits with more than 75 targeted donors.
Ohio Athletics has rounded up $1,676,661 since receiving its initial $8 million donation from alumni Robert and Margaret Walter in December 2010, in addition to $200,000 already pledged toward the facility.
Of the 296 households that have made pledges, 170 have contributed $1,000 or more. There also has been one donor who has pledged $500,000, while three have promised $250,000. Four more donors have offered six figures, while six have given more than $25,000.
But the fundraising mission is still more than $1.1 million short of its $11 million target for building a 74,000 square-foot facility that includes a turf field but no track.
“The reality is there could be a shortfall,” said Jim Harris, Ohio’s senior associate athletic director for development. “And if that’s the case, we will have to play our options. Then, OK, we might be scrambling a little bit.”
In a report issued Friday, OU’s General Fee Advisory Committee said it would be willing to siphon excess student-fee money to Ohio Athletics for the center if OU is unable to hit its goal of $11 million — under the condition that additional money is used to fund a four-lane track.
If student-fee money is not used for the construction of the building, the General Fee Advisory Committee recommended accepting a proposal from Athletics for $250,000 a year to be allocated for the multipurpose center’s maintenance and upkeep.
Each year, the General Fee Committee is charged with issuing recommendations to President Roderick McDavis for how student-fee money — which will cost students about $650 per semester next academic year — should be spent.
This academic year, Ohio Athletics received the largest slice of student-fee money, and the committee ranked athletics as its second-highest spending priority for next year’s fee money.
Harris said Ohio Athletics does not anticipate using any student fees to construct the multipurpose center and believes that the department will meet its $11 million projection. He added that constructing a track for the facility remains unlikely.
Even if the athletic department fundraises enough to reach the $11 million goal, OU might still have to take on debt to finance the project.
Harris added that donor gifts are typically collected throughout five years, sometimes leaving a void in funding for upfront costs that could be filled either through university loans or a third-party source.
The initial $8 million gift from the Walters comes in the form of $1 million annual installments.
“The gift from the Walters does not come in all at once, so the university is going to have to take out debt to cover the facility,” said John Day, associate provost for Academic Budget and Planning. “Taking out that debt will have to take interest on those funds. Even if Athletics would close that gap, they would still have some debt.”
Whether or not Athletics fundraises the remaining money needed or student-fee money is used, the facility will be available to the entirety of the student body, said Becky Watts, chief of staff to McDavis.
“It’s not an athletics facility. It’s an academic facility,” she said. “It’s going to be used for the sports management and athletic training programs. The building is not going to be an athletic building; it’s a multipurpose center, so there’s nothing about it that will be solely used for athletics.”
jr992810@ohiou.edu
