The OU Board of Regents will consider the design phase plans for expansion of the Sam Viersen Gymnastics Center, a tailgating and major event day policy and details regarding NIL activities among other agenda items during its meeting on Wednesday, according to its agenda posted Tuesday.
The expansion to the gymnastics center calls for roughly 15,734 square feet of additions to the facility, which is on Imhoff Road next to the site of the future Love’s Field. The agenda also notes approximately 2,146 square feet of renovations to the existing building, where both the men’s and women’s teams train. The women’s team has won six national championships, including two consecutive. The men’s team has won 12 national championships, including four consecutive from 2015-18.
The regents initially approved the expansion plan in their May 2017 meeting as an addition to the Campus Master Plan of Capital Improvement Projects for the Norman campus. The expansion and renovations are expected to cost $13,750,000.
The Sam Viersen Gymnastics Center Expansion and Improvements model.
Also noted in its agenda is how OU’s early move to the Southeastern Conference next summer means it will see a decline in Big 12 conference distribution. The agenda shows OU expects to generate approximately $4.6 million less in athletic revenue in the next fiscal year than it’s expected to end with this year.
During OU’s regents meeting on May 5, OU President Joseph Harroz Jr. estimated Oklahoma would forgo close to $40 million in the distributable revenue share it holds in its Big 12 TV rights through its early transition to the SEC. The loss is expected to be temporary considering the SEC’s deal with ESPN, which goes into effect beginning in 2024.
Also included in the agenda is the discussion of a Tailgating and Major Event Day Policy for home football games and other substantial events. The regents will attempt to "set clear expectations" about tailgating on OU’s campus. Tailgating is currently prohibited, per a policy last updated in August 2022, on the North and South Ovals, Jacobson Hall and Carpenter Hall lawns, Heisman Park, Burr Park, Headington Park, Oliver Walk, Brooks Mall and areas adjacent to Brooks Mall including the lawn north of the stadium and lawn south of Wagner Hall, the northeast corner of Lindsey and Jenkins Streets, Residential Colleges lawn, and all student residential areas.
The regents will review the appointments and contracts of newly-hired wrestling coach Roger Kish and women’s soccer coach Matthew Mott. The agenda also calls for the annual review of the contracts of women’s basketball coach Jennie Baranczyk, women’s tennis coach Audra Cohen, men’s golf coach Ryan Hybl and women’s and men’s gymnastics coaches KJ Kindler and Mark Williams, respectively.
OU’s administration received interim approval to amend certain regents’ policies so the university could benefit from Oklahoma’s recent Name, Image, and Likeness Act, which allows the university to have an enhanced role in NIL activities. The administration is requesting that those interim approvals be approved and ratified by the board.
The regents will also honor the accomplishments of recent OU teams, including 2022 baseball, 2022-23 softball, 2022-23 women’s tennis, 2023 men’s golf, 2023 women’s gymnastics and 2023 women’s basketball.
Editor's note: This story was updated at 9:29 a.m. on June 14 to reflect the proper spelling of Jennie Baranczyk's surname.
