It’s a very special place where we send our graduates out into the world.” “This arena is much more than the site of championship basketball. “Obviously, the arena’s transformation will strengthen our visibility on a national level for our basketball programs,” said President Eric Spina, who over the weekend led graduation exercises at the venue. Yet, they emphasized a desire to keep the “soul” of the arena intact.ĮXCLUSIVE: Blueprints show major changes ahead UD officials Thursday quickly cast the massive undertaking as a necessary investment in the future of the school, the Dayton region and the Atlantic 10 conference. That figure - reported by this and other news outlets and uncontested by UD spokespeople - was based on construction permits filed by the university to date. The cost of renovations will be far higher than revealed in public city of Dayton documents earlier this week, which cited a $12.5 million project. Many pre-construction preparations are already underway behind-the-scenes and heavy work - and an aggressive fundraising effort - will begin in about three weeks. Implemented in three phases until fall 2019, the transformation of the Dayton Flyers’ arena will not impact in-season or championship basketball, officials said. HARTSOCK: What’s old is new again at UD Arena “That’s how unbelievable this project is going to be.” "But we had four amazing years and so we have all of that t think about and relive.“If someone hadn’t been here in 10 years, but came here after this is over, they’re going to actually think that they tore the arena down and built a new one,” said local real estate mogul Larry Connor, a major investor in the privately-funded project.
“We had the last three or so months taken away," Powell said. She hopes her other classmates will look past the last few months and remember the good memories. “Other things will probably fade and I’ll forget the parties and whatever, but the soccer stuff, that was just really special to be a part of the team," she said. She says she will cherish the memories she made at UD forever, especially on the soccer field. Powell graduated with a pre-med degree and plans to continue school at Xavier to get a nursing degree. “I definitely think people would come back for it, even if they live far away because everyone loves Dayton so much," Powell said. “I promise, I promise that we will come together again with the proper commencement with all the traditional pomp and circumstance," Spina said. But President Spina made it clear that this video would not replace a traditional commencement. The video shown to all of the spring graduates included messages of congratulations from professors and memories through the year. “I dearly wish that I were looking out at a sea of your beautiful faces at UD Arena right now, but I feel your presence deep in my heart," Eric Spina, the president of the University of Dayton said.
“It’s just not how I expected my senior year to end, that’s for sure," Powell said. “I was really looking forward to this semester just because this was the first semester where I wasn’t on any drugs or chemo or anything and didn’t have soccer so I was just a student," Powell said.īut instead, Powell and her fellow classmates finished the year online and with a virtual graduation celebration. After dealing with a desmoid tumor her entire college career as well as playing soccer, she wanted a normal last couple of months at UD. Powell was especially looking forward to her last semester on campus. And then it did and it’s like well shoot, what are we supposed to do?” “There’s no way that campus closes, like Dayton to Daytona, like it’s not going to get canceled," Powell said. But her senior year, like most others, didn’t end as planned. The university promised its students that it would host an in-person commencement once the current health crisis is cleared and large gatherings are allowed once again.Īlex Powell is one of almost 1500 students receiving an undergraduate degree at the University of Dayton this weekend.UD shared a video for all grads to celebrate their accomplishments.The University of Dayton had a record near 3,000 graduates between December and May graduations.But the school still plans to give the students the ceremony they deserve. It’s not how seniors envisioned their college careers coming to end. DAYTON, Ohio- Like many schools across the country, the University of Dayton held a virtual graduation ceremony this weekend.
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