Development office brochure provides details on luxury seating planned for West Building

 

University President Father John Jenkins, CSC, and Executive Vice President John Affleck-Graves spoke at an October 6 town hall meeting in defense of the Campus Crossroads project.

The Observer’s October 7 article, “Town hall addresses campus construction,” provided a recap of the event.

Noting that there “seems to be a lot of confusion” regarding the university’s rationale for the project, Affleck-Graves began by emphasizing that the project was developed to meet the needs of students.  “Lafortune [Student Center] is just not big enough to accommodate all the things we need for students,” he explained.

Affleck-Graves, the article continued, went on to note that “that area around the stadium is the real heart of our academic enterprise, and around that we have our residential zone.”  Later, in the context of detailing the inconveniences that will be wrought on students, faculty, and staff due to ongoing construction during the next three years, Affleck-Graves said, “I really apologize … but there is nothing we can do.”

Father Jenkins, acknowledging the same inconvenience, stated that “this is what a university looks like when it’s growing, when it’s active, when it’s vibrant.  A university that just stays the same is sort of dying.”

In a report published on the Campus Crossroads Project website on October 7, Tim Sexton, Associate Vice President for Public Affairs, explained that the Project will benefit South Bend’s economy.

He points out, “With this new facility, we’ll be bringing on approximately 80 new faculty members.  Those faculty members will be coming to our community with their families, buying homes, shopping in grocery stores, sending their kids to schools—and that will have a significant economic effect.”  Sexton also noted that the project will provide on-site jobs for more than 300 construction workers at its peak.

These and other explanations given by university administrators highlight the beneficial impact of the Crossroads project on student life, the university’s academic success, and the economic health of the surrounding area.  Not typically included in the university’s public rationale for the project is the construction of premium seating areas in Notre Dame Stadium.  Such considerations are, however, given sufficient emphasis and attention in university communications with select donors.

For example, the Development Office has recently distributed to interested or potentially interested friends of the university a 31-page brochure outlining the plans for the West Building’s luxury football seating options and attendant costs. The brochure includes illustrations of the projected final product, descriptions of the costs and amenities included at different levels of premium seating, and information concerning campaign finances and capital donations.

The West Building, with which the brochure is primarily concerned (the plans for the East and South buildings with respect to seating options have not yet been finalized), is projected to occupy 406,263 square feet, and to cost $182 million to construct.  It will feature a student center, recreational sports facilities, a career services center, a 500-seat student ballroom, and premium seating. Construction is slated to begin in November of this year, following the completion of the football team’s final home game against Louisville.  The brochure indicates that of the estimated cost of $323 million for the East and West Buildings combined, all but $39 million has been secured.

The West Building will offer three opportunities for premium seating.  The first is Level 5.5.  Admittance to Level 5.5 entails tickets to every event at Notre Dame Stadium, access to the exclusive Level 5.5 Club, all-inclusive premium food and beverage (including service of alcoholic beverages prohibited in the rest of the stadium), and in-seat waiter and waitress service.  Benefits include priority access to Bowl and Shamrock Series tickets.

All that is required for eligibility for these luxury seats is a capital gift of $750,000 to $1,000,000 for 6 or 8 tickets, respectively, and an annual ticket contribution of $100,000 to $120,000 for 6 or 8 tickets respectively.

Seats in the Loge seating area come in groups of four, 6, or 8.  Amenities include tickets to Notre Dame Stadium, access to the Premium Club, all-inclusive premium food and beverage, in-seat waiter and waitress service, spacious semi-private group seating, and a personal video monitor for every two seats.  Benefits include priority access to Bowl and Shamrock Series tickets.

To be eligible for such seating, one should make a capital gift of $25,000 to $45,000 per seat and an annual ticket contribution of $5,500-$6,500 per seat.

Club seating will be available on levels 7 and 8, at which levels the Student Center will also occupy (meaning that student access to at least some parts of the Student Center will be restricted whenever the stadium plays host to a major event).  Amenities include club seats to every Notre Dame football game, access to the Premium Club, all-inclusive food and beverage (though not in-seat waiter and waitress service), and a reserved parking pass per each four seats purchased. Benefits include first right of refusal on club seats for non-football events at Notre Dame Stadium and priority access to Bowl and Shamrock Series tickets.

To secure seating at the club level, make a capital gift of $15,000 to $30,000 per seat, and an annual ticket contribution of $3,500 to $6,000 per seat.

Capital gifts will be eligible for tax deductible at 80 percent, as will annual ticket contributions. Accounts may be transferred to a member of one’s immediate family.  Roughly 20 percent of the Project’s total cost will be financed through capital gifts made for luxury seating (50 percent was raised through the Project’s financial campaign and the other 30 percent is covered by debt proceeds).

The brochure concludes with this statement from Fr. Jenkins: “This project supports the academic and student life mission in an unprecedented way.”  Indeed, this rationale is the one most often invoked by university administrators when defending the Project.  But the aspects of the project emphasized in the Development Office brochure send a different message.  Thus the public defense offered by the administration remains unconvincing for many members of the university.

Father Bill Miscamble, CSC, referred to Fr. Jenkins’ and Affleck-Graves’ remarks at the town hall meeting as “embarrassing,” explaining to the Rover that, “They admit that there is confusion about the need for this massive project but their flailing about in an attempt to explain and justify the scheme only added to such confusion.  They remain thoroughly unconvincing as to the need for these massive and expensive structures.”

Gerard Bradley, Professor of Law, told the Rover that “if Lafortune is too small for what needs to be done for students, there are many alternative ways to addressing that need that would cost less than 400 million dollars.  Following Pope Francis’ advice and example, Notre Dame should explore these more humble but nonetheless adequate alternatives before it breaks ground on this colossal project.”

At the town hall meeting, Fr. Jenkins commented that the Crossroads Project demonstrates the vitality of the university.  Bradley saw this explanation as “truly puzzling.”  He elaborated, “Scores of other American universities are ‘growing’, and yet none is spending nearly half a billion dollars on its football facility.”

Father Miscamble stated, “The university assuredly does not require these ugly additions to the campus to demonstrate that it is active and vibrant as Fr. Jenkins suggested.  Rather the waste and excess involved in this sad project tellingly reveals that the university is confused about its mission and priorities.”

Tim Bradley enjoys Old Testament humor.  Contact him at tbradle5@nd.edu.