THE LOOP — Progressive politicians joined a DePaul alumna Monday in calling for the university to pass along a windfall from its new arena naming rights to Chicago Public Schools.
"We urge DePaul, in the spirit of its namesake, St. Vincent de Paul, to step up and give back to the deserving students of Chicago," said Erika Wozniak, a fourth-grade teacher at Oriole Park Elementary.
A 2004 DePaul graduate, Wozniak said, "My education at DePaul caused me to question, and today I question when did this become OK? When did it become OK to close 49 public schools and direct a large sum of public tax dollars to DePaul for a basketball stadium in the same week?
"My education at DePaul taught me that was not OK," she added.
Last week, DePaul announced that Wintrust Financial had bought the naming rights to what will be known as Wintrust Arena in the South Loop in a 15-year deal.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced plans for the 10,000-seat arena near McCormick Place in 2013, shortly before the Board of Education voted to close dozens of Chicago Public Schools.
The use of Tax Increment Finance funds in the McCormick Place development, including a huge Marriot hotel, has been a sticking point for years with local politicians and activists arguing that those funds should be redistributed to cash-strapped CPS.
"We have to address the fundamental crisis in public education and how taxpayer dollars that are meant to go to our schools are being diverted away by the mayor," said state Rep. Will Guzzardi (D-Chicago) at a news conference held outside DePaul's Loop administration offices. "This is simply not right. Our children are desperate for quality education."
The university took issue Monday with charges it was benefiting from TIF funds.
"There are no TIF dollars in this project whatsoever," said university spokeswoman Carol Hughes. "DePaul is paying for its contribution to Wintrust Arena through a combination of ticket sales, naming rights, corporate sponsorships and fundraising. This honors a promise we made to our students that tuition dollars will not be used to support this project."
Although financial terms of the naming-rights deal were not announced, Wozniak estimated it would bring in $20 million over the course of the 15 years.
"We feel that it is responsible and reasonable to ask for a small portion of the money made on the stadium deal be diverted back to the students of Chicago Public Schools," Wozniak said.
"DePaul can be part of the solution of providing assets to our community," said Ald. John Arena (45th), who has frequently called for TIF funds to be redistributed to CPS.
Wozniak said she was delivering a petition signed by 1,300 people to DePaul calling for the university to pass along at least some of the money from the naming rights to the new stadium.
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here.
