Questions and Comments We've Received April 23, 2003 Dear Mr. Cowen: I'm a student athlete studying here at Tulane and your e-mail concerned me and I have one question? Is that true that Tulane is going to be in Division 3 in all sports for the next semester? I hope you can answer me this question as soon as possible because I am really concerned. Thank you and sorry for the inconvenience. Best regards, ***** Dr. Cowen: I am an alumnus of the A. B. Freeman School of Business, MBA Class of 1984 and I live & work in the New Orleans area. I support Tulane University by attending & purchasing tickets for various athletic events which I enjoy taking my family to see also. These athletic events are primarily football, basketball, baseball & women's soccer. In fact I prefer attending these events as opposed to the Saints, Hornets, Zephyrs and yet to be named New Orleans PDL soccer franchise. All of these sports are competitive in the NCAA's Division 1. Furthur, I believe that Mr. Rick Dickson has done a fine job of hiring quality coaches who insure that they are recruiting the finest student athletes available, as recently reflected by a nationwide study indicating that Tulane's football players have the highest graduation rate amongst active NCAA Division 1 schools. Tulane should explore the possibility of alignment within in a BCS Conference for football and continue its fine efforts of late in the other major sports which attract local area fans. This combined with some effective marketing should increase paid attendance at its sporting events. As an example, the outdoor venue for Homecoming last year was a major success. In fact I sponsored a tent in City Park and now have a local area restaurant that would like to co-sponsor this tent next Fall and make it bigger & better then it was this year. I truly believe that Tulane's most significant problem with athletic attendance is that many local area people (for the last 20-25 years) cannot afford to attend Tulane University, therefore the area alumni have declined significantly from my parent's generation, where a large number of locals attended Tulane University and later supported the school by attending athletic events. Downsizing and/or eliminating these athletic events is not going to enhance Tulane's image in the local community or increase its revenues. Please remain in Division 1. ***** Dr. Cowen, I am a graduating senior in Newcomb College. I just wanted to add my opinion to this whole sports situation. I would really not like to see Tulane drop down to Division III. Perhaps our student body may not seem like LSU's or LA Tech's and are die hard sports fanatics, going to every home game, but I feel that the drop would lessen the enthusiasm even more. Sports is an integral part of a college, in my option. I am not the biggest sports fan, but I still believe that Tulane athletics has been a critical aspect of the University. I understand that administration is trying to make the best decision for us as a university, but I feel a little out of the loop. I would rather have more information and even perhaps have a say in the decision. I would also like to think that there are many alumni who may not like this decision, and I know I would be one of them. I love Tulane and always will, but I feel that a prominent name on the academic level can only be helped with a prominent name on the sports level. Tulane is a well rounded university and I would like to see us stay in Division 1 to maintain our visibility as such. Thanks for your time and have a great day! ***** Scott If we drop football down to the lower classification, we might as well abolish the program. Who wants to see us play Wofford College or Georgia State? Good luck, ***** Thank you. I must add that if Duke, Northwestern, UVA., Vanderbilt, Stanford, Rice, and other comparable private institutions can compete in I-A, Tulane should be able too as well. ***** President Cowen, I am sending this e-mail in response to the discussion of Tulane dropping down to division three in athletics. I think that this would be a wrong decision and a short-sided solution on the part of your administration. The thing that I am most disappointed about is the lack of information that has been passed on to the student body. Things that occur within this university are said to be done in the students "best interests". Shouldn't students be allowed to be a part of the decision making process that will effect us and our "best interests"? It is highly unfair that this board is meeting at a time that students are unable to dedicate the time necessary for our opinions to be heard because we are about to have our finals. I hope that you and your board are considering the relationship and association that many have between the level of athletic competition and academics. I know that I for one as a senior in high school would only consider universities and colleges that were of division one athletics. Why? Because I associated them with good schools academically and it was important to me that others had heard of them before. Obviously it can be said that mine was a narrow minded vision of what going to college is about but I am positive that it is one that is shared by many college-bound high schoolers. I can't even name five division three schools if I tried. Do we really want Tulane to fall into that category? I would hope not. Tulane is too great of a university to not be heard of, but unfortunately with out the coverage and spotlight that is put upon it through athletics, many from the regions that we boost having students from will not be here. I hope that you will take students opinions into consideration at this time. I look forward to hearing from you and hopefully receiving more information about the decision process that is taking place. ***** President Cowen, I, as a concerned student, would like to express my disapproval of any decision to cut back the athletic program. I have heard rumors that the program will be dropping to Division III. I don't know how much truth there is to that rumor, but if there is any truth to it, I think it would be a grave mistake. One of the reasons I came to Tulane was because of its stellar academic reputation and its Division I athletic program. While Tulane is not big time college sports, Tulane still offered an athletic program and I liked the fact that I would be able to experience a division I school while not feeling like I was playing second fiddle to the athletes. Cutting back our program would take a huge aspect of college life away from everyone, especially those of us that really appreciate the program. Furthermore, this seems like a ridiculous year to cut back the program. The football team won the Hawaii Bowl, men's basketball finished above .500 and the women's team made their ninth consecutive NCAA tournament. Baseball is two years removed from playing in the college world series and is currently ranked in the top 25. The men's and women's tennis teams have just won their 2nd C-USA championships in 3 years. Furthermore, the men's team is ranked 15th and the women's is 27th with both teams having players with very high rankings. The men are making their eight consecutive appearnce in the NCAA tournament. Women's golf was ranked very highly at the beginning of the season and is currently competing for a top spot in the C-USA tournament. Of the sports not mentioned, many are on the rise and our program is even expanding, as Tulane welcomes women's swimming and diving next season. My point is, our sports teams are doing very well and have been for a while, they just aren't appreciated. I think it would also be going against our history to cut back the athletics program. To go from a school that was once in the SEC to one that is Division III is just ridiculous. I realize that the decision is probably more of a financial one and one that considers the academic ramifications and improvements for the school. However, I do not buy those arguments. Of course I do not understand the entire situation; I merely understand it as a concerned fan. An athletic program can actually bring in money and it can attract excellent students who want the opportunity to receive a first class education while playing for a competitive program. Think of all the students who fit into this category who will lose scholarships? The athletes add a dimension to Tulane that will be greatly missed, something that I probably wouldnt have been able to get at other quality private institutions around the country. As far as academic reputation goes, athletics and academics do not seem to show a negative correlation to me. Look at schools like Stanford, Duke, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, Southern California, Notre Dame, Rice, and all the Ivy Leagues. These are the best schools in our country and they are all D-I, most of whom compete in the best athletic conferences in the country. Stanford, consistently in the top 10 in the rankings, competes in nearly every sport and is regarded by all as one of the top programs in the country. Furthermore, name recognition in sports can attract students to a school. It's a good way to get our name out there, and as the saying goes, there is no bad publicity. In short, I see no harms that could come from having a top athletic program. In fact, I feel like the school will lose a lot by dropping down to a program that would be just above intramurals. I, personally, would feel very slighted by losing the program. It's one of the reasons I came here and I have attended many of the sporting events and cheered my heart out at them. The decision would not even affect me that much- it's the atheltes, coaches, and die-hard fans that would feel the hit the hardest. I urge you and the board of trustees, or whomever is responsible for this egregious decision, to consider all these ramifications, which I'm sure you have. I just wanted to express my concerns, which I feel is my duty as a concerned student. Please don't take away this ever important aspect of college. I understand the desire to better Tulane's academic reputation, but there are other and better ways to do this. Don't take away the sports. ***** Presidnet Cowen, I am a Newcomb freshman USG senator. This topic was brought up at our USG meeting last night. After hearing that there may be discussion regrding the status of our intercollegiate athletics I talked to a number of my constituents and the response I received was overwhelmingly the same: They do not feel that it would be beneficial for the university to move from Division 1 to Division 3 athletics. I, too, feel that it would be detrimental to our University. I feel that, for a large numbre of students, it is very important that we have strong and popular athletics. I feel that TUCP did a tremendous job this year of promoting Tulane athletics. Homecoming was one of the best times I had all year. Our athletic department seems to be looking up, and students are becoming more and more interested. I think that it would be sad if, right when sports are becoming more and more popular at Tulane, we dropped down to division three. There are other reasons that this would be bad. It would decrease diversity at Tulane because we would lose a great deal of multi-ethnic students who would not otherwise attend Tulane. There would be a number of students who would choose to not attendc Tulane based on the fact that there is no strong athletic program, both athletes and spectators. Finally, it would increase division in the university and decrease school spirit, which is already unfortunately low. I realize that these talks are only preliminary, but I urge you to keep these things in mind. Thank you for your time, ***** Dear Scott, I just wanted to wish you the best in deliberations concerning the athletic department that must be difficult and delicate. Yours, ***** Dear Pres. Cowen- I have to say that I would be very disappointed if Tulane were to get rid of its division 1-A athletics, and that if it had had D-3 when I was applying to colleges, I wouldn't even have considered Tulane. I am from VA, and I originally heard of Tulane after their undefeated football season, and if they did not have decent division 1A sports teams to cheer for, I would have gone to Virginia or Virginia Tech instead (I applied to and was accepted to both) What I see as the main problem with the sports program, or at least the attendance, is lack of pride for the school. For most of the people I know, Tulane was not their first choice school, which is part of the problem. Also, I know Tulane takes pride in taking students from all over the country, but many students here are still more supportive of teams of their local colleges because they've been following them their whole lives. I don't have any solutions to this; I am just offering what I know. Regardless of these problems, I still think it is necessary for Tulane's academic recruiting to have division 1-A sports. Probably the most air time Tulane has gotten on national TV this year is through their sports teams, and that is what it takes for Tulane to reach to prospective students all over the country. If I had not heard of Tulane before I got the letters in the mail from here, the letters would have just gone in the trash along with those letters from all the liberal arts colleges without good sports teams. Thank you for your time ***** As the parent of an incoming freshman who is not athletically gifted ( but enjoys participating in the occasional club type sport in order to learn new skills) and as a woman who got into the University of Oregon on one of the first Title IX athletic scholarships, I have a mixed view on college athletics. I appreciate the opportunities it affords to those who might not stand a chance on purely academic qualifications (like me) , but am troubled when the mission of the University is clouded by the business of collegiate athletics. I have watched my alma mater become more and more of a "jock" school as it's football team has risen from the basement to the top of the pac10. The expenditures on the grid iron seem to become more important than the needs of other programs, justified by the considerable revenue football brings in. What I have noticed most is the change in tone at the U of O, it now seems less recognized for it's intellectual atmosphere and more known as a division of Nike. When budgets are tight, the revenue sports remain and the "minor sports" take cuts. While Title IX is oft blamed for this, I can't help but think that the milllion dollar salaries and budgets the head football coach's pull out are a problem. A university should offer fencing, crew, volleyball, gymnastics and other diverse activities that enrich lives and can be transferred to a greater society. I was proud of my old school when the Ducks were a laughing stock (except where I was, of course, on Hayward Field!), but I wouldn't send my daughter there now! ***** Remain Division I, and increase the publicity for the games, and increase the local awareness for the games and pre-game festivities. ***** I hope the rumor of dropping Tulane Athletics down to Div II or even III is just a ploy to raise money for the departments effort to build on its existing momentum. I can't imagine that is a serious consideration. If there is some truth to it, please wake up and reconsider before something foolish is done. |