UI officials have decided to charge a fee to the public for any use of the UI Field House. Monetary equity between students and public is the justification. Personally, I can afford a fee. But, unlike other articles I’ve read on this subject, my focus isn’t on what’s best for me or money. Rather, it’s on community. I don’t think the true cost of charging a public fee has been truly examined or stated.
The Field House south gym community of pickup basketball players will be destroyed unless it is exempted from the fee proposal. Current participants in this community will be deterred and excluded by implementing a fee to play basketball. If the university wants to create a country club, then it’s on the right track. The poor (and mostly ethnic minorities) will incur a disproportionate effect. The fee separates and divides in opposition to diversity and inclusion.
Have we considered the true cost?
Currently, these basketball courts are a place where people from widely diverse backgrounds connect. This is the only place where I’ve seen a Palestinian (a member of the public) and a Jew (a UI student) working together. High-school dropouts and medical students, pros and amateurs, guys and girls — all find a place in the south gym where we can come together and, in many cases, share much more than basketball. When opportunities for people to connect like this are lost, everyone stands to lose.
Who can’t afford to pay the fee? I’m certain a 19-year-old African-American I know from playing basketball in the south gym will not be able to afford a new fee. He just finished high school and is on his own. He has a child and lives with the mother of his child on the West Side of Iowa City. She works at a fast-food restaurant, and he’s trying to get into Kirkwood. He’s doing an admirable job of working to overcome lack of parental support and accumulated wealth — which are reasons many can afford a new fee.
Will it make a difference if he and others similar to him no longer have the Field House outlet? I see so many kids turning to gangs or parties in free time — and yet, when he has a fleeting break from responsibilities, this young man chooses the Field House. Isn’t it beneficial for my friend to meet and know UI undergraduate/graduate students? Isn’t it beneficial for UI students to know him?
We have one of the greatest non-bar alternatives in Iowa City area. You can find games as late as 11 p.m. on a Friday. A public fee will ruin this non-bar community.
What is the true cost of losing a place like this? Is money truly more important than community? If the distance between the “haves” and “have-nots” grows wider and the walls between people grow taller, don’t we all pay a price? The current UI Field House is a model for other colleges and universities to follow, not one to abandon so that it’s “like the others.”
The only hope for saving this special place lies with UI students and faculty and members of the public. Please help preserve the south gym Field House community by supporting an exemption from the new public fee.
Paul Donaldson is a Coralville resident. He’s been playing basketball at the Field House for around 17 years.