ALEX KERR | staff writer

We have donation money for some things, but not for a pool.

The 2008-2009 school year will be the first to offer both a women’s water polo and women’s swimming and dive team. While such additions to any other university’s athletic program would seem logical, one small detail stands in the way of the swim team’s smooth induction into Cougar athletics—no pool.

Similarly ironic, our men and women’s tennis teams spend their home games at, well, another school.

With the recent additions of a new science center, a Place for Prayer and a 75-foot bell tower, questions have been raised as to just how effectively tuition dollars and donations are being spent.

Recently, businessman Mart Green gave a $62 million donation to Oral Roberts University. While the size of the gift alone was enough to cause a media frenzy, Green then placed stipulations on where the money could be spent throughout the university. Only $8 million would be immediately available for the school’s use, while the rest would be withheld until Green could review the school’s finances.

In the midst of Oral Roberts’ nearly $50 million debt, critics are calling into question the formerly accepted involvement of donors in the distribution of their gifts.
Here at APU, students are facing similar issues.

Considering the $54 million budget for the new science center and over one million donated for the Place of Prayer and Cornerstone Bell Tower, why is it that Cougar athletes still do not have the necessary facilities for their sports?

Director of Development Services in the Office of University Advancement Beverly Weickert explained where APU’s budgeted and donated money is spent.

“We have development officers who cultivate relationships with people who are interested in giving to the university,” Weickert said. “They give to building projects and different programs within the university.”

One common way APU has received donations is through the use of endowments. Beginning with a minimum of $10,000, those who wish to donate money to the university over an extended period of time may give the school an initial sum of money, with the stipulation that it is to be invested.

The money made from the growth of that investment may then be used for student scholarships.

Last year, APU held over $38 million in endowments and planned giving. Donations, such as the one made by Jack and Barbara Lee for the recently completed Place of Prayer and Cornerstone Tower on West Campus, also partially provide Azusa Pacific with the funding needed to construct new facilities and additions to campus.

The Lee’s gift is an example of a specifically-focused donation, similar to the one made by Mart Green to Oral Roberts University.

“They probably could have used the money for something else,” MBA grad student Anthony Novotne said. “I don’t really plan on using the Place of Prayer.”

However, not all students are opposed to APU’s recent spending.

“The resources that this new science center will bring will not only benefit the APU community, but the community as a whole,” sophomore applied health major Colin Hackett said. “The science center is going to be used as a research center for more than just student purposes.”

Hackett had mixed feelings on the issue.

“I guess if your major is communication studies then, no, the new science building wouldn’t benefit you, but having a pool or a tennis court wouldn’t benefit me at all either,” Hackett said. “In the long run I think that the new science center would contribute to more of the student body than a new tennis court or pool would.”

Fortunately, according to the Office of University Advancement, tennis courts and soccer field improvements appear to be on the way. As for the swim team, they are going to have to wait.

While significant contributions are vital to a university’s finances, donors and those in charge of the university’s budget must keep the students, as well as the school, in mind.

A line must be drawn between a truly needed boost to the school’s budget and unnecessary additions. The West Campus Place of Prayer, Cornerstone Tower and soon- to-be science center may all be beneficial in their own way, but who they truly benefit is up to those who plan and fund such developments.