Let’s chat some more about that proposed West Texas A&M University football stadium that has been endorsed by a fraction of the student body at the Canyon campus.
Some social media discussion centers on whether Moms and Dads are actually footing the bill for the stadium, which WT officials say will be paid for partially with student fees.
The plan is to assess an additional $152 per-semester fee for students enrolling at WT. School brass said that WT will use reserve funds that have accrued as well to help with the cost.
But who actually pays the money?
Yep, it’s Mom and Dad.
I don’t have a dog in this particular fight. My sons graduated from college in 1994 and 1995.Ā Our older sonĀ graduated from Sam Houston State University, theĀ younger sonĀ from the ArtĀ Institute of Dallas. We moved to Amarillo from Beaumont in January 1995, so our college obligation was all but completed by the time we got here.
I do recall, though, discussing student fees with both of our sons as they were working their way toward obtaining their degrees.
So, is it possible, then, that WT students could have had similar discussions with their parents as this football stadium idea got kicked around at the campus?
This looks to me like a fair and equitable way to help finance construction of an athletic facility at WT.
Furthermore, it shouldn’t come as a surprise. WT President J. Pat O’Brien — who’s retiring at the end of the current academic year — laid out a fairly ambitious concept near the beginning of his tenure at WT to update the athletic infrastructure. The aim, I recall him saying, was to create a recruitment tool to lure students to WT.
Enrollment has grown. The campus has prospered.
The parents of the students currently enrolled at WT have gotten a good return on their investment.