OSHKOSH (NBC 26) — Tuesday morning, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh athletes gathered to protest a UW Oshkosh decision to tear down the athletic dome. That decision has since been reconsidered.
- Student athletes say they were told last week about the closure of their athletic dome.
- Students have gathered to sign petitions and protest against the decision.
- UW Oshkosh said they decided to keep the dome open for the academic year because of student feedback.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story, edited for the web.)
On Tuesday morning, UWO student athletes gathered outside the Culver Family Center during the chancellor’s breakfast celebration.
The Culvers Center is across the street from the UWO Rec Plex domed field.
They held signs and chanted “save our bubble” – the students call the dome the “bubble.”
“We wanted to come out today to get our voice heard and rally together as student athletes,” Lizzie Slobodecki, a senior softball player said.
The students say they were told just a few days ago that the dome would be coming down this month.
“It was a big surprise,” Greta Steines, a junior soccer player, said.
“We feel like we’re really in a crunch time to protest and figure out why it’s happening,” Slobodecki said.
The dome is a practice space for many UWO teams.
“For soccer, our season goes through October into November, and it can get really cold outside,” Steines said. “If we didn’t have the dome, we would be very limited on where to practice. We’d most likely get pushed into a gym.”
It’s also something used for athletic and student recruitment.
“The dome was one of the big things for my recruitment process,” Jack McNamara, a junior baseball player at UWO, said. “I wanted to come here because we had a dome.”
Over 2500 signed a petition prior to the protest, calling for UWO to reconsider the decision.
The students say closing the dome would affect the whole community because there are youth sports activities and public events held in the dome.
“We’re willing to try and raise donations, so we would like just a little bit more of a chance,” Slobodecki said.
UWO released a statement after the protest, saying they decided to keep the dome open until the end of the academic year. However, the university said it had already started reconsidering its decision prior to the protest on Tuesday.
The joint statement from Chancellor Andrew Leavitt and Oshkosh Student Government President Jack Marotz said:
“We met this morning and agreed that the UWO Rec Plex domed field will remain open this academic year. Outreach from student government leaders and student-athletes in the last several days convinced us that we need more time to examine the facility’s use and sustainability.
The Rec Plex proposal originated more than a decade ago and opened in 2018. It was subsequently approved and built with student segregated fees as an investment in general UWO student recreation and wellness. Since it was first conceptualized, its seasonal use, users and costs have dramatically changed. Together, we agreed it is time for a deep review of the facility. We support the creation of a representative task force that will include administrative, student government, intramural sports and Athletics representatives to assess its financial and environmental impacts, in accordance with the UWO2030 strategic plan.
With Oshkosh Student Government’s support, we aim for the task force to be formed, charged and underway by October 1 with a December 1 deadline to deliver a recommendation on the Rec Plex dome field’s future.”
