The building of the UNI Dome caused a lot of turmoil between many people around the campus of the University of Northern Iowa. There were a lot of people for building the dome and there were a lot of people against building the dome. Some people were in favor of building the dome, but they were unhappy the way the state and the university were funding the dome project. Everybody on campus seemed to have an opinion on this project and it led to some very interesting events on the campus of the University of Northern Iowa.
Over the summer of 1974 the University of Northern Iowa and the Iowa State Board of Regents decided to charge students to see athletic events at the University of Northern Iowa. They proposed the students pay an extra charge of$15.00 for an all sports pass. The university said the extra charge was necessary because they were getting short on funds due to inflation and this inflation raised the projected cost from 4.5 million to 5.9 million for the building of the dome. Before they made this policy the university had promised its students that all athletic events would be free of charge until the dome had been constructed.
One person who was very upset with the extra athletic charge was Paul Kilmer. Paul Kilmer was a senior, who was a political science major, at the University of Northern Iowa.64 Paul Kilmer bought the $15.00 athletic pass as a way to protest the athletic fee.65 After he bought the pass, Mr. Kilmer filed a suit for breech of contract against the University of Northern Iowa for having to pay the $15.00 athletic fee. Paul Kilmer said, "In the spring of 1974 I agreed to come back to the University of Northern Iowa on the premise that the activity charge was the only fee required. Over the summer the university changed that policy. What I'm contending is that the university has imposed a new and additional fee on students which breeches the implied or actual agreement between the university and its students."67 Kilmer felt the university made a promise to the students that they wouldn't have to pay for athletic events until the UNI Dome was constructed. He felt the university should keep their promise to the students and that is why he filed the suit.
On October21, 1974, Kilmer had his day in court. There were approximately 75 UNI students present to support Kilmer during his hearing at the Waterloo City Hall. The presiding judge that day was the Honorable Everett Scott. Mr. Kilmer chose to represent himself;; but if he had any questions, he had a local Waterloo lawyer just outside of the courtroom he could go to for advice. Paul was also supported in his court case by the Iowa Civil Liberties Union.
Attorney Harold Strever represented the University of Northern Iowa in court. Mr. Strever's main argument on behalf of the university was the athletic charge was legal because the Iowa State Board of Regents approved the extra charge for the athletic fee. The extra charge was needed because the university ran into some financing problems with the UNI Dome so the university proposed the $15.00 athletic fee on their budget and the State Board of Regents passed the university's budget, so this made the athletic fee legal according to the university.73 Judge Everett Scott ruled in favor of the University of Northern Iowa. Judge Scott stated that the university didn't violate its contractual agreement with Mr. Kilmer. His reason for siding with the University of Northern Iowa was the Board of Regents endorsed the new policy when they approved the university budgets for the year.
Paul Kilmer was also an outspoken member of the University of Northern Iowa student senate. Statistics had shown that 55% of the dome was built with student fees. Paul Kilmer said, "It's a sad situation when students aren't consulted on matters that directly affect them and the use of their money."76 One thing Kilmer did as a senator was he proposed a bill calling for a student vote on a few questions about the UNI Dome. The first question Paul asked was, "Should the student fees be used for the UNI-Dome construction?"77 The second question asked was, "In the future, when large amounts of student fees are earmarked for building construction, should students be asked their opinions before the construction is approved?"78 The third question was "Should the university construct the UNI Dome coliseum?"79 The students had the choice of three responses. They could choose more than one response if they desired to do so. 10% of the students voting said they favored the use of funds for college athletics. 46% of the voters said they were in favor of using student funds to construct the UNI Dome and 90% said they favored the use of funds only after the student body could vote on it and approve it. You can see Paul Kilmer was a very outspoken person and he felt it was his duty was to represent the students of the University of Northern Iowa. You might not agree with his ideas, but you have to admire him for standing up to the university during this period of fundraising for the dome.
