ASUSU officially opposed building on HPER Field
Members of Utah State University’s student government made it official Tuesday: They unanimously oppose building a new Center for Persons with Disabilities on the HPER Field.
At its weekly meeting Tuesday, the Associated Students of USU Executive Council voted 14-0 – with several members raising their fists or shouting their “yes” votes – in favor of ECR 01-7, “Preserving Campus Green Space,” a resolution meant to show the council’s opposition to building on the field.
ASUSU Academics Vice President Jim Stephenson said 3,100 USU students use the field for intramural sports.
They would have to move their practices and games to another location if the building were built on the field.
Stephenson said ASUSU President Ben Riley, who was absent from the meeting due to Monday classes being held Tuesday, received 15 e-mails on the issue after a previous Statesman article about the proposed building.
All 15 e-mails were in favor of the resolution and opposed to building on the field, Stephenson said.
ASUSU Student Advocate Bradley Bishop, one of the resolution’s sponsors, said he plans to write another resolution he hopes will strengthen Tuesday’s resolution.
Bishop’s future resolution, if passed, would have the council actively pursue someone to donate money to sponsor the field.
A sponsor’s name would be displayed on the field, and Bishop said that would prevent the threat of future building proposals.
Tuesday’s resolution doesn’t prevent building on the HPER Field, but it does make opposition to such buildings the official position of the council.
The resolution will go before the USU Staters’ Council, which can either prevent building on the field or promote it.
The council also voted unanimously Tuesday to provide $1,000 from the ASUSU Contingency Fund for the Native American Student Council’s annual powwow, an event ASUSU has funded in previous years.
The powwow will be held March 2 and 3 in the Nelson Fieldhouse and will be free to the public.
More information about the powow is available at multiculture.usu.edu/organizations/nasc/new/.