Photos showing the contrast between one of Louisiana Tech University’s classrooms and its football locker room have sparked a fierce debate online.
The two photos were uploaded onto Twitter on February 3 by Joe Dunman and claimed to show a gulf in quality between a run-down classroom and its football team’s locker room.
In the post, Dunman said: “On the left, a university classroom. On the right, that same university’s football locker room.”
The photo of the run-down classroom showed rows of chairs, scuffed wall marks and several missing ceiling tiles that had not been replaced.
In contrast, the pristine locker room appeared well-kept, clean and had been fitted with huge displays for the college’s logo and star players.
Since being uploaded the post has attracted some 209,800 likes and more than 32,100 retweets.
Newsweek has contacted Louisiana Tech regarding the authenticity of the two photos and has approached the college for further comment.
Despite the unclear nature of when the photographs were taken, the post itself has generated a wider discussion about how colleges spend their money and the state of their facilities.
One commenter, who shared an article about Oregon State’s $153m stadium renovation, said: “My university’s spending over $100 million dollars in student tuition to update its football stadium.
“Meanwhile buildings such as the one where the social science classes such as ethnic studies and anthropology are held has a roach problem, mold and asbestos in the walls.”
Another shared his experience while teaching and posted: “I taught for five years in a middle school classroom like the left side damaged, falling toles from a long standing roof leak.
“But the district athletic facility got a major overhaul, with state of the art weight room. HS [high school] had just got a brand new gym. I had mold and damaged books.”
One Twitter user tried to justify the apparent difference in quality, adding: “The football program brings in millions of $ for the school.
“It’s really simple. They need the best facilities to attract the best talent to make the most money. Can’t say the same for the student in that classroom. That said, the students did pay a lot of money to be there.”
According to the Monroe News-Star, Louisiana Tech reported losses in three of the last four years.
In 2019-20 it generated a $37,560 profit with operating revenue that reached nearly $25 million.
The outlet added football brought in the most revenue, more than combining other sports, at $4,063,752.
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