Our University has a long tradition of focusing on student development and wellness. We’ve always believed that student engagement in healthy activities promotes both personal growth and academic success.

Likewise, our Athletics Department has a long and successful history of supporting our students. It provides a plethora of engagement opportunities, from recreational and intramural activities to high-level varsity sports.

Drop by the Athletic Centre on any day or night and you will get a sense of the high level of activity. Every day, hundreds of people walk through the turnstiles. In October alone, just over 6,300 individuals used the facilities.

Over 7,000 students participate in intramural activities, and our varsity program is one of the largest in the country with close to 700 athletes playing various sports each year.

We also work closely with our community, providing sports and development camps for hundreds of children annually and opening our facilities and programs to the public. In fact, 2,670 children were registered in camps this past summer.

Athletics is also a place that helps to develop our school spirit — who can forget this year's Homecoming football game with more than 7,000 fans in the stands?

While U of G is a leader in this area, we are falling behind in our facilities. The Mitchell Athletics Centre was once considered cutting-edge. But it was built in 1941 with small expansions in 1957 and in the early 90’s.

We are now a school close to 20,000 students, and everyone who uses the facility knows that it simply does not meet today’s standards or needs. We have simply made due while other universities have built state- of-the-art fitness and recreation facilities.

Our students recognized this shortfall and passed a referendum to raise funds for a new Athletics Complex. The plan is to create a place that will engage all students. It will include facilities for all sorts of physical activities as well as meeting rooms and congregation space for all to enjoy.

I encourage everyone to review this short video about our vision for this project. It’s an exciting one! It’s also something that all of us should support.

Everyone benefits from having healthier, happier students on campus. And all of us — faculty, staff, alumni and community members — will be able to utilize the many offerings and opportunities that this new facility will provide.

It’s for this reason that the new athletics facility has been identified as one of the priorities for the Better Planet Project. I encourage you to consider supporting this important initiative that will help us build a stronger student body and a stronger community.