As flagged yesterday UCLA Athletics have been desperately trying to delete or hide the avalanche of Facebook comments blasting their dishonest ploy to banish students behind the baseline of new Pauley. They are trying to plug the dike of Bruin unrest with cut and paste talking points. Now that they have "adjusted" their Facebook page, the feedback from alums and students have gotten moved off the frontpage.
We hope you will keep the comments coming. If you have not done it yet, make sure to post your thoughts here and cross post it in the comment thread here or if you have a Facebook account you can post it here. To give you an idea of the level of disappointment and frustration from Bruin alums and students have been pouring on over at that Facebook page, we offer you some examples.
If the decision to move the students behind the basket at Pauley is not a financial one, then please explain why they cannot simply have a larger sideline section.
I no longer have faith in the athletics administration to make well-reasoned and fair decisions. The athletes will get the worst of this. They deserve to be playing in front of a supportive and visible student body. I guarantee that student attendance, visibility, and enthusiasm will be drastically reduced by the new seating arrangements.
I'm done supporting UCLA Athletics as an organization. I will still cheer for the Bruins (and our tremendous student athletes), but I won't be paying to upgrade my seats at the Rose Bowl this year, or purchasing basketball tickets. As a young alumni, it can be difficult to fit support for your school into a constrained budget. Now I have zero reason to do so.
As a UCLA alum and donor to the Wooden Athletic Fund, I must admit that I am disappointed at the proposed seating arrangement for the students (a.k.a., "The Den") in the new Pauley Pavilion seating plan. I remember being a student camping out to get passes for sideline seats, and would stand, cheer and yell the whole game. As an alum that's the kind of excitement I would want the world to see surrounding UCLA basketball, not old people like myself sitting and chatting and not even filling the seats until halftime.
I also believe comparing UCLA's student seating arrangements to other Pac-12 schools is a mistake. UCLA competes on a national stage and should be looking at seating arrangements at nationally-recognized basketball programs like Duke, Kentucky, or Kansas, all of which have been rated as having the some of the best student sections in college basketball.
UCLA Athletics have single-handedly made me regret my decision to attend UCLA for the first time in two years. My sister has a lot of friends who got in this year and I will tell them all that UCLA is a great school, unless you want to athletic events to be a part of your experience.
More on the other side.
I recently attended a Den meeting and found out that the average age a UCLA alumni makes their first donation back to the school is around 56. We then spent a half hour coming up with programs and ways to lower that average age. Here's one: Don't screw us over while we are students here.
UCLA Athletics... are you just not going to respond to what obviously is the biggest issue on this page? Read below the majority of students...and ALUMNI! all want the students back on the sideline. Don't dupe the students put them back on the sideline.
I have to give this page credit for not deleting our posts AGAIN.
Actually, no I don't. Ignoring them and pretending we don't exist is worse. The people posting are the heart and soul of UCLA athletics. You love us when it's convenient. And ignore us when it isn't. That isn't the attitude or ethical response I would expect from my school...l. Why doesn't Dan have the courtesy to respond to his fellow alumni on a major issue like this?
As far as I'm concerned, it's time for www.FireDanGuerrero.com . We'll see how long it is until this post is deleted...
You have to invest in the future. You have to invest in your future donors. Students should sit courtside. If you want to have devoted alumni, you have to show them some love and devotion to students. Did you notice when we played Oregon in their new, beautiful arena, that for the first half or so, the seats looked empty? It looked terrible! It appeared as if Duck fans just didn't care about basketball. All those rich, corporate donors, couldn't be bothered to be in their seats with a 2 pm start --and this was only the Ducks' second game in the place. If you want the games to look exciting and inviting, the students should sit sideline, facing the tvs. The Bruins are going to have some ups and downs...but the students will always support them. We need to support the students.
It was a shame when the students lost their mid-level seats and the band got pushed to behind the basket. It would be a travesty if the students were all banished from the sidelines.
Hello Morgan Center: Let's straighten this thing out. It's not too late. Put the students back on the sidelines at Pauley the way Coach Wooden intended.
Taking away sideline seating from the students is an absolutely ridiculous idea. As a UCLA alum, I would gladly give up the opportunity to be courtside if it means that students - with all their energy and passion - are allowed to occupy the (entire) sideline. The students need to come first.
I will not be making contributions to UCLA or UCLA Athletics until the students are returned to the sidelines of Pauley. Give the students a chance to impact the game, or watch us slide further into basketball obscurity.
As a senior next year, I will not be able to "benefit" from the supposed improvements to the Pauley experience, instead having to follow my Bruins around SoCal next basketball season. I am, however, appalled at the lack of concern for the student experience demonstrated by the new seating plan- the day that UCLA is clearly more concerned with dollars and cents than with the student experience (not to mention home-court advantage!!!) is the day that it ceases to be a true public school, for the students and for the people, and begins to resemble more and more private businesses like the joke across town. As a Bruin, I refuse to let this happen. Losing Coach Nikki was bad enough- stop misleading your own family, and give the students courtside seats!!!
The energy is incredible. It is not letting up. Keep it going.
These comments are blowing away any notion that this scam was supported by students (except for few misguided and mislead impressionable "leaders." They also show how rank and file students and Bruins alums are united on this.
We hope students can take the next step, take some initiatives, and intensify this energy on campus.