ESTABLISHED 1826 — OLDEST COLLEGE NEWSPAPER WEST OF THE ALLEGHENIES
Volume 170 No. 11
Miami University — Oxford, Ohio
FRIDAY, MARCH 13, 2026
The $281 million question: Who’s paying Underestimated, for the arena project? but never daunted: The Eian Elmer story COOPER MENEGHETTI STAFF WRITER
STUDENTS ENJOY THE WARM WEATHER BY TANNING ON COOK FIELD. PHOTO BY SEAN MCGLYNN
EVELYN DUGAN
ASST. CAMPUS AND COMMUNITY EDITOR The new arena project on Cook Field has raised questions around the Miami University community since it was first announced in February 2025. While ROTC students worried about their facilities being moved, intramural sports teams debated a replacement location choice, students raised concerns over tuition impacts and faculty rattled about program cuts, the underlying question remained unclear: who will pay for the new arena? The project, now labeled at up to $281 million, according to the uni-
In this issue
versity, includes a new sports arena, a parking lot and the relocation of both the ROTC program and recreational fields. It does not include a hotel or restaurant, as those would be separately funded. On top of the near-$300 million, the university will have to pay off interest on the debt it accumulates from issuing bonds. David Creamer, senior vice president for finance and business services, said the interest rate is estimated to be at 4.2%. “There’s probably going to be — in addition to the $280 million that’s borrowed — about, if I recall, $90 million in interest over the life of the debt,” Creamer said.
SARAH KENNEL
Miami report lists 5 years of hazing violations in fraternities, sports teams - page 4
OPINION
Exporting my final layout - page 11
SPORTS
‘We don’t want to get stagnant’: Miami men’s basketball enters MAC tournament undefeated - page 6
CULTURE
Styles’ new style: A ‘Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally’ review - page 8
terim Vice President for University Advancement Jill Gaby wrote the fundraising goal is established at $75 million. $500,000, which is less than 1% of the goal, has been pledged so far. Gaby said Miami is considering incentivizing donations through recognition opportunities including potential naming opportunities for the arena and spaces within it. The financial risks of large construction projects are worrisome for some stakeholders because of broader demographic trends facing higher education.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 5
Miami tackles the impact of waste from record-breaking crowds at Millett Hall GREENHAWKS EDITOR
CAMPUS & COMMUNITY
Miami already has an outstanding debt of more than $432 million, according to the Oxford Free Press. The arena will be funded through the issuance of bonds, although none of these loans have been issued to investors yet. The debt service for the arena project will be funded through an increased annual draw on investment income of $10.2 million per year for 25 years and annual savings from retiring debt. Creamer said the project will take 25% of the non-endowment fund, which is unrestricted and controlled by the Board of Trustees. The project will also partially be funded through donations. In an email to The Miami Student, In-
Miami University’s undefeated basketball teams have brought record-breaking crowds to Millett Hall this spring. These unprecedented crowds have also resulted in unprecedented waste, as concessions demands rise. In response, physical facilities and dining services are working to accommodate demands while reducing food waste and promoting recycling. Director of Sustainability Olivia Herron helped to collect and sort trash during a waste audit following the home game against the University of Massachusetts on Jan. 27. Herron said she hoped to understand what waste was being produced and how effectively it was being recycled. The crowd of over 9,000 fans generated 1,600 pounds of waste, with 404 pounds of that going toward recycling. “It’s really fun that basketball is getting all of this very well earned, well-deserved attention,” Herron
said. “There was more waste than my office had seen at a basketball game before, but we knew that higher attendance would mean higher waste.” Herron said fans were highly accurate when choosing which items to recycle, and that very little waste was incorrectly mixed in. To Herron, the amount of aluminum cans she was seeing in the trash, rather than the recycling, was the biggest problem. After they moved recyclable items – such as aluminum cans – from trash to recycling bins, diversion rates increased from 13% to 38%. Sustainability engagement coordinator Alex Miller also took part in the waste audit and said she shared this concern. “We were really, really shocked at the amount of cans and plastic bottles that were in the landfill, because for us, we [thought that was] recycling 101,” Miller said. “Those were the two things that we were like, ‘We’ve really got to do something here.’” One strategy the Office of Sustainability will be implementing following the regular season are signs near
trash and recycling bins encouraging patrons to recycle aluminum cans and plastic bottles. Herron said she hopes the hyper-specific nature of the signage will make this initiative more effective than other recycling signage in campus buildings that feature instructions for a larger amount of items. Miller said concerns about food waste have also prompted the Office of Sustainability to have conversations with stakeholders around campus, including Dining Services, regarding how to divert potential food waste from unsold concessions. “Food waste is horrible for these environmental things, but also, the social and financial impacts of it are not great,” Miller said. “. . . [We’re] just making sure that we’re doing what we can but not making anyone’s lives too difficult. It’s definitely spurred a lot of conversations, and I think a lot of great stuff will come out of it.” CONTINUED ON PAGE 13
Refocused women’s basketball takes first game in MAC tournament over Kent State DEVIN MCCARTIN
THE MIAMI STUDENT The Miami University RedHawks women’s basketball team captured its first postseason victory with a 6558 win over the Kent State University Golden Flashes at the Mid-American Conference (MAC) tournament. The RedHawks are set to face the Ohio University Bobcats at Rocket Mortgage Arena in Cleveland on March 13. The RedHawks captured the MAC regular season crown after a home win against Kent State on March 4. It was the first regular season title for Miami in 22 years. Miami wrapped up its regular season on March 7 with a 77-62 loss to Ohio, setting the stage for a rematch in Cleveland. The RedHawks won every home game this year too, going 14-0 at Millett Hall. They are now preparing for a three-game run this weekend to
THE MIAMI WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM PLAYS AT MILLETT HALL AGAINST OHIO ON JAN. 31. PHOTO BY SARAH FROSCH
send them to March Madness. The RedHawks haven’t made the dance since 2008: the last time they won the MAC championship. After a 19-12 season and first round exit in the MAC tournament
last year, the 2025-26 MAC Coach of the Year Glenn Box came into this season with a vengeance. CONTINUED ON PAGE 7
Crossing over the Ohio River on Cincinnati's iconic Roebling Bridge sits the oddly shaped town of Covington, Kentucky. Like any other neighborhood in the country, one can expect to see brothers fiercely dueling in an intense game of one-on-one basketball in their driveway. In the late 2000s, however, something special was happening just outside the lights of the Queen City. An older brother, Donovan, was teaching his younger brother the foundational skills of the sport. At the moment, it might’ve seemed like any other family in the United States, but those skills would eventually lead that younger brother to become an impactful figure on a basketball team — one that would join a small group of teams that have gone undefeated in the regular season. Although it sits in the Bluegrass state, Covington is where the journey began for one of Miami University basketball’s unsung heroes: junior wing Eian Elmer. Jumping forward to June 2022, Elmer received his first Division I offer from Northern Kentucky University after what he describes as a slow recruitment process. It wasn't long until Miami basketball took notice of Elmer’s athleticism, and head coach Travis Steele offered him to be part of his inaugural freshmen recruiting class. Elmer would commit soon after the offer arrived. CONTINUED ON PAGE 6
Shannon Mahoney elected next editor-inchief of The Miami Student MOLLY FAHY
SENIOR STAFF WRITER In the crowded newsroom, located on the third floor of Armstrong Student Center, Shannon Mahoney, a sophomore strategic communication and creative writing major, was elected to be the next editor-in-chief of The Miami Student on March 8. Mahoney, who has served as assistant Campus and Community editor for more than a year, said she plans to focus on building and improving relationships outside The Student newsroom by working with other student media organizations on campus, such as Redhawk Radio and Redhawk Television News, and making the newsroom more accessible to new and returning writers. “I really learned a lot in the past year and a half,” Mahoney said. “I looked around, [and] I realized that I had real ideas about what I could bring, initiatives I could do [and] ways I could shape this newsroom.” Sarah Kennel, editor of the GreenHawks section, voted for Mahoney and said she is excited to see how she brings the newspaper together. “I sat down with [Mahoney] before [the election] and talked about GreenHawks,” Kennel said. “She was able to provide me with a good feeling going forward, as a smaller section of the newspaper, on how I'm going to get support and build connections. I felt very supported in our conversation.” Part of Mahoney’s initiatives includes “TMS Workshops,” a series of gatherings where The Student newsroom will be open one or two times a month for all editors and writers to come in and work together. Writers would be able to sit down, ask questions, get help with their stories and connect with other staffers outside their normal section. CONTINUED ON PAGE 5