By Danielle Skinner | LTVN Reporter/Anchor
Baylor has grown tremendously in the last several years, and with the recent NCAA championship, Baylor has received a lot more attention. However, to some, the new Paul and Alejandra Foster Pavilion might not be the best way to show off that newfound love.
It’s nice to have a brand new $185 million building, thanks to a partnership with the City of Waco, but how else could that money be spent? Even through the partnership, I understand that the funds were limited to only the new pavilion while some were allocated to develop the Riverfront district, but could the opportunity to offer more scholarships, financial aid and potential grants be completely ludicrous?
As a student, I know I would greatly benefit from a little help in affording college. I don’t doubt the building will be new and great, but hypothetically, using maybe $10 million of that to provide for students could go some way. With Baylor’s tuition continually on the rise, some students wonder how they are going to afford their education. Additional funding has the potential to reduce the stress of paying tuition and the costs of housing, food and other necessities.
People are very excited to see the brand new basketball arena, considering Baylor has seen many champion teams come through the sport. But what happens to the perfectly good Ferrell Center? It’s being turned into a permanent home for Baylor’s volleyball team and acro and tumbling team. The Ferrell Center was built in 1988, making it only 33 years old, which begs the question, can locker room updates be enough renovation?
Moving forward, there is also a $60 million Welcome Center being built. The building will have many cool and unique features, along with a goal of freshening up that first glance of campus for incoming students. They currently work out of tent-like buildings for incoming students, and having a building will definitely create a better impression. But I still have to ask about the other buildings on campus: why not renovate them?
Baylor’s campus is beautiful and one-of-a-kind. However, some buildings lack certain necessities that others offer and could use an update. Any amount of money would benefit multiple department buildings and keep the overall beauty of Baylor.
The new buildings are exciting to many, including me. However, I wish they would have put in more consideration for their students in this situation. There are already great buildings on campus. Some of the funding may only be for basketball, and that is understood. However, there could be solutions that would have benefited more of the campus student body. They already receive so much; it would have been nice to see a change.
