The University of Tulsa President Carson Responds to Concert Concerns
KTUL-Tulsa - August 21, 2023 6:47 am
Brad Carson is seen in a photo provided Monday, April 5, 2021, by the University of Tulsa. (Background photo: KTUL, file)
TULSA, Okla. (KTUL) — Def Leppard, Motley Crue, and Alice Cooper performed at The University of Tulsa on Wednesday night.
On Thursday, at 9:13 a.m., TU shared a message from its president, Brad Carson, relating to “concerns that have been raised about the recent concert”.
Carson stated the following:
I know that the event inconvenienced many students. We did our best to ease this inconvenience by having off-site parking that was monitored continuously by security guards and cameras, and buses ran between the main campus and the off-site parking location every 15 minutes. There was never a doubt about the safety of people’s vehicles or the safety of students. So why did we host the concert? It’s simple. Bringing people to our beautiful campus is always a good thing, and bringing concerts to Tulsa is also part of our public mission. However, the reason we hosted this show is that it is very lucrative for TU, and we can always use the revenue. An education at TU costs about $50K/year per student. That’s the cost of our excellent faculty & facilities. It’s the cost of a 9:1 student-faculty ratio. Not a single student at TU pays that amount though, and most pay far less. How do we make up this difference? By raising money every single year. We put the money we raise toward student services. In this case, the revenue from the concert will allow us to complete two projects. First, we will build out our Chick-fil-A to serve three meals a day, six days a week. Second, we will complete construction on a Starbucks in McFarlin Library. Both projects will greatly improve student life, and, yes, they are paid for by the concert. I know that this answer will not satisfy everyone, but when you get your pumpkin spice latte or your Chick-fil-A sandwich, do know that Motley Crue is footing the bill.
