Students will keep sideline seats in Pauley Pavilion, rather than a unified student section farther from the court, UCLA Athletics announced Tuesday.
The change comes after months of conversations between Athletics and student organizations, including the Den, Spirit Squad and Undergraduate Students Association Council, about the seating layout when Pauley reopens for the 2012-2013 basketball season.
The most recently canceled plan would have created a unified student seating section in Pauley behind the west basket in the shape of a slice of pie, said Mark Harlan, senior associate athletic director.
The section would have also accommodated all Den ticket holders, in addition to 200 extra seats.
In an advisory vote during undergraduate elections last week, 69 percent of students were opposed to this plan, while 8 percent expressed support and 23 percent were indifferent.
As it now stands, students will have seats along the southern side of the court, as well as on the floor and upper levels behind the west basket, said outgoing USAC President Jasmine Hill.
These seats will offer a better view to students sitting near the court than the unified configuration would have, Hill said.
“The unified plan looked like it was going to sacrifice seats along the sidelines in order to get a unified section in a less ideal position,” she added.
Harlan said he was shocked by the results of the student poll because data UCLA Athletics had initially received showed student support for the unified section.
UCLA Athletics conducted a routine survey last year of the 7,800 student ticket holders that addressed the released seating plan for the renovated Pauley. Only 10 percent of ticket holders responded, but a large number were dissatisfied that students would be divided into three sections, Harlan said.
To remedy this, seats were removed from alongside the court and incorporated into a larger student section that would stretch from floor to ceiling behind the west basket, he said.
Since such a small percentage of student ticket holders replied to the UCLA Athletics survey, Hill advised a vote be placed on the elections ballot, she said.
“Both (USAC and UCLA Athletics) were sincerely trying to get a feeling about what students wanted,” Hill said. “So we both agreed there was no better way to do that than putting it to a vote.”
Though a lot of time was spent in creating a unified student section that students seemed to
prefer during the Athletic Department’s survey, Harlan said both USAC and UCLA Athletics benefit from the relationship that was created during the process.
“We’re excited to move forward at this point, and more than anything, this shows the passion people feel about UCLA basketball,” he said.