Photos Contrasting Quality of College Classroom and Football Locker Room Spark Debate

Photos showing the contrast between one of Louisiana Tech University's classrooms and its football locker room have sparked a fierce debate online.

The two photos were uploaded onto Twitter on February 3 by Joe Dunman and claimed to show a gulf in quality between a run-down classroom and its football team's locker room.

In the post, Dunman said: "On the left, a university classroom. On the right, that same university's football locker room."

The photo of the run-down classroom showed rows of chairs, scuffed wall marks and several missing ceiling tiles that had not been replaced.

In contrast, the pristine locker room appeared well-kept, clean and had been fitted with huge displays for the college's logo and star players.

Since being uploaded the post has attracted some 209,800 likes and more than 32,100 retweets.

Despite the unclear nature of when the photographs were taken, the post itself has generated a wider discussion about how colleges spend their money and the state of their facilities.

One commenter, who shared an article about Oregon State's $153 million stadium renovation, said: "My university's spending over $100 million dollars in student tuition to update its football stadium.

"Meanwhile, buildings such as the one where the social science classes such as ethnic studies and anthropology are held has a roach problem, mold and asbestos in the walls."

Another shared his experience while teaching and posted: "I taught for five years in a middle school classroom like the left side damaged, falling toles from a long standing roof leak.

"But the district athletic facility got a major overhaul, with state-of-the-art weight room. HS [high school] had just got a brand new gym. I had mold and damaged books."

One Twitter user tried to justify the apparent difference in quality, adding: "The football program brings in millions of $ for the school.

"It's really simple. They need the best facilities to attract the best talent to make the most money. Can't say the same for the student in that classroom. That said, the students did pay a lot of money to be there."

A Louisiana Tech spokesperson told Newsweek while the photo did show a classroom at the college, it was not a fair representation of the overall quality of its facilities.

The statement read: "If you look at comments on the original and subsequent posts from members of our community, I am sure you can see the photo of this classroom is not an exemplar of learning environments at Louisiana Tech University. We are currently working with a roofer on repairs on that building, but winter weather has been hampering progress.

"Academic and athletics facilities are funded in different ways. Athletics facilities are funded mostly through private donations and self-generated funds, while our academic building enhancements and repairs are largely funded through state appropriations.

"Our alumni and corporate friends often provide funds to enhance our academic facilities, too. Some of our older classrooms are larger and have been used more to create more space for appropriately distanced learning environments.

"We have also done significant deferred maintenance work across our campus recently and have more plans for the next year or two. We anticipate receiving state funds to renovate academic buildings this year."

The spokesperson also enclosed several examples of modern-looking learning facilities and classrooms that exist at the college.

According to the Monroe News-Star, Louisiana Tech reported losses in three of the last four years.

In 2019-20 it generated a $37,560 profit with operating revenue that reached nearly $25 million.

The outlet added football brought in the most revenue, more than combining other sports, at $4,063,752.