Wish I could conduct a poll.
1.) Who thinks an OCS needs to be built regardless of the cost and amenities?
2.) Who thinks an OCS like the one proposed in the feasibility study is the way to go, regardless if the financing is there right now or in the immediate future?
3.) Who thinks RayJay is the best option and an OCS should not be in the plan?
4.) Who thinks regardless what happens, USF already failed for not building an OCS a decade ago?
Seems like we have a high variation of opinions here, and to be fair, TBP is a great microcosm of the market. We have students, alumni, season ticket holders, parents, married folks, single folks, men, women (??), occasional attendees, diehard attendees and out of towners all contributing here. I'd really like to see what the overall statistical opinion is on the board. @Brad is this something you could produce?
I would love to have an OCS if the money is there, but I think it's unfair to blame the President and Provost for not allocating state funds or donor dollars targeted towards education or campus renovation as opposed to using that for a stadium or the football program. Now, USF just fund raised 1B dollars in the unstoppable campaign, so clearly fundraising is possible; but are there donors specifically willing to donate for an OCS? Only Harlan and his staff know that question. And I would venture to guess that the feasibility study wouldn't of had a meeting if they didn't think it wasn't possible.
Also UCF has had football longer than USF, that creates alumni who have watched football longer than USF. That is a factor. If you graduated USF in 1980, there's no guarantee you would instantly become a diehard USF football fan. Our fan and alumni base starts in 1996 and we have a state of the art facility to play football unlike some schools who have started around us and don't have them. This is also a factor. I'm sure funds could be moved around to build an erector set of USF did not have a place to play football.