I am sure that everyone has heard by now that there is going to be a referendum vote on campus this upcoming week on November 30th and December 1st. If you haven’t, here is a quick run down: the University of Windsor is building a new athletic facility (FINALLY) and are using a referendum to decide whether students will pay for this new facility. The referendum is not to decide if the building is going to be built or not.
One of the main myths surrounding this referendum vote is that only Human Kinetics and Varsity students use the gym anyway, so why should other students have to pay for it? This is beyond false. There are over 6000 registered student users at the current St. Denis Centre, so that means about every 1 in 2 students at the University utilize the St. Denis Centre facilities. I personally know many students who use the gym that are not HK or Varsity.
This new athletic facility will include a much larger fitness centre, indoor sports courts, outdoor facilities (including a cricket pitch!), new pool, multi-purpose rooms, and a food location. This will help the University get back on the map among University fitness centres. The University of Windsor ranks near the bottom when it comes to our outdated fitness facilities and this needs to change to bring in more students.
Now back to the main point: should students pay for this? Well, the best part is, students do not even start paying for this sports facility until it is built! Even after the facility is built, the students will not be required to pay for the day-to-day operations. The only costs that students will be covering are the portion of the building costs.
Summary:
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The goal of the referendum is to decide who will pay!
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Everybody uses the gym, not just HK and Varsity!
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New facilities attract more students!
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You, as a current student, pay nothing!
- Make sure that you vote!