I Would Have Named it the Sabre Center

This Washington Post article discusses the enormous cost of building John Paul Jones Arena at our beloved University. Everything about the stadium is state of the art, least of which the price:

The building's total cost of $191 million includes about $130 million to build the center, nearly $14.5 million to outfit the dining, audio-visual and other areas, about $5 million for fundraising costs and $42 million to pay interest on bonds to finance the building over 20 years, according to Virginia executive vice president and chief operating officer Leonard W. Sandridge. Private donations, suite leases and sponsorships will cover all but $9.6 million, which comes from student fees to be paid over the life of the bonds, he said.

Only five percent of the cost is coming from public funding, which is astounding for a public university. A great deal of the cost is being burdened by private donations, even though they are certainly to be in the minority of people using the stadium. What could possibly motivate someone to put forth money when they could wait around and use it for free? Chapter 7 of the Gruber textbook highlights the main reason why someone would do so; the warm glow model:

Individuals care about both the total amount of the public good and their particular contributions as well. Perhaps they get a plaque with their name on it from making contributions, or maybe their contributions are known publicly so that their friends praise them for their generosity, or maybe they get a psychological benefit from knowing they helped a worthy cause.

Certain donor levels did get recognized for their contribution to the project. And for the paltry sum of 35 million dollars, you can have a state of the art basketball stadium named after your father.