Nine years ago, Saint Louis University’s Athletic Director, Chris May, asked the question, “How can we better serve our student-athletes everyday?” After nearly a decade of planning, fundraising and construction, the answer has taken shape in the form of an addition to Chaifetz Arena, named the O’Loughlin Family Champions Center.
The ribbon cutting ceremony took place Oct 9, with over one hundred spectators gathering in the Chaifetz Arena parking lot. Eleven people spoke at the ceremony, including Chris May, University President Fred Pestello, and namesake donor Bob O’Loughlin. Throughout the ceremony, the speakers elaborated on the facilities inside the center and how they would promote success for student-athletes. Dietetics, mental health and academics were treated with the same importance as athletic success when planning the building. An athletes-only dining hall, sports psychology offices, a study room as well as brand new offices for the basketball coaches and new film rooms. Following the speeches the ribbon was cut by twenty-two people, twenty- one more than is conventional. Among the twenty- two ribbon cutters were all of the speakers, multiple coaches, athletes and donors. Chris May told the University News that, “The message was about being inclusive, the message was that at the end of the day, this is about our students”.
During a private tour, Assistant Director of Athletics-Media Relations Brian Kunderman was able to shed further light on the specifics of these facilities and others in the 25,000 square foot addition. Athletes would have meal swipe access to the dining hall under an additional dining plan, with food provided by Delaware North, one of the leading hospitality companies in all of sports. Delaware North provides dining for Busch Stadium, MetLife Stadium, TD Garden and multiple other major league venues in the United States, United Kingdom and Australia. Athletes also have access to a snack bar stocked with yogurt, protein bars, smoothies and more. The study area, or “Success Suite,” is a large and varied common area meant to emulate any desired studying environment. Multiple smaller rooms line the perimeter, and advisor offices make up the west wall of the room.
The second floor hosts the new offices for the basketball teams, with a spacious office for each head coach, a “war room” for film and multiple offices for assistant coaches. Coaches are scheduled to move in next week, but have been making use of the facility since the ribbon cutting. After the basketball coaches move into their suites, other teams’ coaches will upgrade to the basketball teams’ previous offices. Next to the basketball suites is the Victory Room, a small lounge for celebration and recruitment, complete with a new Billiken statue. The Victory Room also hosts a screen with access to film from each sport and a database of every single SLU athlete on record. Down the hall are the offices for nutritionists and psychologists, which are intentionally out of the way to preserve each athlete’s privacy.
There is no doubt that student athletes will benefit from the Champions Center, but there has been some criticism. Last year the construction of the center caused outrage among student athletes who were forced to move their cars from the Arena parking lot to make room for basketball donors, because their usual space was taken up by the construction. The construction inconvenienced any student or Billiken fan trying to enter the stadium and made many question if the Champions Center was a worthwhile investment. While the worry that it was a waste of tuition payment has been quelled, as the twenty million dollar project was entirely donor-funded, some critics feel that it is a basketball investment more so than an all-athletes investment. Worries were not helped when May explicitly called athletics a “basketball-centric program” during his ribbon cutting speech, and when it was revealed that the basketball teams were the only teams with new offices. While the center does cater towards basketball in some ways, that does not take away from the benefits all athletes will have access to on the ground floor of the facility.
After the center fully opens later this November, the University News will look into the opinions of student athletes regarding the center and its many new amenities. It remains to be seen if the Champions Center was worth the decade of work and millions of dollars, but as its purpose is to serve student athletes, that verdict rests with them.
