Expanding Rutgers Stadium

January 29, 2008

Members of the Rutgers Community:

I am pleased to report that the Rutgers Board of Governors has approved the administration’s plan to expand Rutgers Stadium by adding nearly 14,000 seats, locker rooms, and other amenities. The expansion, which will commence immediately, is designed to accommodate the large number of Scarlet Knights football fans now on a waiting list for tickets and, through added football revenue, to move the athletic program toward self-sufficiency.

The project will cost $102 million, with $30 million raised through private fundraising with the help of Governor Corzine and Senator Ray Lesniak and $72 million through issuance of Rutgers bonds. Debt service on the bonds will be financed entirely through the sale of the additional seats and associated new revenues. In other words, the project will be self-supporting and will have no impact on tuition or on any other planned construction at Rutgers.

Let me be especially firm on this point: this project will not divert any money from academic programs, faculty and staff compensation, or student services. Over time, in fact, additional revenue from the expanded stadium will allow us to reduce the current subsidy of athletics and invest more university funds in academics, student life, and other priorities.

At the public forum held last week, a serious concern was raised again and again by students and faculty: with Rutgers' budget so constrained and so many other priorities to fund, why aren't we spending $102 million on fixing classrooms, restoring class sections, and hiring faculty instead? The fact is that we don’t—and won’t—have this money unless we add the stadium seating to generate it.

As important as this project is, academics are and will remain by far our top priority. This fact is reflected both in our operating budget and in our capital expenditures. Rutgers has invested, over the past five years, approximately $700 million in the construction or renovation of classrooms, laboratories, residence halls, and campus life buildings. This is more than 20 times greater than the amount we spent on athletic facilities in that period.

Many thanks to all those students, faculty, and staff who have contributed to the discussion of this plan. For more information on the project, visit http://scarletknights.com/stadium.

Richard L. McCormick
President
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey