With Thursday’s news that two committees, as well as the athletics and facilities departments, believe Colorado State should go ahead with its plan to build an on-campus football stadium, there’s only one question to ask: Are we really all that surprised?
Ever since President Tony Frank hired former athletic director Jack Graham and embraced his “Bold New Era” slogan, CSU has been destined to see a stadium built on campus. While there have been arguments for and against the project, Dr. Frank’s support has always been constant. To him, and the community members who support the stadium according to the most recent survey results, the benefits of building the stadium outweigh the negatives.
Graham is gone, but his vision is not. As Colorado State continues its rise as an up-and-coming athletic program through its success in volleyball, basketball and football, the need for facilities that match their sky-high expectations increases. The split between supporters and the opposition will surely widen as the deadline for Frank’s meeting with the University’s Board of Governors approaches, but at some point we must accept the fact that this stadium will eventually be built. It may not be next year, or the year after that, but sooner or later, we will see Graham’s vision come to fruition. We may like it, or we may not, but the fact of the matter is an on-campus stadium at CSU is inevitable.
Collegian Editorial Board can be reached at letters@collegian.com or on Twitter @CollegianC.
