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New building on UK campus to be named the "wildcat coal lodge"
Despite protest from students and faculty, last Tuesday the university of Kentucky board of trustees approved by a 16-3 vote to rebuild and rename the Joe B. Hall Wildcat Lodge as the Wildcat Coal Lodge.
Joseph W. Craft III, the president of Alliance Coal, and others donated $7 million to be given over a 10-year period for the construction of the new residence hall. The only three board members who dissented were faculty representative Ernie Yanarella, staff representative Robynn Pease and Student Government President Ryan Smith.
Students' and KFTC members Danny Cotton and Jordan Panning prepared a statement to be read to the board, but it was never read.
"What struck me was that, as students, we couldn't even get most of the board to read or hear a simple, half-page statement about how this name violates UK's standards for naming buildings. And that, when looking at the board's votes, the three who voted against this are three people tasked with representing students, faculty and staff" Cotton said.
It gets even more ridiculous. The new lodge will be a LEED certified building. LEED Certification stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high performance green buildings. Certification assures that a building project is environmentally responsible, profitable, and a healthy place to work.
Martin Mudd, a graduate student and also a KFTC member attended the board meeting as well.
"Naming a new LEED-certified campus building the "Wildcat Coal Lounge" is a bad move for this university. It is an egregious case of industrial product placement in a public institution. It is an insult to Kentucky basketball fans who remember Joe B. Hall as a great coach worthy of remembering. It is a step backward for a university whose goal is to move forward to Top 20 status. Finally this decision ignores the industry's history of exploitation that has enriched coal corporations and corrupt politicians and impoverished Appalachia's communities and devastated its ecosystems. This decision is unacceptable, but sadly it is just business as usual in Kentucky. We must raise our voices in opposition."
“UK shouldn't name buildings after corporations, much less entire industries and lobbying groups. The way I look at it is we have the W.T. Young Library, I’m okay with that, but we don’t have the Peanut Butter Library. We have Blazer Hall, but we don’t have Ashland Oil Hall” Cotton said.
The UK KFTC student group is looking into some next steps, including investigating whether the naming procedure violated UK's own administrative regulations.
In the meantime, let the board know what you think about this decision! You can find all of their contact information on the board of trustees website at http://www.uky.edu/Trustees/members.htm
Deep breath
Re: Deep Breath
Im not trying to be mean spirited but this is a ridiculous blog posting. KFTC wants to contest private individuals the right to name a building? Come on, you have to realize thats stretching it. Ten years from now people will still call it "Wildcat Lodge".
KFTC claims its not out to end mining only MTR, but anytime coal is mentioned you are there to provide resistance. At the end of the day, no matter how you look at it, this is a silly move by KFTC.
Todd
"Coal Lodge"
A public building where I go to school.
It was a sneaky move by the administration to get this name in there and students were thrown out of the Board room when they found out and tried to speak up.
I will not consent to have a dorm on my campus named after an industry that has dealt so much destruction to the people of Kentucky.
Kim
Doesnt KFTC have bigger issues to worry about? What about the miners you are putting out of work? What about setting up a meeting with the miners and listening to their issues?
Im glad you have enough gumption to stand up for something you believe in, but I dont consent to you affecting my livelihood. If you are so hell bent on saving the planet, surely you can help the miners and people like myself find other work? Or should we all move to lovely Lexington?
Todd
Thoughts, response from UK student
A friend of mine said he didn't care one way or the other about the coal industry, he just knew this was the first step towards playing in the "Colonel Sanders Arena" instead of "Rupp Arena." Some folks just don't think it's fair to Coach Hall. Moreover, no campus buildings are named for a single industry (excepting, of course, buildings like the "Tobacco and Health Research Center" or the "Mineral Industries Building" where they teach curriculum related to those industries).
KFTC doesn't want everyone to move to Lexington. In fact, I only live here because it's where my school happens to be. As such, KFTC has various campaigns under the "high road initiative" to promote sustainable economic development and try to diversify the economy and job opportunities everywhere in KY. I'm no expert on these initiatives, but there are people in KFTC who are and who want to bring good jobs (and, yes, some green jobs) to Eastern KY.
And KFTC has always supported better mine safety regulations, counts former deep miners among it's members and, while I can't speak for every member, I myself certainly want to hear what miners have to say. I also think it bears mentioning that some of the criticism of Joe Craft was asking why he chose to spend 7 million on a dorm the basketball players arguably don't need when he could've spent that money directly in the coal fields of Eastern and Western KY. I'm sure any community in KY could use 7 million more than a, rightly, nationally prestigious basketball program.
Now, if you'll allow me to venture a little off course, I need to say something that may not be relevant to the naming of the building but that I've been thinking about more and more the last few days and is relevant to the conversation. I am from Central KY, but I'm not from Lexington, my family mostly lives in Jessamine and Anderson counties where Tobacco was as important to us as Coal is to the people of Eastern Kentucky. Tobacco was a way of life for generations of my friends and family. Anti-smoking campaigns and smoking bans aren't what killed tobacco farming in central Kentucky. Changes in behavior, legislation and popular perception eventually made it impossible to make a living in tobacco. This caused a little pain to RJR and Phillip Morris who had plenty of slick lobbyists and money (RJR gets $4.10 from me every day). It devastated small farmers who never saw it coming. I say this because I see a lot of similarities to what's happening to the coal industry right now and feel that if people would accept the demise of coal as not an "if" but a "when" then we could keep the miners from being left out to dry the way the farmers were. We could start investing in new opportunities in Appalachia now instead of, as happened in rural central KY, scrambling to fix the problem once it gets really bad.
Danny
Lets look at the origin of Wildcat Lodge. It was not built for students like yourself to live in, only mens basketball players originally occupied it. Then the NCAA passed a rule athletes couldnt receive special lodging. As you are well aware, UK Mens Basketball is a profitable sport and affiliation to it means alot. Dawahare's, Coke, Whitaker Bank, Delta Dental all are or have been sponsors of men's basketball over the years. Without sponsorships you wouldnt even have a Wildcat Lodge to be arguing about! As you can see, Wildcat Lodge wasnt constructed to house other students or be a public building.
As to the $7million dollars. If my memory serves me well, I believe their were 23 individuals who donated the money. The money is to be paid out over 10 years which is $700,000 a year. This equates to roughly $30,345 a year for each individual. Obviously its still a large sum of money but its not $7,000,000 all at once.
Plus, we live in a country where, if you are successful and make money you should be able to do with it as you please (as long as its legal...LOL). What if you have an innovative idea and you make loads and loads of money, should you be able to make a decision about how to spend it? Would it be right to donate the money to KFTC or UK? Whats the difference? Why should we object to either? You went to school, worked hard, made sacrifices and living the "American Dream".
My opinion remains the same, this is a non issue in regards to KFTC. This is an example of KFTC, associating the word "coal" and deciding to jump on it. Danny, you seem like a smart young man, does the naming of this building compare to Global Warming, Mine Safety or Economic Diversity? I want you to really think about it for a second and answer honestly.
For the record, maybe this will satisfy a few, but I had a little more faith in UK than to put "Coal" in the name. As a lifelong (3rd generation) fan, I too would have liked Joe B. to remain in name.
Todd
One other thing
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/03/business/energy-environment/03gore.html
Not that it matters to many, as I feel im typing my concerns to an audience of zero judging by the responses, I feel that he should be able to capitalize off of his investments. He is obviously going out on a limb and risking a large sum of money and if it pays off, great! That is the American Dream!
Todd
Grasping For Straws
When the name was Joe B. Hall Wildcat Lodge, how many people actually called it that? I would venture to say less than 1%. It will always be Wildcat Lodge when talked about in conversation.
KFTC, ignores the miners and workers associated with coal to protest the naming rights of a friggin' building. Pathetic! Im glad to see you have your priorities in check. I lose more respect for this organization everyday.
On a positive note, Go Cats!
Todd