Universities across the country are beginning to feel the pressure of students demanding more and more extra-curricular amenities from their colleges.
But University officials say LSU is not feeling that pressure.
According to an Oct. 5 article in The New York Times, higher learning institutions such as Ohio State University and the University of Houston are upgrading their on-campus facilities in order to attract incoming freshmen.
The article said the University of Houston recently opened a brand new $53-million wellness center on campus. Included in that wellness center is a five-story rock climbing wall, which is complemented by leisure pools.
Around the country, more and more Universities are spending money on keeping their students happy and attracting incoming students with luxurious amenities.
Between classes at University of Wisconsin in Oshkosh, students can get massages, pedicures and manicures, while students at Indiana University of Pennsylvania can play one of 52 world-renowned golf courses in a room-sized golf simulator.
Andy Benoit, director of recruitment for the University, said LSU is unique enough to not need anything like that.
“We have so many things going for us at this University,” Benoit said. “We have a spirited student body and a strong academic program. Students and parents want to know what an LSU degree will do for them.”
Benoit said he did not know of any plans to add any extravagances on campus, but the recruitment department takes a different angle for each prospective student it courts.
“We try to push academics, but we also push activities,” Benoit said. “Student organizations are important, along with the Rec center and the wellness center.”
Benoit said LSU’s history and traditions are one of its greatest recruiting tools.
“I think there are some things that some people may never have experienced before coming to LSU,” Benoit said. “There are a lot of things that make LSU and Louisiana unique – such as Mardi Gras.”
However, some departments around campus are upgrading, inadvertently creating recruitment luxuries like those at Ohio State University and the University of Houston.
Mimi Lavalle, the communications manager for the Department of Residential Life, said Res Life has a housing master plan, a $274 million project that began this fall with the opening of the West Campus Apartments.
“This past spring we provided wireless Internet connections in the lobbies of residence halls and also all over Graham Hall,” Lavalle said. “We are constantly doing facility renovation.”
Lavalle said a growing program has been the Residential College Program, which will kick into high gear next fall after the demolition of Graham Hall and the construction of a new, yet-to-be-named Residential Learning Complex.
“Students are typically more successful in the residential college program,” Lavalle said. “It’s an added service of living and learning in a community.”
Mike Giles, associate director of operations for the Rec Center, said he has heard of the improvements at other universities and LSU’s facilities are fine considering what students pay in tuition and fees.
“Give me $110 million and I’d be willing to build a five-story climbing wall here too,” Giles said. “We’re always looking to see what’s feasible and what’s not. Then it starts winding backwards to cost and what we really need on this campus.”
Giles said the Rec is adding to its arsenal, though, with two sand volleyball courts set to open in spring 2004 and a three-sided rock climbing wall in fall 2004.
“Our Rec Center doesn’t need to be an architecturally stunning building,” Giles said. “We need something that’s useable and practical. We’re not going to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to make it look like the Taj Mahal.”
The New York Times article also reported that the University of Southern Mississippi was considering building a full-fledged water park on campus.
Matthew Cox, director of recruitment for the University of Southern Mississippi, said the building of a water park on campus was exaggerated.
“They were just exploring it,” Cox said.
Cox said Southern Miss has, however, begun a $47 million project to build a new, state-of-the-art student union.
“It’ll have a new dining hall, additional spaces for student orgs and better space for students to study,” Cox said. “Certainly these things are important – we are a student-driven university.”
Some students said the on-campus activities procured by Ohio State and the University of Houston would be out of place at LSU.
“We already have a nice campus. We don’t need rock-climbing walls or movie theaters,” said Chris Barnidge, a finance sophomore. “If people want to do that kind of thing they can find it around town, not on campus.”
Erin Bollich, a communication disorders senior, said the draw for students to LSU should be academic, not material.
“If it’s in the Rec Center, it’s for us to use,” Bollich said. “But education is the purpose of college.”
Jason Wesley, vice president of LSU’s Student Government, said LSU’s campus is unlike any other public school campus, erasing the need for luxurious extras.
“I think part of the issue with LSU is that we don’t really need a lot of bells and whistles,” Wesley said. “Of course we want to be competitive, but the natural beauty of our campus speaks for itself.”
Ben Woods, a business freshman, said he wouldn’t mind some amenities on campus, but it would ultimately take away from the educational experience.
“People already have enough problems getting to class,” Woods said. “It would just be more of a distraction.”