Water parks should not be an incentive for recruitment

Most 20-something’s love water parks. Most 20-something’s also are in college. So, it makes intuitive sense to satiate the needs of 20-something’s thirst for water parks by adding them to college campuses, right?

Right – according to many Southeastern universities.

In 2016, Louisiana State University is expected to have a new lazy river, which will spell out the letters “LSU” in the school’s Geaux font. At Auburn University in Alabama, a 45-person paw print shaped hot tub provides a relaxation for students, while a 20-foot wet climbing wall provides exhilaration for those same students. North Dakota State trumps both schools, though, with construction scheduled to begin next year for a zip line students can ride out over a 36-foot-diameter pool, complete with an island in the middle of the pool with a recessed fireplace. Cozy.

At first glance, these renovations may seem amazing. It would be phenomenal to have a lazy day every once in a while and maybe soak in the pool when finals get a bit too hectic – but when you have a lazy river right on campus, how often does “once in a while,” become? According to a New York Times article, a junior at Texas Tech University says “As it gets warmer, you start seeing less people in class.”

When we think about a university, we should think about education. The very definition of a university, per the Oxford Dictionary is an “educational institution designed for…advanced learning.” The addition of recreational facilities above and beyond what students need start to detract from this definition.  

These rec-centers also quickly go from a relaxing day at the pool to an amusement park zoo, which takes away from the appeal of having a somewhat private water park. The same junior mentioned above also explained “Everyone will say, ‘Let’s go float in the river.’ There will be, like, 300 people there, and there won’t be any inner tubes or rafts left.” This number is nothing compared to the exponentially abundant population of students swarming Texas Tech’s two acres of lazy river, water slide and tanning deck, during the beginning of the year pool party.

Granted, many of these schools are huge athletic powerhouses, and recruitment is a huge deal. A lazy river always sweetens the deal during recruitment season. With a strong recruiting class, alumni are keener to donate and support their alma mater programs, and stronger recruits mean better games which mean more merchandise and ticket sales. However, the money that is generated is often for a specific population of students. It makes sense that many of these universities are competing in an arms race for the best recreational facilities, but are the funds divided fairly?

Even without the question of equitable divides, there is no question that college tuitions are continuing to rise. A rise in college tuition going towards research and development for your degree seems logical, but a rise in college tuition going towards creating an extra lazy river seems to perpetuate a lazy student body. A study by the Huffington Post recorded the average student who obtained a degree in 2012 to incur a student debt of $29,400 – up 63% in less than a decade. Rather than raise tuition prices and therefore raise the amount of debt students graduate with, these rec-centers add to the financial strain of students and their families, for quite a marginal amount of fun. In the long run, the costs grotesquely outweigh the benefits, but that’s a hard foresight to realize when you’re lounging poolside.

The students themselves shouldn’t be criticized, though, because it is the responsibility of the administrative staff to maintain the academic integrity of their university. Students are just being opportunistic, taking advantage of the luxuries of pools and water slides, conveniently located on their campus. Administration should take responsibility for the unnecessary arms race in making their university the best water park, by either regulating hours of use, and eventually allocating funding to other projects.

Lazy rivers or no lazy rivers, a university should have a strong enough academic, athletic, and social perks to encourage students to apply for their programs. If your college isn’t enough excitement and fun without a zip line and pool-centered fireplace, you’re doing it wrong.