Letter to the Editor: App State is too big for its britches
September 16, 2022
Dear Editor,
I have been a student at App State since 2019, and I don’t know if this gives any credibility to my argument, but I wanted to point out some things that are happening to the town and school I love so much. I will say this again and again and die on the sword of the fact that App State and Boone have reached a climactic point in their relationship and that is this year. If they fail to address this point, they compromise not only the well-being of the town, but the well-being of the university as well. Simply put, App State is too big for its britches. We have far too many students for the size of our campus and our available facilities. Let me give you some examples. The university is obviously recognizing the size increase of our student body with various changes that they have implemented this year.
Starting with the new swipe-based meal plan, there have been countless complaints of lack of options, length of lines and quality of food. App State made a change to the meal plan, but made no changes to the options and venues available. We’ve actually lost dining options since this plan has changed, including McAlister’s, which was a very popular spot for many students. The swipe system also limits students who have special food needs, such as diabetes and specific allergies. Students who only have 30 minutes to grab food in between classes have to wait in lines, stretching all the way out to Varsity Gym, simply to swipe in. This was the first indicator for me that we are becoming too big.
Second, let’s talk about our football team, whose success is a huge factor in our expanding growth as a university. I would like to preface by saying that I am a huge football fan. I was pulled here partially because of the football program as well. When I first started here in 2019, students were guaranteed access to all football games. No Student Yosef Club membership. No lottery. Not even a ticket claim website. Simply swipe your AppCard and you’re in. In 2020, due to COVID-19 and limited capacity, they moved to a limited entry system operating on a lottery, which I actually loved. Finally in 2021, they moved to a ticket claim system which is what we have now. With App State’s recent success and massive influx of students, we are experiencing high demand for entrance into games, where we can’t even guarantee students entry. Kidd Brewer Stadium has a capacity of 30,000, but the recent UNC game broke that record with a total attendance of 40,168 fans. If that’s not enough of a figure of our growth, then I don’t know what is. Boone was shut down as 40,000 flocked in to watch App State vs UNC. The 2020 census marked Boone at a total population of approximately 20,000 people.
With App State’s recent win over Texas A&M, who was ranked sixth in the nation, we got our biggest win since our 2007 win versus Michigan, but it resulted in chaos. King Street was rushed, various points of campus were vandalized, the Duck Pond became a community swimming pool and an art installation in that same pond was destroyed by flocking fans. I love sports more than anyone else, and the magnitude of the win is consistently showing, even College GameDay is coming to Boone, or already came depending on when this is published, but it is also showing lots of disrespect toward our town, university and locals. This comes a week after Wey Hall was broken into and vandalized following the UNC game. There is a lifelong civil war between arts and sports, and sports will never lose. Arts is an extremely under-funded, under-valued and under-appreciated community while the latter is not. App State football finished construction on a $50 million dollar end zone facility and received $1.5 million dollars for simply playing Texas A&M. The arts community in Boone struggles to throw together funds to be supported and the animosity between the two has reached an all time high. The most disheartening part about this is there is zero remorse from any fans for the destruction of these statues. The comments end up being “The baby was ugly,” “Y’all obviously aren’t sports fans,” “It was a huge win,” or my favorite “Sh– happens.” There is zero justification for these actions, but the fans and students blow over it. While this has gotten me off my initial argument, it’s important to bring up because these actions will only further continue as the university continues to grow. These rowdy fans are establishing a dangerous precedent that has brought plenty of attention to App State, via Instagram posts from ESPN, Barstool and other national media outlets, and will bring plenty more students to App State.
Finally there has been a problem that has failed to be addressed consistently for years and that is the local student housing market. There are not enough affordable student living options off campus and as our student body grows, the on-campus ones will fail to exist as well. This is obviously a much harder solution to fix quickly, but it is a large factor in the argument that App State may need to consider cutting off its growth and staying stagnant as the town around them catches up. A lack of affordable housing is complemented by a lack of affordable parking offered by the school and community. There simply are not enough places to park in Boone for all the students we bring in. The community’s answer to this was AppalCart, a free transportation system. But most of the time, the buses are packed to the brim and are inconsistent, providing unreliable transportation to and from campus. Also students forced to live off-campus may not live near AppalCart stops forcing them to find an alternate mode of transportation.
All this being said, I believe we have reached a grand climax in the relationship of Boone and App State. App State needs to either cut off their enrollment to allow the university, town and community to adjust or take over Boone fully. The two are failing to co-exist and will simply not co-exist. We are not a Columbia, a Chapel Hill, or a Charlotte. We are Boone, a town that doubles its population when students come to campus. App State’s response to their growing enrollment is tearing down buildings and building new ones on top of them. I hate to tell you App State, you are running out of space. So what will you do? Expand further into Boone? Cut off your enrollment? Or continue your reckless behavior that is destroying the High Country we know and love?
Sincerely,
A concerned student.
B.Bynum • Sep 29, 2022 at 9:46 pm
Fall 1973, my 1st year at ASU, 906 Bowie dorm, The BI, Broome Kirk Gym, walking everywhere, no bus to carry you, mostly girls on the east side of campus, guys on west side. Nothing but trees and green grass pass Newland dorm, the only girl’s dorm on that side of campus, all upper-classmen girls though. Conrad Stadium seats 10,000, no ESPN dictating the days and times you play football. No beer in Boone, you have to travel to Blowing Rock, to Antlers, Villa Maria, Library Club and a few more for social gathering. Winkler Hall (we call it the Towers) to open fall 1974. Oh yes, the main thing was ASU was a teacher’s college, anything to do with education you can get a degree. If you came out of ASU, with an education degree, you had a job, just about anywhere you wanted to go. ASU graduates are picked over Duke, Carolina and any more schools in the south, for teaching jobs. The professors and coaches at ASU were mostly veterans of World War Two, so they had seen the elephant. Professors realize that there was more to life then sports and class. The football team only had four coaches, one color uniform pant, helmet, home and away jersey, oh yes, the school colors then were Black and Old Gold. Sports did not run the school, sports were just something students used as a distraction. ASU did not cut out teams to help pay for a new field house. Students were not worried about the names of dorms, we had green grass and trees everywhere and a student could work enough at a summer job to pay for your education, no student loans. Students did not worry about food insecurity; we just opened a can of soup.
Now let’s look at App State today, App State, a name someone made up not to complete with Arizona State, even though ASU started in 1899, Arizona was not a state till 1912. Let’s move forward to 2022, student population doubles to 20,000 plus, everyone wonders where is the green space is, App State needs more of everything, dorms, class rooms, teachers, support staff. Students have more debt than ever before. But no one thinks to look at activity fees, students now support everything from new classrooms, football fields, dorms, the list goes on. If you, the student wants it, you the student can pay for it. Remember this, the State Government controls tuition, the board of trustees’ ok’s fees, and there is no limit on how high fees can go. So, when you graduate and have debt in the thousands, just remember everything you are paying for.
In 1977, the chancellor Herbert Wey warned of that ASU was getting too big, and could not maintain the standards the school had set. Now it’s 2022, the school has shortages everywhere, food, housing, student needs and all chancellor Everts wants is more students.
Leo • Sep 24, 2022 at 10:58 pm
I share all of your thoughts. One thing Ive learned in my time up here is that the university administration doesn’t have any regard for what anyone other than their bottom line wants. You gotta organize against the university if anything is going to get done. Talk to student groups & community organizations around here, the university administration won’t even meet with folks to discuss certain things. Organize your neighbors, your jobs & apartment complexes to make these folks have to do something.
Kweta Danner • Sep 21, 2022 at 8:19 pm
Well said!!
Graham • Sep 21, 2022 at 9:13 am
Well said.
Naomii • Sep 20, 2022 at 7:18 pm
Sheri was promised hundred of thousands of dollars in a salary bonus if she got her student population above 20,000. It’s sad that our well being is boiled down to dollars.
Richard • Sep 20, 2022 at 5:30 pm
Couldn’t agree more, hit all the points that I’ve been thinking about myself. Something needs to change.
Emma • Sep 20, 2022 at 8:42 am
Very well spoken. The university has a responsibility to the town. Unfortunately, the Chancellor has a lot to do with the direction Appalachian is going and two votes of no confidence by faculty have gotten ASU nowhere. Everts has removed anyone not loyal to her from the board of trustees, so it would be up to the state to act on her removal. Everts has been a terrible choice for Boone and ASU. Can’t wait until she’s gone.
David Anthony • Sep 20, 2022 at 5:27 am
Yeah. Town people complain about the school and their sneaky distasteful students. Visitors complain about Boone being to crowded. NOW, students complain too. Try complaining to the DOT/General Assembly and get them to spend a dollar on the Boone/Watauga County area. Then turn to that sorry bunch at the UNC Board of Governor’s. Oh and by-the-way , nobody goes to Boone anymore because it’s always too crowded.
Kevin • Sep 19, 2022 at 4:55 pm
I’ve been a resident of Boone for about 6 years now, came here initially for college. During that span of time, Boone has received lots of attention at a national scale from being talked about on the New York Times to being featured everytime on ESPN when AppState Football does something remarkable. That’s supposed to be a good thing, getting more publicity brings economic growth to the area. But from a financial standpoint, it is illogical to rush that growth when you don’t approach things in a sustainable manner. This article states exactly what I’ve been saying for some time, before AppState can continue expanding, the town of Boone needs to catch up (not by adding more apartments that only kick out local residents and families) but by bringing in avenues that keeps that population while also improving on the infrastructure. I’ve been to towns not so popular as Boone but they have good roads with not much traffic, they have properly marked bike lanes and sidewalks. Appalcart is revolutionary especially for a small town in the American Appalachia. But once again, the infrastructure cannot sustain this kind of rapid growth. That’s usually how financial bubbles start, which they eventually bust . The folks at the Town of Boone need to stop giving special privileges to the university and they need to focus on the longterm expectations for the community as a whole.
Chris • Sep 21, 2022 at 1:07 am
Well said. As a former student 12 years ago, I saw many students struggling financially to pay college and working two jobs trying to pay tuition. While the sport programs rake in not only millions of dollars, but the student who borrowed money had to pay athletic fees on loans to pay back. Sports is now a idol and god, and ASU priorities are all screwed up. Why not use that recent 1.2 million of Football money to assist students financially in History, Music, Arts, Nursing,Business and Education? Coaches makes more than Professors and Administration staff??
Paul • Sep 19, 2022 at 4:50 pm
Narrator: they will choose option C, “continue [their] reckless behavior that is destroying the High Country we know and love”
Linda Hawkins • Sep 19, 2022 at 4:08 pm
Well said, I lived there in the early 1990’s and will be moving back soon . My daughter grew up there and wanted her children to have a wonderful, happy and safe life there and she and her husband and two daughters live there. When I went to visit them in Boone I hardly recognized the town it has changed so much. My granddaughter attends APP.STATE and so did I . There was nothing done when a known sex offender jumped into the backseat of her vehicle and kidnapped her forcing her to drive him someplace. She felt like the college or law enforcement didn’t care. leaving in a very traumatic condition. She went for help and didn’t get it . Boone has changed and there are too many people for such a small town. It was made no sense in destroying the artwork , the duck house and traumatizing the poor ducks snd from what was told one duck was found dead. These sweet loving ducks that everyone loved and fed them should not been exposed to such cruelty. Yes, I’m moving back but only because my family and best friend are there.
Heather • Sep 19, 2022 at 3:35 pm
While this is true, what isn’t being addressed here is that local people that actually live in Boone have been saying this for years. You think it’s hard finding student housing? Try being a resident who is fighting to find a full time job and an affordable place to live with their family when 20,000 students are renting every affordable place there is. I understand your argument but it is too one-sided, and to say that App needs to wait for Boone to catch up makes it sound as if you think App should take priority over the people who actually live and work in Boone. Maybe App needs to think about curbing its growth simply because it is the right thing to do given the fact that there just isn’t any more room to expand. Alas, ASU seems to have the same opinion as its football fan base – “sh*! happens”. App has already proven it is hell bent on destroying Boone at all costs- all that matters is student body count and pigskin money.
Terry Taylor • Sep 19, 2022 at 3:17 pm
A couple of corrections. The Town of Boone was not shut down on the day we played UNC. I live in Old Downtown Boone. I drove drove to Earth Fare and back, and was not hindered. I then walked to the game from home and back and witnessed nothing shut down.
Regarding the sculpture in the Duck Pond, it was not destroyed, but damaged. I took photos of it the Monday following the game and it was floating and actually looked fine. It had an arm missing likely caused by swimmers climbing on it. It should be pointed out that the Duck Pond is a traditional site to celebrate after big game wins, and the Yosef and Daniel Boone sculptures adjacent to the Pond have been through several celebrations along the way with no damage. They were obviously built to withstand being climbed on. Public art is vulnerable to vandalism no matter the location, not just college campus’s.
Judy eggers • Sep 19, 2022 at 12:19 pm
Well said
jgc • Sep 18, 2022 at 10:19 am
well said
Phyllis Banther • Sep 17, 2022 at 8:34 pm
YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT. SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE DONE. IM NOT A CITIZEN OF BOONE. BUT I WILL NOT GO THERE ANYMORE DUE TO THE OVERCROWDING. ITS DANGEROUS
Tim Elgin • Sep 17, 2022 at 12:21 am
Being from SC and a few miles from Clemson, I have seen a middle sized school in a small town exploded to become what Clemson is today. A few years ago I told my wife that Boone is becoming just like Clemson. At Clemson there isn’t much distinguishing the town from the campus and the two work together fairly well. For Boone to do the same they will need to intertwine together the funding, community plans and infrastructure to grow as a grand community for both students and locals as well as the tourists and visitors alike.