The push to build a $100 million football stadium on Temple University’s campus continued Monday afternoon during a public meeting.

Temple University President Neil D. Theobald and Athletic Director Pat Kraft led the discussion by answering selected questions from the student body.

“My first hire when I came here four years ago was the football coach,” Theobald told about 250 audience members.

“I remember interviewing him in my condo, and I said, ‘what do we need to raise the quality of this program?’ I mean quality, not just winning. Graduating players, having a team we’re proud of, doing it the right way, all of those things. And he said ‘we need an on-campus stadium.'”

Although Temple Student Government described Monday’s meeting as an “open forum,” the only approved attendees were students and journalists. TSG’s Facebook page cited “limited space” as the reason for the cap.

The result was a meeting about North Philadelphia that lacked North Philadelphia residents—and it did not take long for tensions to boil over.

At one point during the meeting, two young men walked silently to the front of the room, bearing a sign that read, “where is the community?”

 

Crowd members began to applaud and chant—phrases like “community says ‘no’ to the stadium” were sprinkled throughout the event. The boys were immediately escorted out as Student Body President Ryan Rinaldi, the forum’s facilitator, attempted to reign in the discussion.

“I hear you guys, okay?” Rinaldi said as students continued to chant. “But let’s continue the program.”

If built, the stadium will house between 30,000 and 35,000 seats. The facility will stretch from Broad to 16th streets east to west, and from Norris St. to Montgomery Ave. north to south.

The four-block area, Theobald said, would not encompass 16th and Berks, where the Amos Recreation Center currently stands.

“It’ll stay there,” Theobald said when a student voiced concerns about the community-based playground.

Both Theobald and Kraft expressed hope that the stadium, and the potential retail development accompanying it, would bring alumni back to campus—encouraging more donors and local economic activity.

Temple’s football team currently plays its home games each season at Lincoln Financial Field in South Philadelphia. According to Theobald, the Eagles have doubled the annual rent from $1 million to $2 million, and asked for an additional $12 million upfront payment from the university.

A student asked if the Temple Owls could continue to play at Lincoln Financial Field if the Eagles decided to lower rent rates.

“That simply isn’t going to happen,” Theobald said.

While some questions focused on logistics, others were less technical and more accusatory.

“Why spend $100 million in building a football stadium as opposed to a sexual misconduct center?” one group of students asked President Theobald, as crowd members applauded.

The meeting lasted about an hour and ended on an explosive note when Glenda Bryant, a 54-year-old resident of North Philadelphia, spoke openly of the administration’s decision to leave residents out of the meeting. While Bryant, a current Temple student majoring in social work, was permitted to attend the meeting, her fellow community members were not.

“How dare you just not include us?” Bryant said shortly after the meeting.

Bryant, who said she was born in North Philadelphia, is a member of the Stadium Stompers.

Stadium Stompers is a new student-resident coalition which meets at Church of the Advocate, a local community staple on 18th and Diamond streets. 15 Now, a student organization that advocates for Temple to raise its minimum wage, helped start the association.

“We think it’s really appalling that Temple would hold a panel and leave community members out of this event,” said Anna Barnett, a lead organizer of 15 Now and a junior at Temple.

A public Board of Trustees meeting will be held Feb. 8 at 3:30 p.m. to continue the stadium discussion.