Tours were given during Thursday’s open house, including stops at the Experiential Learning Lab, the User Experience (UX) Lab, the Virtual Reality Lab, and the Cybersecurity Lab.
“This is our future, right here tonight,” President Crawford said.
“It’s very exciting to open this fantastic space up and have so many disciplines here all working together. You’re really going to see the talent that we have here at Miami University.”
Beane got a sneak preview of some of that talent before joining David Seidl, Miami’s vice president for information technology and chief information officer, for a chat on the XR Stage. Beane met with students in the Department of Sport Leadership and Management for a pre-dedication conversation.
President Crawford noted students ran production for the event. “That’s what makes Miami such a special place,” he said.
“Special” is also a word that could be used to describe Beane. The inspiration behind both the book and film “Moneyball,” Beane shattered the long-held assumption that higher payrolls in baseball meant more wins. A multiple-time Executive of the Year with the Oakland Athletics, Beane was a first-round draft pick who later found great success in the front office for his analytical approach to the game.
“I passed the eye test,” Beane said of his career as a player. “I knew the whole time this was really a classic case of an overvalued asset. I was coming up playing with guys who didn’t necessarily pass the eye test but passed the data test.”