The idea might be dead on arrival. Her fellow regents laughed at the proposal at a recent meeting.
Weitz acknowledged she made her pitch light-heartedly but didn’t think any proposal should be dismissed out of hand with the university facing a $58 million budget shortfall.
The price for niches, where cremation urns are stored, could vary depending on location, with a spot under the 50-yard line or end zone sold at a premium.
Revenue, she said, would go to academics.
“One thing I know best about Nebraska is how much the football team and the volleyball team mean,” Weitz said.
“We really do love our sports teams and follow them everywhere. It’s part of being a Nebraskan.
So why wouldn’t being buried under the field be a great way to be close to your team forever? So it was kind of a combination of needing money, talking about ways to get it and then kind of trying to say let’s use our imaginations.”
Fans wishing to scatter a loved one’s ashes at their favorite team’s stadium is not unheard of and there are columbariums and other fan memorials at soccer, rugby and horse racing venues in Europe.
There are cemeteries and columbariums at Notre Dame, Texas A&M and military academies that are unaffiliated with sports.
