What you described, is what UH has been for however long.
The football team hasnât been winning and the school doesnât organize nearly enough events for students, so no, thatâs not what I described.
Weâve had winning teams and the stadium has been half full in the past. And Iâm not sure what kind of events youâre talking about but Iâm sure there are events and clubs on campus even right now. Maybe marketing needs to do better but Iâm not sure how that would change anything with the culture of the school. Iâll end it there.
an uncomfortable proposition: there are a handful of urban non-flagship public schools in the USNWR top 50 publics, and the only ones with P4 athletics are Georgia Tech and Pitt.* Perhaps vomiting tens of millions of dollars at the athletic department every year hasnât been the best strategy, and there might have been a better way to use those funds?
* - USF was also in a power conference prior to the collapse of the Big East, but they were not top-50 at the time.
Big time athletics helps market the school.
Weâd spend millions marketing with way less results if it wasnât for athletics.
Again itâs why A&M ,Lsu ,UT etc have big time athletics.
So I donât think that is the answer in reducing athletics. I really think the 100 yr plan is going to be the start of change and perception. Khator knows what sheâs doing. Weâve already progressed in many ways.
1 Like
Yes, I guess we could be more like the University of Dallas. Who you say? Oh yes, they donât have a strong athletics program so you probably wouldnât even know that they exist.
Something about athletics being the front porch for our fine urban University.
1 Like
To what end? The overwhelming bulk of our students are commuters; where else are they gonna go? Who are the students that are choosing UH because of our 'tweener athletics program? A&M and UT and LSU are flagship schools that are playing a different game. (And weâre a better school than LSU anyway.)
UDallas is a bad comparison; theyâre a tiny hyper-religious private liberal arts school. The peer for UH in the Metroplex is UT-Dallas, which also doesnât have D1 athletics and is ranked ahead of UH despite also being a commuter school that was founded 30 or 40 years after us.
Absolutely none of the recent construction on campus has been for any form of academic or student success. The âcampus beautification projectâ was made for Cullen Blvd (athletics) to look good, and the Centennial Plaza/Master plan (which tore down a building and move the entire college of education around campus) will make things that the public see look good.
SGA has been all about campus culture, but recently they made some dumb dumb moves and now we donât have an SGA. But SGA was responsible for cub camp, which no longer exists (think of a spirit intro to UH/equivalent of fish camp). The Student Center furniture has also been changed, just feels like some tables and some individual seats.
Even if it werenât events, sort of nudging the students to goof around or organize their own little things shouldnât be a pain in the butt. If UH got in contact with all the student orgs and put out âfeelersâ of what they want to see as a student run, student organized event (like a beer bike race, similar to Rice), they might get a group going.
There was a Cougar Catalysts group to increase spirit on campus, but not much looked to get done.
While itâs for events on campus, UT has their own âChief Experience Officerâ - https://universityevents.utexas.edu/
Heck, Daddy Matty is their Minister of Culture.
The athletics reduction proposal was to be taken out of STUDENT FEES. Not the overall budget. This didnât include the fee increase students supported in the post-Keenum years, where they were putting money towards the stadiums.
All of us on this board are up for building more dorms for these out of state and around Texas students to come here to school.
But some of us are in full support of letting someone who lives what, 20 minutes away, KEEP DRIVING FROM 20 MINUTES AWAY. Thatâs a less than average commute in this city. students are probably spending 20 minutes walking from their dorm to class anyway.
They choose to come here and save money and get an education equal to or better than that of LSU or Okie (and in some programs, UT/TAMU). UT has a good amount of commuters yet they blow the experience out of the water and make things happen for students to stay there.
p.s. UH has more students living on campus than Rice with similar acreage; we certainly have enough residential students that it isnât an excuse for having zero campus life.
1 Like
Put some bars or an entertainment district, fiesta Texas themed by Cullen and wheeler like you or someone mentioned. Weâd avoid the issues of building on Scott st.
They could also be only opened mainly around weekends, thurs thru Sunday to save costs so they donât have to pay employees, etc 7 days a week which will help them stay afloat.
It would be the same idea as the stadium restaurants that doubt have to pay people all week and they stick around in business.
Maybe some type of western theme like frontier fiesta type buildings with no thrills to make it cheaper but iconic.
The school might have to front money for some bars and own them then open on weekends thurs thru Sunday.
It doesnât have to be an expensive high end entertainment district but focus on a frontier fiesta theme western style bars with pool tables, dance floors and beer .
We have to think outside the box.
How does The Den operate? They have been open since 2008.
Monday thru Sunday
Only reason I mentioned limited days for what I mentioned was to avoid costs and closures . The big knock on a full blown private entertainment district is businesses want money and if foot traffic goes down , they close. Itâs why nothing has been done by private businesses. Also donât put it on Scott st due to issues. My idea would help them thrive when needed which is towards the weekend with limited days, especially trying to keep several bars open longterm.
Like said the school could build some and own them to help it get going then we avoid an independent business guy closing them due to lack of profit.
The school has built 50 mil dollar dorms so it can be done. They could do a fundraiser for it. It would be a hit and I think donations would flow into the project. The business school could be involved with internships along with students working there.
Thatâs a really good question, actually, given that basically the only other things on campus that have managed to stay open more than a few years post-pandemic are that, The Nook (which has rapidly gone downhill), Starbucks, and Chick-Fil-A. (Cougar Grounds also exists, but is University-owned. Ericâs in the Hilton is University-affiliated.)
We have 50,000 students+
We are twice the size if many active P4 campuses with plenty of supporting on campus.
Something is wrong, very wrong.
Even tiny Rice landed a University District and yes, they are also located in a huge city.
If The Den has made it work, then they should just follow their blueprint. I think should from next to the BSM all the way to the existing buildings by the lofts.
That assumes that The Den has a blueprint that can be duplicated; itâs totally possible that they just happen to have the most visible unit in a property that charges low rent relative to the rest of the campus and campus-adjacent area.
Before COVID, the strip across the Lofts contained:
Rooftop, Nook, Jimmy Johnâs, Bullritos, Pinkâs, and an Asian Restaurant (this is the same owner, new brand every few years)
Now it is:
Empty, Nook, Empty, Hangry Joeâs (was Empty until six months ago), Empty, and Asian Restaurant (now Kizuna, formerly Domoishi, Cafe Azza, Cafe 101).
For MONTHS, there were only two locations open in there. Rent prices were blamed. Same with China Star (never got to experience it), but the owners cited rent issues for itâs closure. That area has been an unclaimed plot of grass ever since.
My kids were at UH when Pinkâs was there. If it had shut down while they were there, I think they would have transferred out. 
I think if Caneâs opened shop somewhere in that area of MLK, theyâd make a killing.
2 Likes
And UCLA; itâs debatable to me if they are a co-flagship or not.
Again, UH should strive to be the UCLA of Houston.
2 Likes
Strive to be the UCLA of HoustonâŠ
How? Tell us law, tell us.