Last Thursday, UTM held a “wall-breaking” ceremony to kick off construction of its new Recreation, Athletics and Wellness Centre. Even more noteworthy was the fact that some 65 percent of the total cost of the $24.5 million Centre (that’s $16 million) is coming directly from UTM students, in the form of a student levy-a levy that UTM students voted for-that will total a whopping $150 per full-time student when the facility opens. UTM’s centre will be completed in 2006 and will include a 25-metre pool, gym, teaching studio, running track, and sports medicine centre.
Compare that to the St. George campus, where a 2002 plan to build a revamped Varsity Stadium was axed after students balked at a mere $25 levy. In comparison, UTM students’ generosity seemed strange and wondrous.
So it was difficult not to infer a subtle jab from the U of T press release on the subject, which quoted interim president Frank Iacobucci saying “I commend today’s UTM students for their unprecedented financial support for this project…It is a wonderful illustration of their enormous commitment and pride in UTM” [emphasis added]. Ian Orchard, principal of UTM, said “[i]n supporting this capital project, our students have demonstrated great leadership and a commitment to the vision for the campus’ future” [emphasis added again].
Take that, you penny-pinching St. Georgians.
-Graham F. Scott
