Barbell Club faces eviction

The administration recently gave the Barbell Club an eviction notice for July 1, after notifying the club early last October that its space in the O'Keefe Gym was needed for the women's volleyball team.

Robert Thompson, Senior Vice President of Administration and Finance, sent a letter containing the notice to all involved parties on April 29, the Friday before the last week of Fall semester.

The club is continuing to fight to keep its current location in the basement of the O'Keefe Gym.

Tech administrators intend to use the location to provide locker facilities for the women's volleyball team, which regularly competes in O'Keefe gym.

This renovation is a result of efforts by the Athletic Association to bring the volleyball team into compliance with Title IX regulations, which require the team to have locker facilities in the same building that it competes.

Michael Kim, president of the Barbell Club, said, "Initially, we were told that we would have to give up only about half the space for the locker facilities. Now, however, we are informed that we will have to surrender all our space."

In order to provide justification for the move, the administration conducted a survey to investigate the needs of the volleyball team for locker and related space.

The survey was part of the planning process performed by a committee that studied those needs, documented in a report attached to the aforementioned letter.

"In the beginning nobody knew exactly how much space was necessary," Thompson said, "and that was why a planning committee was asked to do a study of these needs. The committee surveyed the locker room of the women's basketball team. They looked at the exact amount of space they had for specific purposes as one benchmark in their study."

Kim was expecting more justification. "When asked the reason for this change in space requirement," he said, "the administration told us that this was a result of a survey, which had not been performed earlier."

The committee's conclusion, as documented in the administration's report, was that the volleyball team required 3698 square feet out of the 4337 square feet currently occupied by the Barbell Club.

In addition, the report stated that the remaining space would be inadequate for the club to continue its activities.

In an effort to combat eviction, the club launched a "Save the Barbell Club" campaign last semester. The response generated by this campaign coupled with efforts by the SGA played a large role in bringing both sides to the meeting table. A primary concern addressed at these discussions was the issue of how much space would be required by the volleyball team.

As a part of their campaign, club representatives intend to garner as much public support as possible.

"We have had 11Alive News come down and do a story for the eleven o'clock news," Kim said.

"We also had the AJC come down and told them the situation. Moreover, we have been in contact with some alumni. We will keep fighting," Kim said.