OU President Joseph Harroz Jr. speaks on university topics during his sit-down interview with OU Daily.
Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives and OU President Joseph Harroz Jr. during the meet against Alabama on March 17.
A preliminary plan for the proposed $1 billion entertainment district project development. The red represents the proposed arena and the orange is the mixed-use housing development. The light blue represents other entertainment, restaurants, retail, office, hospitality and conference locations. The dark blue is detention space, the spotted grey is a parking garage and the green represents green space.
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OU President Joseph Harroz Jr. speaks on university topics during his sit-down interview with OU Daily.
OU President Joseph Harroz Jr. sat down with OU Daily editors Tuesday afternoon to discuss Norman’s proposed entertainment district, transition to the Southeastern Conference and commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.
In his Evans Hall office, Harroz told OU Daily that if Norman City Council does not approve the proposed $1 billion entertainment district that would feature a new arena for OU athletics, then the university, alongside donors, would look to other cities to build an arena for which its basketball and women’s gymnastics teams would be anchor tenants and possibly the entertainment district as a whole.
“I’m very hopeful and do everything I can to keep it here in Norman,” Harroz said. “But if this isn’t approved by the city council for whatever reason, then we’re going to be looking at other (cities), Oklahoma City, Moore, surrounding areas and figure out where is there a group that wants to do this.”
The Norman Planning Commission will meet on April 11 to possibly discuss and move forward development plans for the entertainment district, which was first proposed in September and would feature an 80/20 split of private donors and public financing through a tax increment finance district in the area.
Harroz compared the entertainment district to the arena overwhelmingly approved by voters in Oklahoma City in December. There, an approximately $900 million arena to house the Oklahoma City Thunder is being primarily financed by a citywide penny tax starting in 2028 with a smaller investment from private donors. The Thunder is contributing about $50 million, about 5.5%, and the city is offering about $70 million, about 7.7%, in MAPS 4 funds.
Harroz said the proposed entertainment district in Norman is the complete reverse. On Facebook, Ward 8 Councilmember Matthew Peacock said he’s seen several versions of proposed details, more than the public as a sitting council member, regarding the district and will take any detail regarding the district as a potential until the applicant has a concrete proposal.
A preliminary plan for the proposed $1 billion entertainment district project development. The red represents the proposed arena and the orange is the mixed-use housing development. The light blue represents other entertainment, restaurants, retail, office, hospitality and conference locations. The dark blue is detention space, the spotted grey is a parking garage and the green represents green space.
The applicant, University North Park LLC, for the entertainment district development has asked that the item be postponed from the Planning Commission’s deadline at its December, January and February meetings. At the last meeting, it was postponed to April 11.
Ward 7 Councilmember Stephen Tyler Holman told OU Daily that in his experience being on city council for the past 11 years, he has not seen something be postponed that many times, saying typically applicants have a plan when going to the commission or ask for postponement only once.
Norman City Council adopted a resolution in November creating a TIF review committee. The statutory review committee will meet Friday morning.
Harroz said after the OU Board of Regents meeting in March that collaboration, especially to the caliber of the entertainment district, takes time and he was proud of how the group, made of university, city and private sector leaders, have created this plan. A full project plan for the entertainment district has not been released as of Tuesday.
“I know, it’s a big ask,” Harroz said in March. “I really think that the future of Norman depends on it, and I don’t think that’s an overstatement. And so we need to get it right the first time. Obviously, we tried this a number of years back. I think it’s different this time. … I’m optimistic. It’s not certain, but I’m optimistic.”
On Tuesday, Harroz was more direct, saying Norman has invested in OU in the past and needs to invest in it again.
“I was going back and reading over the history of the University of Oklahoma, and it was fascinating to read back in 1891, a territorial Legislature put (the university) together, and the city of Norman and Cleveland County stepped up in a huge way. They had to invest in (the university), and not with a TIF, but real money.
“There are places like in Nebraska where there’s an actual dedicated tax for athletics there. We don’t do any of that. I think this is really reasonable. We want to be an amazing partner and I hope it’s here, but if not, then we’ll have to look at Plan B.”
According to the Nebraska Department of Revenue, political subdivisions in Nebraska can apply for state assistance to help finance certain sports arenas, including arenas between 3,000 to 7,000 seat capacity in an enclosed and temperature-controlled space.
Arenas created through this system can have up to 70% on state sales tax for events held within the arenas, ticket sales and retailers located within 600 yards of the facility.
The proposed arena in University North Park would be a roughly 8,000-seat venue and would be the centerpiece of the southern piece of the entertainment district development.
NIL, intercollegiate athletics
As OU heads into the SEC, often regarded as the top athletic conference in the nation, Harroz was candid about how intercollegiate athletics and the NCAA as a whole faces numerous challenges.
Specifically, Harroz spoke about logistics surrounding name, image and likeness, and how OU plans on remaining competitive with player recruitment.
Sen. Kristen Thompson (R-Edmond) authored Senate Bill 1786 which would allow universities to directly pay collegiate athletes. The bill is waiting to be heard by the state House of Representatives. Harroz said he is grateful the state is working together with the university, but that the intercollegiate athletics situation is more complex than NIL.
Presently, student athletes make money through the NIL system, which allows athletes to profit off their name, image and likeness by collaborating with brands and organizations separate from their university. The Senate bill was authored in reaction to other universities making the same push to pay players directly.
For viability surrounding collegiate funding Harroz outlined four things that would ensure the process functions correctly: antitrust, complying with Title IX, settling the question of whether athletes are employees and ensuring that non-revenue-generating sports survive.
“For long-term viability of intercollegiate athletics, you’ve got to solve for those four things,” Harroz said. “I think that a lot of people want to say, ‘Well, if you just fix NIL and the transfer portal, then your problems are solved.’ It’s not. You’ve got to solve for all four of those.”
Harroz emphasized the importance of uplifting women’s sports and supporting college students in Olympic sports, which encompasses all of OU sports except football, as OU continues navigating the finances surrounding collegiate sports.
OU recently opened its new softball facility, Love’s Field, which is one of the largest stadiums dedicated to a women’s sport in the nation, and is currently upgrading the Sam Viersen Gymnastics Center.
“Part of what we have to do is preserve college athletics and not just the revenue side, because the lifting of all women and supporting our Olympic teams is critical and it won’t happen with the market acting as the market.
“How do you take that market reality and we’re seeing take place and make sure that not only do those players get what they’re due, but that we continue to grow sports for women and all the impact that it has, and that we continue to support the Olympic sports that are not really making money,” Harroz said. “So it’s a really important role that intercollegiate athletics plays. But its foundation, right now, is shaken and we’ve got to stabilize it soon.”
Ongoing commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion
In December, Stitt signed an executive order calling for a formal review of DEI in Oklahoma higher education to be completed by May 31.
Harroz said his intention is to always make OU a place of belonging and opportunity. He said the university’s mission right now is navigating the executive order in a way that is still supporting students’ needs.
“It’s really about how do we create, how do we make sure those with the greatest financial need have those needs met? Because that’s the biggest barrier,” Harroz said.
In August, OU welcomed its most diverse first-year class with increased students from underrepresented groups, such as minority groups and first-generation students. Of 5,212 students in the class of 2027, 39.4% are from underrepresented communities and 26% are first-generation students.
Harroz said the university looked at various populations on campus and found that first-generation students are not performing at the level they should be compared to other populations.
Harroz said the university is looking at how to commit more resources to first-generation students to ensure their success.
“We’re going to be making sure that while we comply with the executive order, that we are 100% true to our values and that we invest in those areas,” Harroz said. “So you’re going to see an increased investment in first-generation students, increased investment in those that have the greatest financial need and to make sure that all of our groups have the resources they need to be able to feel like they belong and to be able to be successful.”
Stitt’s executive order does not protect departments and programming like OU’s Gender + Equality Center. According to a website created by OU to clarify the university’s guidelines for the implementation of the executive order, offices focused on “LGBTQ+ students likely violate the Executive Order.”
The website goes on to state that offices solely dedicated to these students will need to be restructured and programs supporting these communities may be incorporated into a framework that more broadly supports student success.
“To me, it’s a larger lens before you get to any particular program,” Harroz said. “I think for all the discussion and emotion around this, one of the things we try to do and say, ‘What are those things that are immovable for us? What are those values that we hold?’”
Harroz said one of the obligations of his job as president is communicating with political leaders so they fully understand the role of higher education. He pointed specifically to providing a workforce for the state.
OU has introduced programs to encourage enrollment in its nursing and education degree paths. In February 2023, OU partnered with the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma and Murray State College to address a national nursing shortage by guaranteeing admission to qualified students. This February, OU partnered with Oklahoma City Community College to provide support for students completing their education degrees.
As a presidential election nears and Stitt enters the second half of his final term, relationships between Harroz and top government officials will evolve and become more vital.
Harroz, who usually can be spotted at sporting events next to regents, donors, family and other OU officials, recently sat next to Oklahoma House Speaker Charles McCall (R-Atoka) as OU women’s gymnastics competed against Alabama.
Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives and OU President Joseph Harroz Jr. during the meet against Alabama on March 17.
Harroz told OU Daily at the March regents meeting that he and Stitt have a good professional relationship even if they disagree on policy. Harroz reiterated Tuesday a large part of his job is educating and engaging with the leadership in the state, both government and regent level officials.
“It’s our job, and certainly my job in this role, to make sure you’re continually engaged with the leadership of this state,” Harroz said. “Not just government, but in the private sector and not for profit, and having those conversations about the role of higher education and what it can do, what it needs to do.”
Harroz said no two people will adopt the exact same policies and political beliefs, but he thinks an open dialogue and healthy respect is essential to the future of the university.
“I think that especially when you have a state that has term limits for the state Legislature and when you have term limits on a governor of two terms, when you have a change at these levels, it’s a constant process of engagement and education and exchange. It’s tiring, but if you’re not up for it, don’t do it, right? And I think one of the obligations of this job is to make sure we’re engaging with political leaders.”
In other matters, Harroz addressed how to accommodate the predicted size of the class of 2028, which will arrive this fall ahead of an anticipated “enrollment cliff,” an emerging term for significant predicted declines in the number of college-going students in a state or region of the country. Nationwide the amount of students attending college has dropped by 2 million, but according to Harroz, by 2030, there will be between 5 to 8 million more jobs that require four-year degrees.
Harroz said to meet this need, universities need to do more to attract people to higher education.
“We’re going to have to probably limit the growth just based on capacity of wetland space and housing, those sorts of things.”
In terms of statewide college consolidation, Harroz said he’s mainly focused on what students want. Harroz said while in some sense consolidation does make sense, it is politically complicated.
“It just hasn’t been a focus for us because we’ve been focused on how do we accommodate the fortunate growth we’re having,” Harroz said.
Mary Ann Livingood copy edited this story.
Experts and community leaders criticized OU President Joseph Harroz Jr.’s threat to build arena and entertainment district outside of Norman.
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