Recently, and with much fanfare, the university’s beloved Byrd Stadium football field was renamed to Chevy Chase Bank Field at Byrd Stadium.

Plenty of celebratory rhetoric was used in describing this historic event, such as, “Chevy Chase’s commitment to higher education” (athletics director Deborah Yow), “Chevy Chase’s expanded commitment to Maryland students” (university President Dan Mote) and how “our players will take pride in playing at Chevy Chase Field at Byrd Stadium” (The Fridge).

Wait, so our players didn’t take pride in playing in the old Byrd Stadium? Is THAT why we’ve been a subpar 5-6 for the past two years?

I wasn’t aware that expanding Tyser Tower by putting in suite and mezzanine seating and installing handrails – what the money has been earmarked for thus far – were key components in a national championship run.

But what really gets me was Mote’s statement that “corporate partners like Chevy Chase Bank, with its tradition of supporting higher education, will help us prepare the students who will continue leading our community well into the future.”

I guess I’m confused again; renovating a perfectly fine football stadium prepares student leaders? Installing extra seats supports higher education?

What it actually does is allow the bigwigs with money to sit a little more comfortably during those hot early summer football games. It supports a football program with an already enormous budget that hasn’t delivered a winning season in years. It supports structural improvements and ticket sales over higher education and community leaders. Unless those leaders, of course, are big money season-ticket holders whose annual renewal is encouraged by stadium improvements.

And then there’s the blatant manipulation of the sponsor itself, Chevy Chase Bank. Banks target college kids, lure them into credit card offers and saddle them with debts they still pay 10 years out of school. I can name handfuls of friends still with monstrous debts to pay off. Because these cards usually have a 19 percent interest rate and the naive students who get them have very little knowledge of how a credit card works, renaming our football stadium after the frontrunner on this campus in luring students into this hole seems irresponsible.

The talking heads are painting this as a magnanimous donation dedicated to the students and their academic pursuits of greatness. Why not call it what it is – a partnership of two giants primarily serving their own interests. In Maryland’s case, money; in Chevy Chase’s case, advertising.

And for those who haven’t heard, the Campus Recreation Center will be renamed on Homecoming weekend, becoming the Geary Eppley Recreation Center. And yes, the university is receiving money for this as well.

Is this situation any better, though? Eppley was a prominent figure in this university’s history, both as a student and a dean. Changing the CRC to ERC is arguably less of a pain than changing Byrd Stadium to a name as long as supercallifragilisticexpiallidocious. But is honoring a historical figure less of a problem when renaming a building?

Junior education and Spanish and Portuguese languages and literature major Adrienne Dukes sees little difference. “It’s ridiculous. The university is putting less emphasis on tradition in exchange for money. The CRC renaming is the same thing as Byrd – they’re getting money to put someone’s name up.”

And even apart from moral issues, there is the question about where the money is going. Mote said, “As the state’s flagship university, our challenge is to create opportunities to make a Maryland education accessible and affordable for our students.”

Call me crazy, but I don’t think expanding Byrd Stadium makes my (out-of-state) education or (outrageous and ever-rising) South Campus Commons rent any more affordable. If the campus wants to rename important buildings that a majority of the campus community uses, then the money should be spread around to benefit more students. And I don’t mean by putting in extra handrails for them.

Nikkee Porcaro is a senior journalism major. She can be reached at cole120@umd.edu.