By Luke Mich
If you drove up Bearcat Alley towards Parking Lot Q, you may have noticed a new beach volleyball court. Constructed during the summer of 2021, the new court is now, as of September, ready for students to play on. On Friday, Sep. 17, Robert Gigliotti, senior biology major and Student Government Association (SGA) Executive Board President, announced the opening of the court, stating on the Saint Vincent College portal, “Hi everyone! Take some time and enjoy this nice weekend with the new SGA Beach Volleyball Court!” Gigliotti talked about the evolution of the idea to construct a new volleyball court. “The discussion for the volleyball court began in 2019, but got serious in the spring of 2020,” he said. “We heard the student body want- ing this via conversation, as well as our annual survey.” Vicky Booth, the head of facility housekeeping, disclosed that the Facilities Management Office helped the Student Government Association to build the outdoor court over the summer. “SGA and Student Affairs came to me with the idea. I am not sure who chose the location. I do know they wanted it close to the dorm area, so the students had easy access,” Booth said. Booth reported that construction of the court started on Jun. 14, shortly after students left for summer break. There were, however, a few stumbling blocks during the time spent working on the beach volleyball court. “We had a few obstacles: weather, waiting on materials, and landscaping was delayed to weather also,” Booth explained. There were also rumors circulating around campus that the ground used to construct the court was not school property, but rather belonged to the city of Latrobe. Booth addressed this belief. “Saint Vincent is not in the city of Latrobe. [The city] had nothing to do with the construction of the volleyball court.”
The beach volleyball court that was built over the summer was made available for use on Sep. 17. (SOURCE: MICH) Thanks to the Student Government Association and the Facilities Management Office, Saint Vincent has a new volleyball court for students. Gigliotti is hopeful that more student ideas for bettering the campus could come to fruition shortly. “The SGA is always open for new ideas to help improve campus,” he said.