More than half of the students polled for a Temple Student Government survey oppose an on-campus football stadium.
In a survey released on April 9 that ended on April 15, nearly 5,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional students — about 12 percent of the entire student population — shared their opinions on Temple’s proposed stadium.
Of those students, almost 14 percent of undergraduate students, 10 percent of graduate students and 6 percent of professional students responded.
When asked if they support the construction of an on-campus stadium, 58 percent of undergraduate students who were polled said they do not support the construction of the facility, whereas 30 percent said they do support the facility. About 12 percent of students said they are neutral or have no opinion on the construction of the facility.
But 68 percent of students said they strongly agree or somewhat agree that the stadium would increase visits to Main Campus, which is one of the priorities for university administrators to increase alumni engagement.
Results indicated that students who are against the on-campus stadium are unhappy with its potential impact on the community. About 66 percent of students who participated said the number one reason Temple should not build a stadium is because they are “concerned about the impact a multipurpose facility/stadium could have on the surrounding neighborhood,” according to the study.
Students who took part in the survey said the number one reason they were in support of the creation of an on-campus stadium is because it would increase attendance at home football games.
Nearly 566 students gave reasons why they believe this project raises concerns for the surrounding community. More than 100 students said university funds should be used for other purposes, like student mental health resources, academics and scholarships.
Forty-four students were concerned about the logistics of the complex, like parking, traffic and noise. Thirty-eight students did not agree with potential gentrification of the area.
Almost 150 students wrote-in reasons why they support the stadium. Forty students wrote that an on-campus stadium would create jobs and resources for the community, and 24 students said building the stadium would increase community involvement.
In a general comments section, 54 students wrote they wanted to “ensure the surrounding community benefits from the Multi-purpose facility/stadium.”
Read the full survey report here
In a press release, the university encourages members of the Temple community to “be a part of the ongoing conversation about the proposed facility” by emailing any feedback to officeofthepresident@temple.edu.
Temple Student Government released a statement that includes results on their Twitter. In the statement, the new IgniteTU administration stated that it is “firmly against the creation of an on-campus multi-purpose facility/stadium,” and that it will work to fulfill student needs while listening to the community and advocating for more transparency from university administration.
IgniteTU’s will hold a stadium town hall at the start of the Fall 2018 semester and create focus groups to analyze survey results, according to its statement.
“The conversation does not end when we go home for the summer,” the statement reads.
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