Lehigh University Prepares for Slots

With Bethlehem getting its own slots casino, students and faculty, as well as administration is concerned about the effect the slots will have on Lehigh University. Not only that, but they are worried about the direction that the slots will take the town, and if the University will be able to expand in the same manner.

Come a year from this spring, 3,000 slots will be within walking distance of the University and its students. There is concern as to what this will do to the campus, and how safety will become a major concern. Opponents have long touted statistics that say that where there are slots there’s an increase in crime, and this would not bode well for the University and its students.

University President Alice Gast has created a slots task force to help them deal with the idea of the slots coming to town and how they will affect them. Her concern is the town evolving at a different pace than the University and how they will keep up with it without losing who they are. They plan on spending the next seven months meeting with local and national experts to try and prepare for the slots arrival.

The group has already met once with city leaders to see how they are going to deal with traffic, etc. that will come with the slots, and how this will impact both the University and the city. With an estimated five million tourists coming to the city to play the slots, this is of great concern to the University.

They are also concerned with how slots and gambling is going to affect the students. Many are away from home for the first time and it is not unreasonable to think that they might spend their time playing the slots instead of studying. They are afraid of the risk of addiction that might play out with the slots coming so close to the students as well. They say that they are going to need some sort of gambling policy, but they are not prepared to state what it will be yet.




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