Central Michigan Life Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2010 EVENTS CENTER jeff smith/staff photographer The new Events Center opens today after 14 months of construction, which started with a groundbreaking in September 2009. The $22.5 million project will include McGuirk Arena and Kulhavi Court. ‘Build it and they will come’ By Carisa Seltz Senior Reporter Chance Finister thinks the new Events Center is a beautiful new addition to CMU’s campus. “Hopefully in the future, the newer buildings will have great architecture like that one,” the Detroit fresh- man said. “I think it’s a great look for CMU.” Athletics Director Dave Heeke said a central facet of the Events Center’s de- sign strategy from the start was to build a signature- type building that was eye- catching. “One of our themes all along through the design process was how to capture people from the streets to the seats, so you can see that energy and know something is going on and you want to be a part of it,” he said. The CMU Board of Trust- ees approved the $21.5 mil- lion Events Center project in December 2007 to be completed in time for the first men’s basketball game against Temple. An addi- tional $750,000 was allo- cated during the December 2010 board meeting for ad- ditional amenities. As part of the package deal that transformed Rose Arena into the new McGuirk Arena, Heeke said about 50,000 square feet of addi- tional space was added to the old complex, including the atrium grand entrance, a practice gymnasium and a multi-purpose wrestling facility. Stan Shingles, assistant vice president of University Recreation, said the Events Center will fill the regional void for a major venue that can provide opportunities to the community. “We know there are some limitations,” he said, “but we see the sky as the limit as it relates to possibilities of what we can do.” ‘Bells and whistles’ Shingles said the Events Center will be the venue for CMU’s five intercollegiate sara winkler/staff photographer A 156- by 15-foot graphics mural adorns a wall inside the Events Center illustrating all aspects of life at CMU. sara winkler/staff photographer Glass panels on the outside of the entrance allowcrowds to view the Events Center. By Aaron McMann Sports Editor Men’s basketball head coach Ernie Zeigler responded with a laugh when asked to compare the new Events Center with the former Rose Arena. From a recruiting standpoint, there is no comparison. “The Rose Center was some- thing our counterparts used against us,” Zeigler said. Zeigler and fellow coaches that share the arena have been forced to shade potential re- cruits of the old, antiquated facilities that often make or a break a recruited athlete’s deci- sion whether or not to attend a school. Now the tables have turned with the addition of the $22.5 million facility, set to house bas- ketball teams, wrestling, volley- ball and gymnastics. “It was something we con- stantly used (in recruiting),” Zeigler said. “When recruits compare and contrast our situ- ation to another situation, un- fortunately in this culture right now, it’s the who has and who doesn’t.” BasketBall talent Zeigler brought in a recruiting class this season that ranked as one of the best in program his- tory and first in the Mid-Ameri- can Conference. Among the highlights of the current batch of freshmen are guards Trey Zeigler and Derek Jackson, both of whom are al- ready having an immediate im- pact on the team. In addition to staying home and playing for his dad, Trey said the new Events Center made his decision to come to CMU that much easier. “The new Events Center played a huge part in every- one’s decision to come here,” he said. “Rose was getting kind of old, so to see that they made a commitment to a new building played a huge part.” Head women’s basket- ball coach Sue Guevara also landed one of her best re- cruiting classes for next sea- son since coming to CMU in 2007. Six-foot guard Crystal Facility will help coaches in recruiting A CENTER | 6B A BASKETBALL | 15B w After 37 years, wrestling team says goodbye to Rose, 6B WHAT’S INSIDE EVENTS CALENDAR w Businesses expect Event Center traffic, 14B Photos w A first look at the Events Center, 8-9B “It will be a major upgrade and something that reflects the excellence that we stand for at CMU, and whether that’s a sporting event, a concert or that final experience of graduating — it will be a memorable time inside the building.” Dave Heeke, athletics director w Tours of the Events Center begin at 2 p.m. w Introductory program at 4 p.m. w Ribbon cutting ceremony at 5 p.m. w First men’s home basketball game of the 2010-11 season against Temple tips off at 7 p.m. NEWs w SAC upgrades to start, 3B w Volleyball returns to old location, 14B sPoRts w Athletes excited to start in new building, 4B New Events Center fills venue void
Transcript
Central Michigan Life
Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2010
events center
jeff smith/staff photographerThe new Events Center opens today after 14 months of construction, which started with a groundbreaking in September 2009. The $22.5 million project will include McGuirk Arena and Kulhavi Court.
‘Build it and they will come’
By Carisa SeltzSenior Reporter
Chance Finister thinks the new Events Center is a beautiful new addition to CMU’s campus.
“Hopefully in the future, the newer buildings will have great architecture like that one,” the Detroit fresh-man said. “I think it’s a great look for CMU.”
Athletics Director Dave Heeke said a central facet of the Events Center’s de-sign strategy from the start was to build a signature-type building that was eye-catching.
“One of our themes all along through the design process was how to capture people from the streets to the seats, so you can see that energy and know something is going on and you want to be a part of it,” he said.
The CMU Board of Trust-ees approved the $21.5 mil-lion Events Center project in December 2007 to be completed in time for the first men’s basketball game against Temple. An addi-tional $750,000 was allo-cated during the December 2010 board meeting for ad-ditional amenities.
As part of the package deal that transformed Rose Arena into the new McGuirk Arena, Heeke said about 50,000 square feet of addi-tional space was added to the old complex, including the atrium grand entrance, a practice gymnasium and a multi-purpose wrestling facility.
Stan Shingles, assistant vice president of University Recreation, said the Events Center will fill the regional void for a major venue that can provide opportunities to the community.
“We know there are some limitations,” he said, “but we see the sky as the limit as it relates to possibilities of what we can do.”
‘Bells and whistles’Shingles said the Events
Center will be the venue for CMU’s five intercollegiate
sara winkler/staff photographerA 156- by 15-foot graphics mural adorns a wall inside the Events Center illustrating all aspects of life at CMU.
sara winkler/staff photographerGlass panels on the outside of the entrance allowcrowds to view the Events Center.
By Aaron McMannSports Editor
Men’s basketball head coach Ernie Zeigler responded with a laugh when asked to compare the new Events Center with the former Rose Arena.
From a recruiting standpoint, there is no comparison.
“The Rose Center was some-thing our counterparts used against us,” Zeigler said.
Zeigler and fellow coaches that share the arena have been forced to shade potential re-cruits of the old, antiquated facilities that often make or a break a recruited athlete’s deci-sion whether or not to attend a school.
Now the tables have turned with the addition of the $22.5 million facility, set to house bas-ketball teams, wrestling, volley-ball and gymnastics.
“It was something we con-stantly used (in recruiting),” Zeigler said. “When recruits compare and contrast our situ-ation to another situation, un-fortunately in this culture right now, it’s the who has and who doesn’t.”
BasketBall talentZeigler brought in a recruiting
class this season that ranked as one of the best in program his-tory and first in the Mid-Ameri-can Conference.
Among the highlights of the current batch of freshmen are guards Trey Zeigler and Derek Jackson, both of whom are al-ready having an immediate im-pact on the team.
In addition to staying home and playing for his dad, Trey said the new Events Center made his decision to come to CMU that much easier.
“The new Events Center played a huge part in every-one’s decision to come here,” he said. “Rose was getting kind of old, so to see that they made a commitment to a new building played a huge part.”
Head women’s basket-ball coach Sue Guevara also landed one of her best re-cruiting classes for next sea-son since coming to CMU in 2007.
Six-foot guard Crystal
Facility will help coaches in recruiting
A CeNTeR | 6B A baskeTbaLL | 15B
w After 37 years, wrestling team says goodbye to Rose, 6B
WHAT’S INSIDE
EVENTS CALENDAR
w Businesses expect Event Center traffic, 14B
Photosw A first look at the Events Center, 8-9B
“It will be a major upgrade and something that reflects the excellence that we stand for at CMU, and whether that’s a sporting event, a concert or that final experience of graduating — it will be a memorable
time inside the building.”Dave Heeke, athletics director
w Tours of the Events Center begin at 2 p.m.
w Introductory program at 4 p.m.
w Ribbon cutting ceremony at 5 p.m.
w First men’s home basketball game of the 2010-11 season against Temple tips off at 7 p.m.
NEWsw SAC upgrades to start, 3B
w Volleyball returns to old location, 14B
sPoRtsw Athletes excited to start in new building, 4B
New Events Center fills venue void
2B || Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2010 || Central Michigan Life www.cm-life.com[events center]
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By ryan taljonickSenior Reporter
Andy Richter is building his future by constructing CMU.
The Troy senior’s intern-ship with Clark Construction Company has allowed him the opportunity to utilize his knowledge of construction management and assist in the building of CMU’s new Events Center.
His favorite thing — be-ing a student working on the project.
“It makes it twice as great,” Richter said. “Not only do I know people that will use it and like it, but people will be using that facility forever. I actually get to be involved with campus history.”
When he obtained his in-ternship last summer, he said he had no idea he would be helping with construction at CMU.
The program can get pretty overwhelming, he said, and it is difficult to juggle 12-hour work days with a full class schedule.
“It’s still very overwhelm-
ing,” Rchter said. “I know there are some things out there that I don’t know enough about.”
Robert Lalonde, senior project manager of Clark Construction Company and Richter’s supervisor, said Richter is learning a lot and picking up on the process quickly.
Richter performed very well as an intern, Lalonde said.
“He performed much high-er than we expect an intern to perform,” Lalonde said. “We pretty much took him on as a part of our project, not just for an internship. We’d like to expose him to how a project closes out.”
ResponsiBilitiesRichter’s day-to-day work
involves gathering paper-work, preparing and sub-mitting approval forms and logging RFIs — requests for information — which trans-fer questions from the con-struction site to architects.
As a construction manage-ment major, Richter said he hopes to one day be a project manager.
He would be responsible for overseeing the building process and ensuring con-struction goes smoothly. He said this requires constant
communication between the sometimes hundreds of con-tractors working on a proj-ect.
“The hardest part is kind of figuring out how everything works, how we communicate with everyone out there,” he said. “At times it can be in-credibly difficult, sometimes there’s a lot of personality clash.”
Richter said he has to learn about all the various types of work involved in the con-struction process and must become as knowledgeable as plumbers, electricians and other types of contractors.
“You have to be an encyclo-pedia of everything on site,” he said. “That’s why people skills are so important. Deal-ing with all the experts out there, you have to be an ex-pert in everything.”
Lalonde agreed.“You’re taking a 10-inch
stack of drawings and trying to get 100 different people to work together, to be on the same page.” he said.
Now, Richter has his own office in the company’s field office.
“It’s pretty cool — it’s a lit-tle exciting, it feels like you’re moving up in the world,” he said. “I love it.”
The Student Activity Center will be seeing some changes along with the addition of the new Events Center.
Steve Lawrence, associ-ate vice president of Facili-ties Management, said the
existing wrestling room will become an expansion of the fitness room, with work be-ginning in December and ending in March.
The construction of the fitness center cannot begin until the wrestling facility in the new Events Center is completed.
“They did not want to build a brand new fitness center in the Events Center because it would be isolated from the rest of the SAC’s amenities,” said Stan Shingles, assistant
vice president of University Recreation.
The fitness center is the most highly-used facility, with 87 percent of the people coming to the SAC using it, Shingles said. Because of capacity issues in the past, the decision to expand was made.
The square footage of the area will be nearly doubled. Shingles said the change is significant.
“I think it will attract more students and encourage
them to check it out,” said Byron Center junior Lacey Lott. “It will alleviate the load of people with a bigger space and more machines.”
While construction is still taking place, students like Lott are running into some difficulties. The parking right now is difficult to navi-gate and Lott has been hav-ing to go a different way, she said.
There was an intentional effort to move the wrestling facility to capture that space
geographically, so CMU did a land swap, Shingles said.
“We’re also renovating the existing space, putting in new flooring and new light-ing,” Shingles said. “We’re doing a significant overhaul to that facility. It’s not going to look anything like it does currently.”
In regard to the Events Center and the SAC, con-struction has been planned for more than three years, said Athletics Director Dave Heeke.
The changes will bring new and exciting opportuni-ties for students who come to CMU and want the full college experience, he said.
“This building will create more space in the SAC and bring in tremendous events that will be exciting,” Heeke said. “We’ll also have the op-portunity for exciting nights in athletics. Those all play a part in the greater experi-ence of our students.”
Student Activity Center will receive upgrades by MarchFitness room expansion begins in December
jeff smith/staff photographerTroy senior Andy Richter stands outside the nearly completed CMU events center Sunday night. Richter, an intern for Clark Construction and a construction management major, began his internship working on the building in May. “I feel privileged to have been a part of the construction,” he said.
student intern works on events Center constructionInvolvement with ‘campus history’ a highlight
“Not only do I know people that will use it and like it, but people will be using that facility forever.
I actually get to be involved with campus history.”Andy Richter, troy senior
4B || Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2010 || Central michigan life cm-life.com/category/news/events-center-news[eventS Center]
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By Kurt naglStaff Reporter
Basketball won’t be all that’s happening in the new-ly-renovated, state of the art Events Center.
The facility will be used for academic purposes as well entertainment and sports.
Stan Shingles, assistant vice president of University Recreation, said the complex was never meant to be used only for sports, but a variety of activities.
“The Events Center will be an engine for cultural, academic, athletic and en-tertainment experiences,” he said. “The intent is for it to be more than just a new basket-ball court.”
The annual Student Re-
search and Creative Endeav-ors Expedition and teacher’s fair will likely take place in the Events Center, Shingles said. The extra room will aug-ment CMU events and offer a refreshing environment for the students.
The annual Native Ameri-can Powwow will also be hosted in the Events Center this year as well as other in-ternational fairs. The stadium and practice facility will be an ideal place to host guest speakers, Shingles said.
Essexville sophomore Amanda Lingle is ready for the Events Center to open and thinks many students will attend activities to check it out.
“I am very excited to cheer on my Chips and see all the cool things that come with it,” she said.
Excitement and anticipa-tion over its opening should draw many students to the complex, said Shingles, who
expects a larger turnout for events this year because of the Events Center.
Livonia freshman Ryan Gabrish said the new com-plex will be refreshing to stu-dents.
“I think it provides a better setting for games and events because it’s bigger, better, newer and nicer,” he said.
Parchment freshman Brandon Shirley is excited for the center for more than just sporting events.
“It will open up a lot more room for everybody,” he said.
The arena will also make the graduation commence-ment more enjoyable, with air conditioning and more space, Shingles said
“It’s important because commencement in the Events Center will be the last experi-ence graduates will have as students at CMU,” he said.
Center to be occupied by annual eventsStudents ready to support teams, attend gatherings
By Justin HicksStaff Reporter
“I’m really excited.”Three words that sum up
the thoughts of the majority of Central Michigan athletes who will be competing in the new Events Center on campus this winter.
“In this day and age, it’s all about the wow, the pop, the glitter,” said women’s basketball coach Sue Guevara. “I think the kids are looking for new, they’re looking for exciting, they’re looking for different.”
The Events Center, with the new McGuirk Arena inside, is scheduled to open today for the men’s basketball home opener against Temple.
“It should be crazy,” said freshman Trey Zeigler. “With the new building and playing against a ranked team, it’s go-ing to be a lot of fun.”
The women’s basketball team will host Ole Miss in its home opener on Dec. 18.
The wrestling and gymnas-tics teams will each compete
in their home arena for the first time in January. The wres-tling team’s home debut will be against interstate rival Michi-gan on Jan. 16, while the gym-nastics team hosts Northern Illinois on Jan. 30.
The experienced players who played in the old Rose Center are excited to move into their new home and build new memories.
“It’s the start of some-thing new,” said senior Kaihla Szunko. “As we are getting bet-ter seasons and we win some championships, we deserve it, and we need that arena to back us up.”
Senior Will McClure spoke highly of the new arena. Enter-ing his fourth year at CMU, he said he’s glad to finish out his collegiate career by being a part of the first team to play in the new arena.
“I’m glad I get to play in it my senior year,” he said. “It looks amazing inside, and it’s got a real stadium feeling with stu-dent sections on both sides (of the court).”
Making the step from high school to the collegiate stage is undoubtedly a transition, and the 2010-11 freshman class gets
to experience it on an even big-ger level.
“Compared to high school, it’s a big stage and you’re just not used to it as a freshman,” said freshman Taylor Johnson. “I’ve seen Rose with a lot of people in it and it was fun. I’m excited to see how many people the arena is going to bring to watch us.”
With a new venue comes an expanded fan section, which excites both the athletes and fans. The old arena held 5,200 people, a number that has in-creased to 5,300 people this year. On each side of the court is a 500-seat student section.
“Last year our fans were wild and we’re looking for super fans and for some wild fans to make that place shake this year,” said redshirt freshman Craig Kelliher.
Szunko said she hopes the team’s early success, in ad-dition to the new venue, will increase the school’s fan sup-port.
“We’re already putting up big scoring and people are excited,” Szunko said. “I think the center will help bring in fans.”
Athletes eager for new facilityTrey Zeigler: ‘It should be crazy’
fIle photo by jake mayTrey Zeigler turned down offers from Arizona State, Michigan, Michigan State and UCLA to join a program that has had four winning seasons in the past 31 years. “I’m not going to try to be the savior – I think we’ve got a lot of great pieces — a lot of great guys coming back and a lot of great recruits coming in,” Trey said. “I’m just going to step in and try to do my part.”
Central michigan life || Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2010 || 5B
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By Carisa SeltzSenior Reporter
The services of the Athletics ticket office and Central Box Of-fice have been fused into a one-stop ticket operation in the new Events Center.
“We’re going to have one tick-et office, (called) Ticket Central,” said Stan Shingles, assistant vice president of University Rec-reation. “You’ll be able to pur-chase any ticket for any event on campus at a one-stop shop type of format, so we’re really excited about that.”
Besides the convenience fac-tor, Shingles said the best thing about Ticket Central is the new parking to accommodate cus-tomers.
There were only two desig-nated parking spaces in front of the Bovee University Center for people who wanted to buy tickets at Central Box Office, but people often didn’t follow that rule and parked there anyway, Shingles said.
Now, there are meter-free spaces located right outside
the new atrium entrance to the Events Center for people to park their cars when buying campus tickets.
“This is going to be a lot bet-ter,” Shingles said.
Ticket Central offers students better accessibility to buy their tickets than Central Box Office, Shingles said, because it’s closer to them than the Bovee UC.
“If (students) are purchasing a ticket for a concert or a play or something like that, within a block and a half of their resi-dence hall, they’ll be able to walk in and pick up a ticket,” he said. “So again, that’s a nice amenity that we are adding.”
Athletics Director Dave Heeke said the managers and staff of the old ticket centers were just transferred to the new location.
“They’ll be housed in the (Events Center) in that front atri-um that you see from (Broom-field Road),” he said.
Ruth Wentworth, coordina-tor of Central Box Office, which closed Nov. 22, said it is too early to tell if the move will benefit customers or not because Ticket
Central just opened. She said selling tickets at the south side of campus may be too far away for north campus residents to find purchasing tickets conve-nient.
“Really, I don’t think it’s go-ing to bother us at all,” she said. “The people that it might hurt are maybe our patrons who are accustomed to coming to (Cen-tral Box Office) and students.”
Allison Krupp, a sales rep-resentative for Ticket Central who started work at Central Box Office in 2009, said the new lo-cation is too small to house all the people that now work there from the two previous depart-ments.
The Grand Haven freshman said it bothers her that there are no holes in the services win-dows at Ticket Central and there is only a small slit to pass tickets through for customers.
“It just seems kind of small, but I’m still really excited about it because it looks so cool,” she said.
CMU is making sure the Events Center will be a well-decorated home for CMU’s athletics and entertain-ment.
A 156- by 15-foot graphics mural of all the aspects of Central Michigan commu-nity will adorn a wall inside the facility.
Stan Shingles, assistant vice president of University Recreation, said the mural will illustrate all aspects of the CMU experience.
“This mural illustrates the total university commu-nity,” Shingles said. “There are images of graduation, events, research, athletics, and student life.”
Shingles said the mural was done in a distinct style
“This is a graphics mu-ral, it is neither painted nor
drawn,” he said.CMU’s communications
staff produced the mural’s design and Daktronics, a company that specializes in scoreboards, displays, video and sound, helped produce the work itself.
Chelsea freshman Claire Golec said she likes the idea of a graphic mural on CMU’s campus.
“I like the idea of trying to work more art into the area,” Golec said. “In my opinion, Mount Pleasant
could benefit from more open displays of color and creativity.”
The Events Center will be open for students and the community to take tours from 2 to 4 p.m.
The first 100 students to tour the Events Center on today will be rewarded with tickets to the first basket-ball home game of the year against Temple later that night.
univers ity@cm-l ife.com
Mural to depict faces of CMU community“I like the idea of trying to work more art into the area. In my
opinion, Mount pleasant could benefit from more open displays
of color and creativity.”Chelsea Golec, Claire freshman
sara winkler/staff photographerTwo murals were installed in the new Events Center. This mural was placed in front of a fire-proof wall connected to the pool facility for safety. The mural, officials said, is a representation of all facets of life at CMU.
6B || Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2010 || Central michigan life cm-life.com/category/news/events-center-news[eventS Center]
fIle photo by jake mayCMU wrestlers gather to chant at the end of practice at the end of the 2009-10 season. The team practiced in the Rose facility for 37 years. “You can feel the heat in here and you can feel the humidity,” said head coach Tom Borrelli. “It’s not the best training environment.”
By Justin HicksStaff Reporter
A map of the Rose Center is an unnecessary tool on a quest to find the practice room used by the Central Michigan wrestling team.
A functioning nose and a decent sense of smell and will lead you right to the training room.
After 37 years of use, the team is getting a new train-ing room.
The new CMU Events Center features a new $300,000 practice facility for the team, which head coach Tom Borrelli and the rest of the team are grateful for.
“The new wrestling room will have better ventilation, natural lighting and a lot of things that will make it a better training environ-ment,” Borrelli said.
The room the team is used to practicing in has been in use since 1973. It was once divided into two rooms, the practice room and a classroom, but had a wall taken down to give the team more space.
“You can feel the heat in here and you can feel the humidity,” Borrelli said. “It’s not the best training environment.”
The new facility will be bigger than the previous room, fitting three full mats instead of the two and a half mats the current room holds. There will also be
space set a side for cardio equipment.
“Once in a while there are injuries with people falling into each other and we’d like to get rid of that,” Borelli said. “(The new room) will give us more space.”
The practice room’s loca-tion in comparison to where the matches will be held, in-side McGuirk Arena, is one of Borrelli’s favorite part of the new training room. An enclosed hallway will con-nect the training room and competition floor.
“The nicest thing about the location is that we’re 50 feet away from the arena that we’re going to com-pete in,” he said. “Our guys can actually warm up in the wrestling room and then run out into the gym and compete. Not too many places have that.”
The team hosts its first home match at McGuirk Arena on Jan. 16 against in-state rival Michigan. CMU has won the last three meetings with the Wolver-ines.
“The fact that we get to warm up (in the practice room) and then walk out onto the mats, you can’t ask for anything better than that,” said redshirt fresh-man Craig Kelliher. “Last year we warmed up in a hallway, and you can only do so much on a cement floor.”
athletic teams and major university events, including graduation, concerts, conven-tions, speakers and academic affairs.
The Events Center features many design perks Rose Arena lacked, Shingles said. The new facility boasts an impressive
front entrance, concession stands and restrooms, Ticket Central, the Maroon and Gold novelty store, concourse areas, new entryways into McGuirk Arena and a VIP club room that holds 150 to 200 people.
There will be new sound and lighting systems with all the high-tech “bells and whis-tles” and climate control, he said.
“I think the amenities jump out at you,” Shingles said.
“The opportunity to really serve people and provide an experience for people has just been totally enhanced.”
Heeke said the old facility was built in 1973 as a physical education and sports venue. It served its purpose, he said, but the CMU community outgrew it.
McGuirk Arena transpired from a complete renovation of Rose Arena, he said. The box-shape seating setup was
converted to a 5,300-seat bowl shape design that features both bleacher and 1,500 chair-backed seats. There also are retractable seating sections for more practice space and will allow for an easier setup for events.
Heeke said a new, 12- by 30-foot scoreboard and video sys-tem will be installed at the west end of the arena after Jan. 1. It will be located directly across from the new student section
on the east side of the arena.Shingles said nothing was
lost in terms of intimacy of the former facility as a great venue for watching sports and events.
“Students ... (and) fans are as close to the floor as they were in the former facility,” he said. “We didn’t build some monster facility that puts people away from the action,” he said.
Now that the construction is complete, Heeke said the
Events Center will be a “shin-ing light” for the whole com-munity.
“It will be a major upgrade and something that reflects the excellence that we stand for at CMU, and whether that’s a sporting event, a concert or that final experience of gradu-ating — it will be a memorable time inside the building,” he said.
Central Michigan Life || Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2010 || 9C
The Events Center began construction with a groundbreaking ceremony on Sept. 28, 2009. The project was completed in 14 months.
ABOVE: Stan Shingles, assistant vice president for University
Recreation, Events and Conferences, holds a construction hat
as he leads a tour through the Events Center on Nov. 24.
RIGHT: Seats line the sideline of McGuirk Arena’s basketball
court, which is expected to house a capacity of 5,300. Tick-
ets are already sold out for the first game at 7 p.m. today
against Temple.
Photos by Central Michigan Life Photo staffAndrew Kuhn, Jeff Smith, Joe Tobianski and Sara Winkler
After 14 months of construction, the former Rose Center has been transformed into a state
of the art facility for CMU athletics
A construction worker finishes siding on the basketball court in the new McGuirk Arena, which will house 5,300 in attendance for any home basketball game. “It will be a major upgrade and something that reflects the excellence that we stand for at CMU,” said Athletics Director Dave Heeke, “and whether that’s a sporting event, a concert or that final experience of graduating — it will be a memorable
time inside the building.” As part of the package deal that transformed Rose Center, Heeke said about 50,000 square feet of additional space was added to the old complex, including the atrium grand entrance, a practice gymnasium and a multi-purpose wrestling facility.
The CMU Board of Trustees approved the $22.5 million total cost for renovations to the Events Center project in December 2007,
and was to be completed in time for the first home men’s basketball game against Temple in 2010. As part of the package deal that
transformed Rose Center, Athletics Director Dave Heeke said about 50,000 square feet of additional space was added.
A construction worker stands silhouetted against the glass wall that faces Broomfield Road on Sept. 23 as he works to complete
the renovations to the Events Center. “We know there are limitations,” said Stan Shingles, assistant vice president for University
Recreation, Events and Conferences, “but we see the sky as the limit as it relates to possibilities of what we can do.”
ABOVE: Sparks fly into the air as Brownstown carpenter Dan Styles shaves metal off of the side of a bar as he helps construct pieces of a wall for the concourse on Sept. 23.
BELOW (left to right): A construction worker uses a torch to weld. The new student section for the Rose Rowdies. The men’s and women’s basketball practice room. Ticket windows where purchases of tickets for games and events will be sold.
A pair of construction workers post
up photos onto a mural on an outer
hallway wall on Nov. 18. The mural
exhibits all facets of life at CMU.
From the streets
to the seatscm-life.comCheck out the video of CMU men’s basketball players expectations for the first home game against Temple.
10B || Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2010 || Central Michigan Life www.cm-life.com[events center]
From the drawing board to the scoreboard.Central Michigan University Events Center
SmithGroup would like to congratulate CMU on the opening of the new Events Center. The renovation and expansion has transformed Rose Arena into a new, first-class complex serving the academic, athletic, and community needs of the University and citizens of central and northern Michigan. The project is a testament to the University’s proud past and sets the pace for the bold future ahead.
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By Kristopher LodesStaff Reporter
The Sports Management As-sociation has teamed up with the Rowdies student section to try and create a new look and more excitement this season.
The groups are calling for a “Gold Out” for today’s men’s bas-ketball game against Temple at the new McGuirk Arena.
With the new facility and buzz around many of the athletic teams this season, both are look-ing to help boost lackluster stu-dent attendance. They are com-ing up with some new ideas and trying to improve the look of the student’s involvement with the teams.
“It gives SMA a good chance to do something and manag-ing the Rowdies is a good way to get some relevant experience for the members,” said Dan Secord, Sports Management Association leader and Hastings senior. “Sec-ond of all it helps the Rowdies because in past years the Row-dies haven’t had a good core of people, so we’re trying to bring a fresh new look.”
Clawson junior Lee Herteg, leader of the Rowdies, is calling for a football-like atmosphere at
all basketball games.“We’re trying to get people up
and keep them standing with new chants and new excite-ment,” Herteg said. “We want to make sure the students aren’t bored.”
In previous years, the Rowdies’ attendance was often been small, proving to be a non-factor to op-posing teams that other schools typically enjoy. Before, the group was just word-of-mouth and comprised of students who at-tended basketball games. Now, with SMA involved, they are looking to become more orga-nized and hope to have more of an effect on games.
“We’re bringing in some props, like a Brazilian flag because one of the basketball players (junior forward Andre Coimbra) is from Brazil,” Secord said. “The fact that SMA is involved will help because we’re fans, but we’re also business people and we know how to get people interested.”
Secord said a “Rowdy Report” will be handed out before the game so fans are familiar with ev-erything that is going on, includ-ing a list of all the new chants.
“I think our job isn’t going to be very hard because people are already excited about the Events Center,” he said. “Our main goal is to not only get those people but to show them a good time.”
‘Rowdies’ prepare for upcoming season at new arenaGroup looks to boost lackluster student attendance
fIle photo by patriCk sillerRose Rowdies turn their backs to the courtside as an opposing team player attempts free throws during a 2007 game.
By John evansSenior Reporter
For the past month and
a half, the CMU men’s and women’s basketball teams have practiced at the Student Activ-ity Center.
With multiple other activities going on at the SAC, distrac-tions can be a problem. With the new Events Center open-ing, both teams will be getting a new facilities and the coaches and players are happy to be moving in.
Women’s basketball head coach Sue Guevara said things can get a little crazy.
“We’ve got people walk-ing and running around and guys over here practicing and it’s chaos, but what it does is it forces us to focus on what we are doing and just tune every-thing else out,” Guevara said. “If you think about it, it’s (what it’s) going to be like at an opposing arena and we can just hone in on what we are doing.”
Not having its own practice facility has not seemed to hurt
the women’s team, as it has started the season with a 4-2 overall record and the Winthrop Classic tournament champion-ship already under its belt.
Even though the courts at the SAC are not regulation size, the players have not seemed to mind too much.
“This is nice, but there is nothing like going back to your own gym,” said senior forward Kaihla Szunko. “It is going to be great to feel the nets, feel the rims, and just be in that atmo-sphere where we will play our
games and where our fans will be. This is shorter than a nor-mal court so just to get the feel of a real court I am excited.”
The Events Center is set to open today when the men’s team plays the nationally-ranked Temple Owls in what will be the first game played in McGuirk Arena.
With high expectations for both the men’s and women’s team, the new arena also adds incentive and even some mo-tivation to get in there and play.
“I think for us, it shows to
our guys that basketball is im-portant. There’s a commitment to basketball and excellence throughout our athletics de-partment,” said head coach Ernie Zeigler. “This is the de-fining jewel of our athletic de-partment and I think our guys are excited to be the first to step on the floor.”
The reaction from coaches and players has been similar, excited but also anxious.
When the teams get to prac-tice in the new facility it will take some getting used to, but
after a while should provide an advantage for the Chippewas.
Wrestling head coach Tom Borrelli said the concerts, grad-uation, and other community events will be great as well.
“The new Events Center is going to be fantastic. We’re excited in the athletic depart-ment, but for the whole uni-versity,” Borrelli said. “Those things are going to be nice for the campus and the commu-nity.”
Facility creates edge for men’s, woman’s basketball teams
‘a n e w l o o k a n d M o r e e x c i t e M e n t ’
12B || Wednesday, Dec, 1, 2010 || Central michigan life cm-life.com/category/news/events-center-news[eventS Center]
groUnd Breaking | Construction began in 2009
fIle photo by ViCtoria Zegler/staff photographerFrom left to right: CMU Director of Athletics, Dave Heeke, Rick McGuirk, Julie McGuirk, CMU Interim President, Kathleen Wilbur, Patrick Dean and Sandy Dean break ground for the entrance to the CMU Events Center in September 2009. The McGuirk family donated $2.5 million for the new CMU Events Center.
By Michael L. HoffmanStaff Reporter
Ke$ha is the first show Pro-gram Board will bring to the new Events Center, but the ad-dition of the building will mean some changes for the group.
Steve Lewis, Program Board president, said the new Events Center gives the Program Board opportunities to do more things than they might have in the past and also gives new venues to fa-miliar events like movie nights and comedy shows.
“There are a lot of other ar-eas to use for things like mov-ies nights and comedians,” the Allegan junior said. “Along with all the other things we do, whether they be smaller or big-ger events.”
He said the new Events Cen-ter gives the Program Board the chance to attract other big-name acts like Ke$ha and are currently looking into bringing other mainstream musicians to campus.
“That’s one of our goals, (to bring in more musicians), we are currently looking for other concerts for even this year,” Lewis said. “But nothing is set in stone.”
ke$haLewis said Ke$ha will be the
first concert at the new Events Center on Feb. 25 and he ex-pects her to draw quite the crowd.
“We are hoping she sells the place out,” he said.
He said Program Board does not know who the opening acts are yet because Ke$ha has yet to announce the full lineup for the “Get Sleazy” tour.
Lewis said tickets will go on sale Friday for students and will be priced at three different lev-els: $20 for lower tier seats, $16
for middle-level seats and $13 for higher-level seats.
Tickets will go on sale to the general public on Dec. 9, he said, and are priced at $25, $20 and $16 depending on seat lo-cation.
He said the decision to bring Ke$ha to campus was not sole-ly that of the Program Board, but that it received input from other organizations on cam-pus.
“It wasn’t just our decision,” Lewis said. “We talked with different Greek organizations, (Minority Student Services), and athletics and all the stu-dents associated with them.”
Program Board wasn’t origi-nally planning on bringing Ke$ha to campus, but her schedule made it an easy deci-sion, he said.
“She kind of fell into our laps, actually,” he said. “It worked out completely perfect for us, she is playing in Chicago the
day before and in Detroit the day after, so it worked out great.”
New York graduate student Colin Walker said he isn’t sure if he is going to go to the show or not.
Walker said he thinks it is “re-ally cool that CMU could bring a main-stage act like that to campus.”
“If a lot of my friends decide they want to go maybe I will,” Walker said. “But that is the only way I go to concerts typically, because it’s better amongst friends.”
Marcus Freeman said he does not plan to “Get Sleazy” with Ke$ha, especially because of how fast tickets will sell out.
“Tickets will sell out before I even think about it,” the Roch-ester sophomore said. “The same thing happened with Demetri Martin.”
Central michigan life || Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2010 || 13B
gYMnastics | Team to compete in McGuirk Arena
fIle photo by sean proCtorCMU freshman All-Arounder Emily LaFontaine twists in the air while she performs her floor routine during the Chippewa’s 194.250-193.925 loss to rival Kent State on Feb. 13 in Rose Arena. Lafontaine scored an 9.700 on the floor routine and a 9.72 on the uneven bars. The team will compete for another Mid-American Conference title following the championship last year.
By Aaron McMannSports Editor
What a difference a year makes — or, in this case, two years.
With everyone talking about the first game at McGuirk Arena and the opening of the new CMU Events Center, a lot has been happening behind the scenes.
Members of the CMU Athletic Communications office began moving into their new offices last week.
“We’re thrilled and really ex-cited to get into our own space,” said Jason Kaufman, director of Sports Information.
In addition to Kaufman, who already has his own office, As-sistant Sports Information Directors Scott Rex and Mike Boseak will also get their place to work. The two currently share a cramped room in Rose Center with Director of Electronic Me-dia Services Chris Rodela and student assistants on a daily basis.
“It’s been a very unique set-up,” Rex said. “Being over here, we knew it was a temporary fix and I think we’ve done the best we can with it. We’re going to get spoiled pretty quickly with our
new setup down there.”The department has gone
through a ride the past few years. Originally located with University Communications in West Hall, it was moved closer to the athletics department on July 1, 2009.
impRoved videoThe biggest aspect of the
move is the increased video equipment to be installed in McGuirk Arena. In September, the CMU Board of Trustees ap-proved a 30-feet-by, 10-foot video scoreboard. Because of its late addition, it will not be up and running until January.
“It’s going to be as good as anywhere else,” Rodella said. “We’re going to have a full pro-duction going to four camera angles. We’ll have a state-of-the-art replay system that’s being used around other colleges and pro facilities.”
While Rodella said the depart-ment will not be hiring anyone new, they will start using broad-cast students to help facilitate the game day environment.
A group of 10 will be needed for production of a game, while another group sits back and works on live video and editing.
“What they were doing in the past was taking a videotape and digitizing it, capturing it and ed-iting it. It was about a two-day process,” Kaufman said. “Now they’re going to be sitting back in that production room, cap-ture it live and distribute it to the media. We can have a halftime highlight package distributed to news channels before dead-line.”
That was something not pos-sible until now. Rodella said he recounts two years ago when he and former videographer Mike Germond would work on video out of their apartment. Now the athletics website, cmuchippe-was.com, touts itself as one of the largest collections of video.
“A year forward, we’re here. Now we’re moving into the Events Center,” he said. “It shows that there’s a commitment to the video aspect of what we do.”
Among other notable high-lights of the CMU Events Center include a new 12,000-foot bas-ketball and wrestling facility and 10,000 square-foot atrium lob-by, with a fulltime box office for events at the arena and around campus.
Athletic Communications gets new offices, equipment
By rachel Dybicki Staff Reporter
The Events Center will not only be used by CMU sports fans — there are plans to open the center to conferences and events, such as weddings.
The athletic, conference and event scheduling will be taken over by Stan Shingles, assistant vice president of University Recreation, events and conferences. Athletics will
have to submit all schedules to Shingles, who will manage and coordinate practices and com-petitions, said Senior Associate Athletic Director Derek van der Merwe.
“I expect that this events cen-ter will be very busy there is a lot of interest,” he said. “That’s why it was built local and campus and community.”
Events and facility man-agement employees working at the center will be part of a team supporting university recreation to collaborate with groups and effectively run the facility, van der Merwe said. It has always been managed like this; it effectively manages a
lot of moving parts through communication and collabo-ration.
Another location for similar events, Centennial Hall, 306 W. Michigan St., is not expecting a decrease in business from the Events Center.
“I think it’s great, I love the university and I think the more we offer people the better,” said owner Jean Prout.
She will be attending the rib-bon cutting ceremony and then the basketball game afterward.
“I’m not worried it’s just an-other chance we take,” Prout said.
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14B || Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2010 || Central michigan life cm-life.com/category/news/events-center-news[eventS Center]
Volleyball looks forward to return at ‘new’ locationBy nick ConklinStaff Reporter
The 2009 season was one of altered routines and new envi-ronments for the CMU volley-ball team and head coach Erik Olson.
For a coach that had made his home-away-from-home in Rose Arena for the past seven years, Olson was forced to move his team to Finch Fieldhouse this year while renovations were being made to the CMU Events Center.
The team spent its preseason in a dark room in the Student Activity Center, something Ol-son and his players struggled to adapt to.
“All spring long we practiced in a dark SAC room in a small sports room,” Olson said. “The film quality was terrible because it was so dark in there.”
Then the team was displaced
to Finch, where they haven’t competed since Rose Arena was built in 1973.
For the team, the everyday routine they had established changed. The changes were something the team had no control over and were forced to work around.
“It was uncontrollable,” Ol-son said. “It didn’t mess with our heads, but the fact is it was dif-ferent.”
The change in venue, however, did cause some problems in re-gards to the team’s practice style. Because of only having one com-plete court to practice on, they had to shorten specific position work, which caused problems once the season began.
“We could only pass and play defense on the other court,” Ol-son said. “You start to not have quite as good of a middle con-nection with your setter and middles.”
Another issue was the ability for players to access the coach-ing staff. Because the staff main-tained their regular offices in Rose and practices were held in Finch, it was difficult for many of them to get individual time with coaches.
Watching film was also com-plicated by the move because much of the film time took place in a low quality film room.
“It is just little things like that, players didn’t watch as much film this year because of the in-convenience,” Olson said.
However, Olson said that his two visits to the new facility were interesting and he is excited to see what the final product of the new arena will be.
“I think this new facility is going to be gorgeous and we’re really excited to get back into a routine there,” Olson said.
Many businesses sur-rounding Mission Street hope the opening of the renovated Events Center will increase game-day traffic.
Some businesses envision the Events Center as a source of business because students, parents, visitors and fans will celebrate a big win after the game, or enjoy food before the game.
John Hunter expects to see an increase in business at Wayside Central and O’Kelly’s
Sports Bar and Grill, 2000 S. Mission St.
“We are really excited for the new events center. We think it will bring a lot of op-portunities for area business-es besides sporting events, but also concerts and con-ventions,” said Hunter, a co-owner of the business. “We had a chance to tour it and we are impressed with the way it looks. We cannot wait when it is up and running.”
Bryson Church, general manager at Jimmy John’s, 1901 S. Mission St., has al-ready been pleased with the increase of business because of the new Events Center. They have been delivering to Clark Construction Company while they are working on the Events Center.
“We facilitate a delivery
service for teams and pro-vide food for players before and after the games,” he said. “Game days always draw a good amount of people in the store or are a peak for deliver-ies. The better the team is, the bigger the crowd.”
Menna’s Joint, 1418 S. Mission St., hopes the new Events Center will bring more students from the basketball games, said Manager Gus Brush.
“We are walking distance from campus and we are open very late, so students in the past have come to Menna’s after games,” he said. “The new facility should bring in a crowd and any crowd is good. We get wild ones in here. We love to get involved with stu-dents.”
Many surrounding busi-
nesses have one thing in common — the belief there is much more of an excitement for the CMU football games compared to the basketball games, evident when stu-dents are not celebrating be-fore or after basketball games at their businesses.
The new Events Center could possibly be the hype the businesses need to draw in students.
“There is not much of a crowd here after basketball games compared to football games,” said Dan Mackinnon, manager of SIX Lounge, 1901 S. Mission St. “Not very many people attend the basketball games, which does not make Six Lounge any busier than a normal night.”
Brian Stokes, owner of Lil’ Chef, 1720 S. Mission St., also
notices the turnout is far less during basketball games than football games.
“We are very popular dur-ing football season, but not so much during basketball season,” he said. “Although when CMU teams do well, it does tend to pick-up busi-ness.”
Ryan Reedy, owner of The
Grotto, 304 W. Broomfield St., said they would plan for stu-dents and fans to come after football games.
“We don’t particularly get busy before or after basketball games, but the Events Center should make some sort of an impact,” he said.
Local businesses expect more traffic as events Center opens“game days always draw a good amount of people in the store or are a peak for deliveries.
the better the team is, the bigger the crowd.”
Bryson Church, Jimmy John’s general manager
By Michael L. HoffmanStaff Reporter
Dec. 11 marks the day thou-sands of CMU students have labored toward for years — graduation.
It also marks the first time graduates will walk across the stage in the new Events Center.
Commencement Coordina-tor Sharon L. Russel said in an e-mailed statement there are an expected 2,480 graduates receiving degrees this Decem-ber.
“Commencement is the first of many academic events to be held throughout the year in the new Events Center,” she said. “And creating a more fitting set-ting for commencement was one of the driving forces for the renovation.”
Russel said there will be three separate commencement cer-
emonies for the graduates, all being held in the new Events Center — one at 9:30 a.m., one at 1 p.m. and one at 5 p.m.
She said August graduates are also invited to participate in the ceremony. Each ceremony will have its own speaker. The 9:30 a.m. commencement will feature Nancy Schlichting, president and chief executive officer of the Henry Ford Health System.
Brett Holey, a 1982 CMU graduate and director and se-nior broadcast producer of NBC Nightly News, will speak at the 1 p.m. ceremony and Andrew Arena, special agent in charge of the FBI Detroit Division, will speak at the 5 p.m. commence-ment. He is also a 1985 CMU alumnus.
Grosse Pointe Farms gradu-ate student Alex Grabski said he is intrigued by the new Events Center, though he has yet to see it.
He said his degree is more important than the actual cer-emony, though he is attending.
“I’m there for my parents,” Grabski said. “The ceremony
isn’t as significant as the gradu-ation itself and completing the program.”
Niles senior Kate Burchett said she is very excited for com-mencements to be held in the Events Center.
“I think it’s cool, we’re going to be the first class to do it,” Burchett said.
Burchett said she is glad it is inside because it will make it easier for people like her grand-parents to enjoy her graduation without having to sit outdoors for a long period of time.
Russel said the facility will be excellent for families and friends watching their loved ones graduate.
“The new Events Center will provide a more comfortable atmosphere for the graduates’ families and friends,” she said. “We believe that commence-ment is the most important day of a student’s college experi-ence and we look forward to celebrating with the first CMU class to graduate in this beauti-ful facility.”
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fIle photo by sean proCtorSenior forward Laura Baker goes up for a rebound last season against Western Michigan at Rose Arena.
Bradford (Inkster High School), ranked 37th in the country by espn.com, signed her letter of intent a few weeks ago to join the Chippewas for the 2011 season after verbally committing last fall. Joining her are fellow Inkster team-mates Jas’Mine Bracey and Leah Scott, both of whom have earned accolades by the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News.
“In this day and age, it’s all about the pop,” Guevara said. “Kids are looking for some-thing new, exciting and dif-ferent. When you look at it, it’s very impressive – and recruits are seeing that.”
wRestlingComing off his ninth con-
secutive MAC champion-ships title, you’d think wres-tling head coach Tom Borrelli wouldn’t need a whole lot of help with recruiting. After all, the team has used the same wrestling room since 1973, when Rose Center first opened.
But in his 20th season at CMU, Borrelli said the new facility will help even the playing field against peren-nial NCAA championship contenders Iowa, Cornell and Nebraska.
“It helps a lot,” Borrelli said. “Three of the four guys we signed were in the top 60 recruits in the country by In-terMat Magazine.”
Redshirt freshman Craig Keliher – a part of Borrelli’s 2009 recruiting class – said the response from recruits, many of which stayed at his house during visits, was over-whelmingly positive.
“Every time they came
back, they said ‘that’s awe-some,’” Keliher said. “You go around to a lot of big schools and everything looks re-ally nice, but you got to their wrestling room and it looks terrible.”
otheR maC sChools Building
While CMU completes its renovation to the Events Center, other MAC schools are also getting in on the ac-tion.
The University of Toledo completed a $30 million renovation of Savage Arena in November 2008.
“Savage Hall was clearly in need of a renovation,” said UT Director of Athletics Mike O’Brien. “It was built in 1976, so the decision was based on first and foremost the needs to better the environment for our student-athletes.”
Since joining in Toledo in 2002, O’Brien has been instrumental in five major construction projects on campus. He said new build-ings have a positive effect on recruiting.
“Today’s prospects com-pare and contrast those in-stitutions we’re recruiting against,” O’Brien said. “Pros-pects want to see facilities they are spending hours and hours in once they attend an institution.”
In addition, Bowling Green State University will open its Stroh Center in time for the 2011-12 season.
Eastern Michigan and Northern Illinois each opened their convocation centers in 1998 and 2002, respectively.
The day has finally come.Last September, athletics di-
rector Dave Heeke stood side-by-side with several CMU faculty, administrators and community members as ground was broken on a new facility that would house basketball, wrestling, gymnastics and community events.
Now, 14 months later, the $22.5 million CMU Events Center is a reality.
The men’s basketball team opens up against nationally-ranked Temple tonight in what is the main event in a myriad of events scheduled to commemo-rate the opening.
A whole new era begins with the first tip at 7 p.m., but it really began last year.
Immediately, the announce-ment of a new Events Center and arena helped with recruiting.
Men’s basketball head coach Ernie Zeigler landed a recruiting class that ranked first in the Mid-American Conference – before his landmark signing. Then, of course, came Zeigler’s son, Trey, who turned down Michigan, Michigan State and UCLA to stay home. Zeigler called the new fa-cility a sticking point that helped sway his decision to remain in Mount Pleasant.
Sue Guevara was able to get a verbal commitment from Inkster High School standout Crystal Bradford, a Top 40 recruit ac-cording to ESPN, who recently signed her letter of intent to play here next season. Guevara’s 2011 recruiting class was ranked the highest of any Michigan school, according to ESPN.
Both of these recruiting coups are no accident. Guevara said it best a few weeks ago: “Kids are looking for something new, ex-citing and different.”
Good players want to play in top notch facilities. Other MAC schools, such as Eastern Michi-gan and Northern Illinois, were ahead of the curve and built new arenas seven to eight years ago. That has since paid off, giving them an edge in recruiting.
At the same time, fans and alumni will also appreciate the new facilities and authentic feel, something the former Rose Are-
na was lacking.Visitors will be welcomed with
a spacious and open atrium, containing an actual ticket office, similar to EMU’s Convocation Center.
Once inside, a giant mural with various photos decorates the main concourse leading into McGuirk Arena. Having been in-side, I can say with confidence that the atmosphere at games will be much different from years past.
The seating appears closer to the court and the arena, when full, could be a tough place to play for opposing teams.
Now, the ball is in your court to fill it. CMU showed a commit-ment to building a new facility for its athletic programs and the community, now the fans must show a commitment to show up for games and events.
“Kids are looking for something new, exciting and different.
When you look at it, it’s very impressive – and recruits
are seeing that.”Sue Guevara, Women’s basketball head coach
16B || Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2010 || Central Michigan Life www.cm-life.com[events center]
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CMU, an AA/EO institution, strongly and actively strives to increase diversity within its community. CMU provides individuals with disabilities reasonable accommodations to participate in university activities, programs and services. Individuals with disabilities requiring an accommodation should call (888)347-3872.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON USE OF THE CMU EVENTS CENTER, CALL (989) 774-PLAN OR (888) 347-3872
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Contact the Events and Conference Services Office, located in the new CMU Events Center, for everything you need to know about campus
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