Temple’s most recent addition to campus is located on the second floor of Pearson Hall. The new student-athlete lounge was unveiled in late January. The space includes nap pods, gaming consoles, big screen TVs, and unlimited coffee.
“The lounge has everything,” says sophomore football player Kenny Yeboah. “I mean places for us to sit down and relax after class, bunch of TVs, coffee, tea, just a place for us to come and relax. I feel like everybody gets what they deserve, like regular students get what they deserve, they have the TECH and other places to go to.”
While athletes are enjoying the lounge, some students have differing opinions.
“Props to them, they’re doing something that I could never do,” says junior Kalie Onukiavage. “But they already get so much I feel like and it’s like, alright, well why couldn’t we just do a lounge for every student.”
Sophomore Michael Zingrone says, “It’s a nice little thing for, you know, for them to, you know, to get their little sleeps in the sleep pods, you know, do their thing, you know, mingle together as a team.”
“It would be super crowded if there was–if anybody could go into those lounges,” says sophomore Paul Burke. “But I think there should be somewhere for, you know, any other student to go as well.”
The lounge was funded via an undisclosed amount from an investment group known as the New York City Angels. Senior Associate Athletics Director Jeremy Wang explained how they received the funds.
“We’re fortunate enough that in athletics that we have this group that is interested in the welfare and the performance of our student athletes, and this really resonates with them,” says Wang.
The donors have contributed to projects over the last several years in hopes of enhancing the student athlete experience.
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