MSU president anticipates moving forward with football stadium plans

The new president of MSU Texas plans to focus on making a long-held dream for a Mustangs football stadium become a reality.

JuliAnn Mazachek takes the reins of Midwestern State University on May 23. But she is wasting no time getting to better know the university and the people she will lead, as well as Wichita Falls.

She quickly found out about the wish for an MSU football stadium among community members.

"I have learned what a need and what a desire there is for there to be a football stadium for MSU on the MSU campus," Mazachek said during a question-and-answer session with media on campus Tuesday.

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She said she anticipates moving forward with planning how to make that happen.

"I don't have a timeline, but I anticipate that will be one of the priorities that we will be talking about when I arrive,” she said.

Mazachek, who holds a doctorate in accounting, was officially appointed MSU president Monday by Dr. Tedd L. Mitchell, chancellor of the Texas Tech University System, after the 21-day waiting period required by state law.

The TTU System Board of Regents named Mazachek the sole finalist for president March 7.

She and husband Keith Mazachek, who holds a doctorate in mechanical engineering, will move into Sikes House when she begins her tenure as president.

Mazachek serves as vice president for academic affairs, chief academic officer and associate professor at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas.

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She said she will not come to MSU with a predetermined agenda, but she will have two main areas of focus.

"I will come primarily with a listening agenda at the beginning to understand what has made MSU strong and then how we can build upon that," Mazachek said.

Her main areas of focus will be growing enrollment and determining how to best leverage the partnership between MSU and the TTU System, she said.

Mazachek is also committed to making the university and its educational opportunities better known in a wider area through marketing, social media and other means.

"I have plans to go on the road and do as much as I can personally to be able to tell that story," she said.

Mazachek will soon leave Topeka where she has been building a successful career for 30 years.

On Tuesday, she said she didn't make the decision to move to MSU lightly.

“MSU was such a strong university, and it has such a strong reputation of serving its students and being student-centric, and that was so important to me," she said.

Mazachek was also excited about Midwestern's association with the Texas Tech University System.

“I think that's just a tremendous opportunity," she said. "We can't even imagine what that's going to mean to us in the future. That's going to be positive for MSU, for Wichita Falls and for Texas Tech.”

MSU merged with the Tech System Sept. 1, becoming the fifth institution to become a member of it.

TTU System Board chairman J. Michael Lewis brought up the possibility of an MSU football stadium during the special meeting to officially usher Midwestern into the Tech System.

The Mustangs play in Memorial Stadium, renting it from Wichita Falls ISD.

In fact, MSU and WFISD have a 10-year agreement through July 31, 2031, for rental of stadium facilities, according to a previous Times Record News story.

Midwestern made a one-time payment of $250,000 last year for regular season games and agreed to pay an additional $3,000 for NCAA playoff games.

The agreement is helping WFISD buy a shock pad and new synthetic turf for Memorial Stadium.

But it is of note the university's capital expenditure plan for 2018 to 2022 called for an $18 million, on-campus stadium mostly paid for by private donors.

Before retiring in August, former MSU President Suzanne Shipley said the only thing the university didn't have that she wanted was a football stadium.

Shipley, who holds a doctorate in German, was the first woman to become president of MSU. Mazachek is the second.

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Trish Choate, enterprise watchdog reporter for the Times Record News, covers education, courts, breaking news, politics and more. Contact Trish with news tips at tchoate@gannett.com. Her Twitter handle is @Trishapedia.

This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: New MSU President JuliAnn Mazachek backs idea of a Mustangs stadium