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Questions and Comments We've Received

June 4, 2003

To whom it may concern:

If anything is done with Tulane Athletics, other than letting Rick Dickson improve the program, you can delete my name from your potential donor list. I will NEVER give a drop of spit to Tulane if they drop a division or football. Furthermore, no member of my family will ever send money or students again.

Sincerely,

*****

So now we want to get rid of Football? Is this supposed to be some kind of compromise? I do not support the elimination of Tulane Football. Football is the one sport that Tulane fans and supporters care about the most. Football has a long history at Tulane and has been a part of many a fan, alumni and supporters connection to the University. For me it started when I went to my first Tulane game in the Dome vs. Mississippi State in 1984 and it continues as Tulane schedules games in the Northeast where I can go to road games, meet up with my fellow alums and watch my alma mater play on a Fall afternoon. Part of what facilitates my support for the university comes from the shared experience of being at a Tulane FOOTBALL game. My financial support towards the school has primarily has been motivated thru the athletic success the school experiences. I feel more inclined to donate money to the school via athletics than I ever do thru the general mailings that get sent to all alumni or any Crawfish Boil I get an invite to. If Tulane were to eliminate Football, I would not feel compelled to support the school financially. I feel betrayed. We are currently having a prosperous period of success for our Football team. The team is winning, the coach is sticking around to help build a consistent winner, we have players who are making the pros and were graduating players at an impressive rate. Why walk away from what we've accomplished? Why not help develop the program and make it stronger? We've got a good thing going; this is no time to give up on it. This is particularly galling coming from a President who has no ties to Louisiana or the South as far as I know, and is a former Football player himself. It seems like Dr. Cowan wants to turn Tulane into Case Western South. This from a guy who painted his face and proudly jumped on the Football bandwagon when he took over in 1998. Eliminate football and I for one will not support Tulane until football is restored

*****

TO Tulane: Is all of this driven by Tulane's need to have the best standings in the US News & World Report review of colleges? Are you trying to create a University where EVERYONE has NOTHING but high SAT scores? The world is full of a variety of people and it seems to me that Tulane is trying and continuing to manufacture a student body that is SOOOOO focused on academics that the young adults who enroll there will miss what being in college is all about. What are we doing to our kids these days that we are driving them so academically? Isn't being a well-rounded person the goal of a liberal arts education? My daughter who is a student at Tulane says the school is already lacking in spirit and that sporting events are so poorly attended because the UNIVERSITY makes no effort to make them an important part of college life. Wasn't Family Weekend at City Park enough evidence that THAT'S THE WAY it SHOULD BE DONE? It would be a sad thing to do away with...right now the University is sitting fat with high admissions #s. What will happen when that trend changes and Tulane will have to go back to recruiting and students see that student life -- outside the classroom -- is lacking? Don't cut off your nose to spite your face. Concentrate on PROMOTING school spirit through athletics.

*****

President Cowen,

As a member of Tulane's Shockwave Dance Team, I have been to every home football game this year, and with my father since I was four years old. I have shared many exciting victories with these incredible young men, on the field and inside the classroom. This past year we won the Hawaii Bowl, giving us nation wide exposure, and we were anxious to broadcast all over the television that we had the highest graduation rate. This says something about Tulane University, we are a very unique university. Tulane being a top academic institution and a Division I school is what attracted me to Tulane. Dropping to Divsion 3 will cause many other well-rounded students like myself to choose other colleges. Dropping football to Division 3 will be the worst decision you have ever made, students will not have the "true" college experinence that other students around the country receive.

Instead of downsizing athletics we need to EMPHASIZE athletics. We are just getting the ball rolling and we are increasing our school spirit. The Homecoming game at Tad Gormley is the perfect example. This year our football team won the Hawaii Bowl and our baseball team advanced to the Regionals. Rick Dickson has already laid out the plan for us. I also think we should think about building our own football stadium close to campus, in Audubon, this would give Tulane 100% of the profits. Instead of playing in the climate controlled Superdome, which we get hardly any of the profits. Also, we are putting up plenty of new building on campus, and building a new UC that is not a necessity to Tulane at this time. I think Tulane needs to rethink how they are spendingtheir money. Even though Tulane never listens to their students, please do soin this matter. DO NOT DROP FOOTBALL TO DIVISON 3. Tulane football has been around before you were born President Cowen. Please dont destroy something that has been around hundreds and hundreds of years. If you want support from the New Orleans area downsizing football is not the way to go. Football is very important to this state and to this region of the country. Please think about the whole picture, and not just what you want at this particular time. You won't be able to go back once you've made this suicidal decision.

*****

Hey Mr Cowen, maybe Tulane needs to go back to the basics as a university. Tulane is so out of touch with NewOrleans. Tulane is losing money not only in athletics, but also in academics. As an elite global university Tulane is has fallen short in this department also. I travel a lot and I have asked people have you ever heard about Tulane. No I have not, Tulane where is that. New Orleans, LA., you know, Mardi Gras. And they would say, oh ya, Mardi Gras, N.O., Louisiana and LSU. I was floored, I could not believe my ears. This German lady loves sports, and she watches the ESPN Europe, and she loves American football. She has a son that plays American football. I asked, why LSU. She said the people at the party before the game (tailgating) looked liked they were having so much fun cooking before the game, and she wanted her son to go to LSU, because he will always have something to eat and her son would watch the game because LSU is a winning team.

I know Tulane does not want to be recognized with athletics, but like it or not Athletics in D1A is a powerful,powerful tool for revenue, especially in the City of New Orleans. Tulane University in the right hands, with NEW IDEAS and a real vision can make this happened. if Tulane had any real commitment to athletics, it would have happened years ago. Tulane had some of the country's best AD's, we had Chet Gladchuck, now at Boston College, Kevin White at Notre Dame and Coaches like Larry Smith from USC, Arizona and Missouri, we had Mac Brown now at Texas, Buddy Teavens at Stanford and Tommy Bowden at Clemson. All very successful men at TULANE with great new visions and ideas, but TULANE UNIVERSITY wanted no part of having any real success because Tulane wanted to keep an elite academic image and try to somebody they can't be. Tulane has been trying to be this type of university for 50 years.

I hope you and the elite board can come up with new solutions to keep football D1A only, and keep this over 100 year tradition going.

Thank You.

*****

Dear Dr. Cowen,

As a Tulane alum, L '82, I beg you to keep Tulane University at the Division 1 NCAA level for footballand all sports. I know that many facts have been expressed why we should continue as Division 1,such as recent bowls championships, highest graduation rates, diversity, etc. However, if I could just relay a short personal reason to remain Division 1: My father is a Tulane graduate class of 1950. My father was one of 11 children who grew up during the Great Depression and experienced his home flooding from the Mississippi River many times as a child. During World War II, my father joined the U.S. Army and served proudly in Europe, helping the world free itself of terrible evils. After World War II, my father returned to New Orleans with many scholarship offers for football based on his high school achievements. My father decided to enroll at Tulane University. My father graduated from Tulane University's School of Liberal Arts and became a high school teacher. Later on, my father became a business executive for a California company. I grew up in an upper middle class environment and graduated from Tulane Law School because of Tulane University's Division 1football program scholarship my father received. I know that many other alums who graduated from Tulane University always appreciated and desired the full college experience of a Division 1 football program. Please recommit Tulane University to maintaining Division 1 football. Thank you for you time. Sincerely,

*****

The GREEN shall inherit the school.

Division 1A forever

ROLL WAVE!

*****

I grew up in New Orleans. As a young man, I attended many Tulane athletic events. My dad went to Tulane and my mother went to Newcomb. Our family has been cheering for Tulane on an off the field for generations......don't give that up...There are a lot of people just like us!

I no longer live in New Orleans, but my family has recently acquired an apartment in THE city. The primary reason for this was for my family's enjoyment of the many things New Orleans has to offer. With Tulane sports being among the top of the list of reasons, it is sad to think that may not be for much longer.

All I can say is that it doesn't have to be that way. Stay in Division 1 .....the intangible benefits are to many to enumerate!

"....Unless you focus on the road, it won't take you where you want to go"........

For what it's worth, I'm an LSU grad......

Roll Wave!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*****

To Whom It May Concern:

As a Tulane Law School Alumnus, I have been following the debate on the future of Tulane Athletics with keen interest. I have heard many of the strong arguments encouraging the Board to keep our programs at D-IA, including the strong academic record of our student-athletes, the opportunities athletics provides to minority candidates, the recent successes of our athletic programs, especially the football program, and the intangible economic benefit it provides to the university. All of these arguments are valid but I want to focus on the value that a D-I athletics program provides to Tulane.

Currently, Tulane competes on the D-IA level in all sports and if you take the word of everyone involved, operates at about a $7M yearly loss. Much is made about what could be done with that $7M, including upgrading the libraries and investing into the endowment. But what I haven’t heard seriously considered is the economic impact of what could happen if Tulane football was either abolished or banished to a lower competitive level. Has anyone calculated the potential number of outraged alumni who would withhold their support for the University? Is it possible that the loss of their yearly donations would offset any gain made in the cancellation of D-IA football? It’s an issue that needs serious consideration. Furthermore, much has been made of the national exposure given to Tulane because of the football program. While I agree with that position, I think it goes much deeper than that. I received my Bachelor of Arts from Northwestern University of Evanston, IL, and my J.D. from Tulane University. My worldview on the purpose and mission of a university is to be an all-encompassing institution that essentially allows for young minds to explore almost any avenue in which they may find themselves interested. Be it music, theatre, science, art, or athletics, the best universities should be able to provide those experiences to their students.

Currently, Tulane finds itself in a very enviable position. It can count itself among a handful of universities that offer a world class education, along with world class athletics. These universities are in such a unique position because they have not sacrificed athletics for academia and they do both endeavors tremendously well. I am speaking of those institutions we consider our peers, Duke, Stanford, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Wake Forest, Vanderbilt, Rice, Baylor, and USC. To sacrifice our football program means we, voluntarily and willingly, are removing ourselves from this unique and distinguished group of institutions. We are essentially throwing in the towel and downgrading the prestige of our entire university. I also understand there are very fine institutions out there who do not have D-I athletics. There is the University of Chicago, Georgetown, Washington University, Emory, and Johns Hopkins and of course the Ivy League. I do not question the quality of these institutions. They, however, have built their respective institutions over the last century absent D-IA athletics. For us to drop our athletics and claim we can be like those institutions is disingenuous. Anyone following this situation realizes we are not considering this move because of an invitation to join the Ivy League, but rather because of financial problems. The world will see Tulane as unable to compete at the highest levels in D-I athletics. The world will see Tulane as a financially strapped and unstable institution. For prospective students, that will translate to Tulane being unable to compete with Duke, Stanford, etc. on any level, athletically, academically, or financially. The snowball effect of this review to Tulane could be absolutely catastrophic.

This situation is certainly resolvable. Reaffirm your faith in the D-IA athletics program. Mr. Dickson and Mr. Scelfo are making enormous strides in turning this into a profitable program. The student-athletes already set an example for the rest of the country in their accomplishments. The turmoil in the ACC and Big East only prove that the landscape of college athletics is in perpetual flux. Today we lose $7M per year, in 5 years we may earn $7M per year. Once we leave D-IA, we will leave forever and the effects on Tulane University will be profound, lasting and likely disastrous. I therefore respectfully request the Board maintain all of our athletic programs in D-IA.

*****

Good afternoon: I forwarded a brief message earlier to a generic address but thought I should follow up with another to this address. I am a third generation Tulanian who deeply loves our university and am blessed with two young sons who are already planning to attend Tulane. Collectively my family, including two aunts and an uncle, asked me to write expressing our intense desire that Tulane retain the current football program. My great uncle played on the famous Rose Bowl team and we have long identified with the green and blue as a result of football. It is a badge of honor in my family to stand among those Louisianians who proudly cheer on the Green Wave amid the ever present abuse doled out by the legions of LSU fans.

Tulane football offers us an identity with the university. During football season our entire weekends are shaped by the game. Moreover, it provides a vital connect with the local community that furthers the visible image of the university. It is ironic that just as some of us are reaching a level of financial stability that will allow us to more aggressively support the university, we are confronted with the fear that we may lose something so precious to us. I will renew my season tickets this week, but shall withhold my annual donation via the Green Wave Club until I hear that the football program is safe - then it shall be forwarded immediately. If Tulane drops football, I will reconsider any type of financial assistance to the university I love in the future. And, sadly, I know that my sons will reconsider their intense desire to attend a university that no longer offers the sport that Louisianians, and indeed most southerners, love best.

Why not consider dropping all other sports and retaining football. If you look at the dollars and cents, I am certain you will see that such a proposal may be the solution to many financial concerns. Please do not make a decision you will later regret, do not eliminate our football program and the goodwill it generates for Tulane. I thank you for hearing my concerns.

*****

Dr. Cowen, Please stop insulting the intelligence of the Tulane community. You have gone about this in a backhanded manner from the begging, and it's only getting worse. You have spoken about the sports deficit yet you refuse to try and save the program. You are obviously intent on destroying our tradition and could care less about how we feel about it. When this is all said and done, regardless of outcome, you will be at another school, and we will be left to pick up the pieces.

*****

I'm an alumnus of Tulane, specifically the College of Engineering. I think it is a good idea to explicitly review Tulane's plans for participating in intercollegiate athletics.

In my opinion, the ideal solution is not within the control of Tulane. I would like to see changes made to Division I-A to significantly reduce the revenue gap between BCS and non-BCS conferences. There are other changes needed as well. But I'll set aside that topic since it isn't within the scope of your review.

I think Tulane should either remain in Division I-A or switch to I-AA. I think that diversity (both of the student body and of the campus experiences that all students are offered) would be best served by remaining in I-A. I think it's critical for Tulane to join a BCS conference (the SEC would be ideal), since that was cited as a major reason Duke and Stanford can participate in I-A and Tulane is having problems. I think the Board should fund a detailed study about I-A sports at Duke and Stanford, and understand what other factors besides conference make it possible for them to be successful in I-A.

If after an objective study of Duke and Stanford, the board decides that Tulane cannot match their success in I-A, then a switch to I-AA is the move I would suggest. Any change is going to hurt Tulane's visibility with alumni, which is why I am suggesting the smallest change possible under the circumstances.

I am looking forward to the board's decision.

*****

While I have not contributed to the Athletic Fund directly, I have given as a recent alumni to the school. I believe that the reputation of Tulane's academics is enhanced by it's status as a school that competes at the Division I level. The visibility of a school that participates in the BCS is huge, and the opportunity to compete on a division I team has brought great student-athletes into the Tulane community. More than the direct revenue from the sports teams, there needs to be a variable in the equation that takes into account the non-direct contributions gained by increased visibility and desirability that the athletic program brings to Tulane. I support remaining at the Division I level for our athletic program.

*****

Honorable Members of Tulane Board of Administration;

First, I must commend you for the courage to embark on a review of the athletic department at Tulane which, like any other department at the university, is subject to normal review process for proper accountability and quality control. It is your job to exercise such quality control measures, and there can be sacred cows in carrying out your fiduciary obligations to exercise such controls at the university. Second, I commend you greatly for allowing your constituency the opportunity to dialogue with you openly in your search for facts and information in the process of looking for answers to solve the problem of shortfalls in the athletic department, including significant financial shortfalls. Contrary to views expressed by some people, this exercise has been very useful in many ways. I hope you found out from the responses that you have a vibrant and passionate group of alumni who truly love their university. If you can only figure out how to make them give money to the! university as passionately as they talk about the university, then there will never be shortfalls anywhere in the university.

The primary purpose of this letter to you is to share a few thoughts with you, which I hope you can reflect upon duly in the process of making your final decision about Tulane athletics. As intelligent men and women, you can see clearly from the responses you have received that the hand writing on the wall is not good at all, should Tulane change from division 1A to any other division in any sport, including football. The obvious desire and will of the vast majority of your constituency is unmistakable and very clear--they do not want any change from division 1A in any sport. Even if your financial analysis shows that the logical and "right decision" is to to make a change in Tulane athletics, the inevitable short-term and long-term negative consequences of making such "right decision" may make it a very bad decision, including significant loss of support from alumni, alienation of most students and alumni, and a level of pervasive hostility that will significantly impa! ct the efficient administration of the university,including academic programs. The university is the students and alumni; without them there is no university, and if there is no university the admirable ambition of excellent academic programs become mute and irrelevant.

If the board came out one day to announce certain changes in Tulane's athletic programs, it is more likely that the constituency will ultimately accept it and live with it--as much as they may hate the decisions, and hate the board for their style of imposing those decisions on them without seeking their opinion. However, when a board asks for the opinion of their constituency, and when the constituency speaks clearly and loudly on the issue, it could be very dangerous to violate the unequivocal will of the people. Furthermore, as board members, please anticipate the needs of Dr. Scott Cowen as president of the university, and be considerate of the environment you will leave behind for him at the university after you go home on June 10, 2003. You will not be there when he suffers the unfortunate and potent recriminations from any bad decision you may make on June 10. As president, he will be the only visible target, and it will interfere with his ability to run the univ! ersity. It is understandable that as head of the university and a member of the board, the responsible thing for Dr. Cowen to do is to remain neutral on the issue. Dr. Cowen as an individual person loves and supports athletics. He attended college on athletic scholarship, and has been known to come to Tulane games with his face painted green. His neutrality is a painful obligation as head of the university. Looking at the comments, you can see how badly he has been misunderstood and vilified by so many, even before your final decision on the matter. I am concerned that you may deny Tulane university the opportunity to pursue excellence in academic programs if a bad decision on the athletic programs results in a level of crisis and hostility that muddles up everything and interferes with the pursuit of academic excellence. In addition, the many threats by alumni to withhold financial support permanently from Tulane should be taken very seriously. I have also seen Yvette Jone! s unjustly vilified in the comments. You cannot afford to neutralize h er ability to work with external constituencies of Tulane university.

You may find that it is much easier to deal with a defined, quantifiable loss of five million dollars a year-- that can be contained-- than dealing with the pervasive hostility and inevitable losses that may come from antagonizing, and loosing the support of, your constituency-- because you cannot quantify or contain such losses. Besides, keep in mind that your constituency, particularly alumni and students, may elect to sue the board of administrators in court to protect their perceived rights and interests in quality athletic programs at division 1A level in all sports. They will argue strongly that there is no actual loss, that the alleged five million dollars is merely a cost of doing business which was not properly accounted for by the university. By quantifying the monetary value of the tangible and intangible benefits of division 1A athletics at Tulane, they may have a very convincing argument. A different line of argument may acknowledge that there are losses, b! ut will claim that the losses were actually created by the university board of administrators when it allowed Tulane to leave the SEC conference. They may argue that the board at Tulane has not exhausted every avenue of raising income to solve the problem, that the board is looking for the easy way out, thereby failing in their fiduciary responsibility to Tulane university.They could claim that academic excellence and athletic excellence are different sides of the same coin; that they will feel robbed, violated, and cheated if they were not given the opportunity to compete and excel at the highest levels of academics and athletics, and they may therefore seek a court order to compel the board to offer those opportunities at Tulane--using stanford to justify their position. It is a can of ugly worms you do not want opened at all.

These are my thoughts for your reflection and consideration. You are credible and responsible men and women, and I know you have the best interest of Tulane university at heart. I believe you will do the right thing, which may not be the easy thing--but it needs to be the wise thing.Preeminent universities are not built by easy tasks. Tulane can be a great university. The board and the administration of Stanford university are not more intelligent than the board and administration of Tulane university. The only obvious difference is the size of the endowment. With the proper will, vision, and creative ability, Tulane can be like Stanford. How do you find creative ways of securing sizable, reliable, and steady financial income to support eminent academic and athletic programs at Tulane in the 21st century? Let us focus on creative and innovative ways of generating enormous and significant wealth for Tulane university, to fund both excellent academic and athletic programs! at Tulane.

After you make the proper decision on June 10, do not forget to remember that you also need to help heal the Tulane university community. The university is going through a process of acute inflammation; you need to be part of the healing and resolution phase in that process of inflammation. With warm regards, and sincere best wishes for wise and sound judgment in your deliberations.

*****

If I-A is too expensive, please keep football as a nonscholarship sport. Tulane can't join the Ivy League, but it could occasionally play Ivy League teams.

Green Wave football could play in the same league as Davidson, Butler, and Dayton for 1/10 the cost of the current program.

Nonscholarship football is better than no football.

*****

In an era of MTV and children being raised by television, the administration feels it is wise to eliminate the school's exposure on television. To become an international university requires the school to drop down to the level of smaller state schools. This is something I would expect from some less educated individuals than the administration is supposed to be. Please think before doing anything this dumb again. You have everyone in the city and all the politicians thinking all associated with Tulane are stupid and don't care about the city and state. I have two degrees from this place and I resent the way you are running it into the ground.

*****

I am an 1982 Engineering alumni. I would very much like to see Tulane remain in Div I Athletics. Though I would not be too disappointed if we stayed at I-AAA (no football) level. I have mailed at check today for the Athletic fund. Thanks

*****

As this Board may need a little levity, I couldnÕt help remembering the time that the Newcomb faculty voted 88-0 to abolish football.

In the Hullabaloo the following week was this notice: ÒTulaneÕs football team voted this week 95-0 to abolish Newcomb College.Ó

*****

Dr. Cowen and Board of Trustees: we are coming by the hundreds to take back our university on June 10th. You will not win. Even if you vote to savage our sports programs on that day, in the end you will lose. We are coming to take back our university. We will be there and the cameras will be there.

*****

As I have read the various news reports, received numerous e-mails and listened to numerous rumors and innuendoes, I have finally decided to reply. As a double graduate (BSM '84, LAW '88) and current season ticket holder (football), I find it extremely distressing that this "study" has become the public debate that it has. I would think the Board would have been able to do this confidentially. Obviously, I was wrong. I certainly understand the need for any organization to periodically review its mission and its performance. But trying to look at Tulane Athletics in a purely financial fashion is absurd because it does not take into account the intangible benefits associated with "big time" (Division 1) athletics. As Tim Ryan has recently stated, the impact of Tulane sports goes well beyond the University. I strongly feel that Tulane should remain a full member of Division One. The University's fiscal woes are in no way primarily the result of the Athletic department. They are the cumulative result of mismanagement at all levels. Athletics, which has an impact well beyond dollars and cents, should not be made the scapegoat. The recent comparisons by the Times Picayune showing Tulane's woeful comparison in terms of endowment, grants, etc. points to the fact that Tulane's problems are much larger than an athletic department deficit. Further, Rick Dickson has done an outstanding job in developing a plan to correct the athletic deficit. Have the other departments or schools done the same thing? At least as far as the Law School and Business School's are concerned, I have not received any correspondence from them regarding fiscal problems. All I receive is the standard Annual Fund request which I try to contribute to. Most of my discretionary dollars however, are directed toward athletics. I have committed to join TAF ($300 level) as well as committed to purchase baseball season tickets. If football is dropped or all athletics are reduced to Division III, I can assure you that the University will NOT receive the funds I have committed to these activities, nor will they receive any other discretionary funds which I contribute to the Annual Fund. While I am not a millionaire and the withdrawal of my support certainly will not bankrupt the University, there are alot of small donors out there who feel the same way I do. After a while, it adds up. If you think Tulane's problems are bad now, just wait to see the drop off in giving if athletics is reduced in any way.

*****

To: The President of Tulane University, Scott Cowen

Scott, I am going through a definite deja vu...

As an A&S graduate (1970), my entire undergraduate experience included an endless debate regarding the TU Athletic Department. Can't we ever, get passed it?

In those days, it was TU football versus the Drama Club! Unfortunately, the subject has always been approached as a "trade off analysis" by the TU administration... This is the fundamental flaw in the analysis... then and now. Legitimate NCAA and independent research confirms conclusively that there is "no substitute" for a strong university athletic program for men and women. In short, it builds a stronger University community, and it is economically attractive on many levels (provided that it is well managed).

Downgrading TU athletics from Division 1A of the NCAA is an unacceptable solution and is not really a viable compromise.

Will we ever get over this issue as a University and grow into both of our fine shoes... that we've been given by our predecessors? There is no "either/or" solution... two shoes are required for a thousand mile journey (left for academic excellence and right for athletic performance).

Like the Chinese advise us... let's begin Tulane's journey into the 21st Century by getting off on the "right foot".

Thanks for considering another point of view,

*****

To whom it may concern--

I am a recent graduate (May 2003) of Tulane University. I have grown up in New Orleans, and my father attended Tulane as well. I grew up with Tulane athletics-- attending football games, in particular. A huge reason I decided to attend Tulane was because it offered a rich athletic tradition, along with academics. My family holds several sets of season tickets for various sports, and we enjoy going to all of the games. It would be devastating to my family and to me if Tulane were to drop football.

As a recent alum, I have said many goodbyes in the past few weeks. But one thing that has kept my spirits high during this time are the promises that I have made to my friends that we will meet up at Homecoming and future games-- visiting each other wherever Tulane is playing.

Please set reasonable goals for the future of athletics. I believe this exercise has served as a great wake up call for many alumni who have taken athletics for granted. Please do not let Tulane become another university with a great academic reputation but no name recognition because it lacks a football team. Such an absence will cause immeasurable losses in alumni contributions and the free advertising received each time a Tulane student joins a professional athletics team.

I am confident that my Tulane Engineering degree will bring me many successes in the future, and I plan to share those successes with Tulane athletics. I know many others feel this way as well. In addition to my family's football season tickets, I plan to purchase some of my own under the Young Alumni Package.

Please keep Tulane competing in Division 1-A football, and I promise to support the Wave.

*****

President Cowen and Board Members,

I am against dropping football and any move from Division I-A! Tulane Football provides recognition and publicity for the University as a whole. The program is improving and generated not only a fabulous win in the ConAgri Hawaii Bowl but also a great deal of University recognition as that was the only Bowl Game on that night! Further, I am a supporter of all Tulane Athletics which includes even making the journey to Omaha in support of Tulane's great baseball team.

If Tulane is having woeful monetary concerns as recent news articles have indicated, look elsewhere to cut-back such as free tuition for employees children which does not generate the recognition and publicity for the school that Athletics does but DO NOT take Athletics out of Division I-A nor drop football. The football program is well worth the number of scholarships that are required to maintain it as it gives back tenfold in publicity and recognition. When I travel, people know of Tulane from the football team's recent bowl victory not that Jevons Lee among many others are super researchers from the Business School and other schools.

Tulane is a tuition driven university that can use all the publicity it can get to generate interest in the university. I feel that this should be considered before the board cuts off its nose despite its face so to speak!

I, too, give to the University and the A. B. Freeman School of Business, however, like many others, my dollars will now go to Athletics and if Football is dropped or the program itself is moved from Division I-A Tulane will no longer receive any money from me.

*****

I know Tulane is a private university and you can cook the books, but you guys are trying to make the football or athletics take the fall for your bad management of funds, bad investments, and giving too many scholarships to kids who will not give back. I have three Tulane graduates I work with from out state. They were all on academic scholarships and they will never, ever give back to Tulane because Tulane have angered them in some way, and they can care less about New Orleans. Tulane's Alumni is wide spread and hard to make contact with most, and this works in Tulane's favor to sneak things through to cover your own butts, because by the time they get wind of Mr. Cowen, Yvette Jones and you guys on the board it will be too late. You guys have bankrupted this fine institution for your on elite status.

Tulane has completely lost touch with New Orleans, and the elite student of Tulane are no better than State school students. Tulane is the biggest employer of New Orleans and it makes this whole Tulane debacle look even more shameful.

I have been a season ticket holder since 1968. I will boycott Tulane University if Tulane drops or tries to get into a lower division in football, and I will send my youngest kid somewhere else next year. LSU is so proud of what you have done with Tulane Athletics. Now we have TU students hating you and LSU fans loving you. If you only knew what you are really doing, you would give Mr. Dixon a real fighting chance. Just look at the University of Virginia.

I can't wait for the book: HOW TO DESTROY A MAJOR UNIVERSITY IN 5 YEARS.

*****

To Dr. Cowen and the others who are in favor of eliminating Division 1-A football:

Well, now you've done it. After the many years of a sleepy minority complaining about the Tulane tax exemption in Louisiana, you've put the entire university at risk.

For those who do not know, last year Tulane claimed a deficit in the athletic budget of $1.8M. This year Dr. Cowen has proclaimed an operating loss of $5M, then $7M, and last week to the New York Times, he was quoted as saying it was $10M. In the interim a study conducted by UNO has shown that the city of New Orleans receives at least a $42M economic impact annually from Tulane athletics- probably worth 1,500 to 2,000 jobs.

And now members of the State Senate plan to take another look at Tulane's tax exemption-- worth almost $25M annually- if Tulane drops division 1-A football and other athletics. The unarguable fact is that Tulane both gives to and receives much from the city and state. When our president and Board of Administrators (many of whom have no connection to Louisiana and never stepped into a Tulane classroom) decide unilaterally to change the balance of mutual support between our university and the local community, you can expect the community (politicians) to fire back.

$25M pays for a lot of salaries, a lot of labs, and a lot of capability at our university. I'm not sure we can "put the genie back in the bottle" now that it has been opened. But, I believe we need to "suck it up." Remove the athletic deficit by following Rick Dickson's plan and save our school. For the professors, students, alumni, board members, and you, Dr. Cowen, who heretofore supported the elimination of Division 1-A football and/or other athletics, it is clearly time to rethink. You can complain about politicians if you choose, but you've got less than a week to come out in favor of a successful Division 1-A Athletic Department, including a "flagship" football program. The time is now- "Save the Wave!"

*****

Dear Tulane, football I could take it or leave it. Unfortunately, we aren't Ivy league where there aren't any athletic scholarships. no problem with enrollment there. I hadn't been to a tulane game since my wife worked @ TU. If it's losing 7 million/year. Dump it. However, Do the other sports make money. What's the run down / Baseball? golf?, and Tennis. yours,

*****

My grandfather came from Hawaii and traveled hundreds of miles to go to a medical school leaving his large family of brothers and sisters behind. He decided to attend Tulane Medical School not only for the good education but also for what he knew about the great 1930ís Tulane football teams. He started off a long tradition of Tulane graduates in our family with his son and daughter following after their father. We currently have 7 graduates of Tulane in the family and a contributing factor has been sports. Ever since Iíve been born I can remember following Tulane sports. I remember being in 3rd grade and decorating my book covers with Tulane to support the football team. I can remember my grandfather teasing my brother and I for going straight to the sports section of the newspaper to read about Tulane. If Tulane did not compete at the top level of college sports, I would have thought that half or more of my generation would have ended up at a different university. I hope and pray that Tulane remains at the Division 1A level in all sports. Maybe one day my sons can attend Tulane for a good education and compete with top tier athletes in college sports.

*****

As a Tulane Alum, I enjoy following Green Wave athletics, and I take pride in the success of our university. I understand the financial implication of Tulane's decision regarding athletics; however, I feel that Tulane athletics is in the right track, and it is in the best interest of the school, and student athletes, to remain a division I school. Tulane athletics is on the rise, and the financial gains that are needed to keep sports programs alive will be realized as long as the school remains in division I. Please do not let a good program that is growing lose its momentum.

*****

In response to the email about remaining in Division I, or chaning to Division I - AAA(no football) I believe that Tulane should change to Division I - AAA. The football team is usually the poorest performing of all athletic events, and probably the most costly. Too many resources are wasted on trying to achive greatest with the football team, and they will never be as good as LSU or similar teams. Also, too many scholarships are wasted on football players who don't even want to attend classes, and even if they do attend class they are usually the rudest and most violent of the entire student population, and they believe everything should be handed to them.

*****

Dear Sir / Madame,

Leaving Division I-A would be a huge blow to the psyche of many Tulanians all across the country. Do you realize how proud we are of Tulane everytime our football team appears on national television in a bowl game, women's basketball makes it to the NCAA tournament, and our baseball team goes to the NCAA Regionals or even the College World Series. This from an outstanding University that has one of the highest Division I-A graduation rates in the country. Please do not understimate the positive impact a Division I-A sports program has on alumni, fans, Tulane University, and the New Orleans community. Please do not underestimate the irreparable damage that would occur from leaving Division I-A and/or terminating the football program. Thank you.

*****

Dear Mr. Greer:

How many ways does Tulane shoot itself in the foot? Let me count the ways.

1 De-emphasis of football in 1950 - that put us in the dilemma we're in now.

2 Tearing down Tulane Stadium in its entirety instead of leaving 40,000 seats for an on- campus stadium just in case things got too expensive at the dome - now you guys are crying for an on-campus stadium.

3 Bolting from the SEC - now you guys would give an arm and leg to be there - now you have to pay your own way!

4 Now the talk about downgrading (which really means the end of the program) despite the spin you've been throwing at everyone about the desire to keep athletics at Tulane. When you see near empty seats at all your events, it will embolden the academicians to use that as another excuse for an ad hock committee. Let me make a suggestion. How's about an ad hoc committee to study the feasibility of continuing to give free scholarships to faculty offspring, instead of denying the indigent population who would never get a chance at a Tulane education without athletics.

Don't blame athletics for its problems, put the blame where it belongs, at the incompetence displayed by the school, spurred on by a small coterie of academicians jumping at every opportunity that avails itself, to end the program.

Do Tulane fans really HAVE to go through this ritual every ten years or so?

*****

As an alumnus (A&S '98) I'd like to give my opinion on the athletics dilemma. Personally, I would be devastated if we were to drop from Div I. It seems as if our athletics are currently on the move up. I'm extremely proud to say that I went to a university with an excellent academic reputation and a Div I sports program. There aren't a lot of universities that can say that. Lastly, I love football. Whether the team is national champs or last in the conference, I love Tulane football! I would hate to see it go or drop out of Div I.

*****

To whom it may concern:

A Tulane graduate (M.A., 1972; Ph.D., 1976), I was employed as an instructor in the Newcomb College Department of History in 1977-78 when the faculties of Arts & Sciences and of Newcomb College voted to rid Tulane of college football. As I recall, the A&S faculty voted 110 to 12 to terminate football, and the Newcomb faculty voted 83-0 with one abstention to end the sport. I could not attend the Newcomb faculty meeting, as I was occupied with teaching a class in American history at the very hour (High Noon) when the vote was taken.

The students in my history class were very much aware of the vote in progress, so I polled them to learn their point of view. Of the forty-odd students in the room, not one expressed a desire to see Tulane drop football. Many explained that they considered football an important element of the college experience, and some avowed that they would not have chosen Tulane or Newcomb if Tulane had not had a big-time college football program.

Later that day, as I was debouching from the University Center throught the door opening onto the Quad, I was confronted by the microphone of a WVUE-TV news reporter who was accompanied by his camera man, and was asked my view of whether Tulane should terminate college football. I gave the reporter a succinct (two-minute) discourse on the issue, in which I indicated that I was in my sixth year of teaching at Tulane (seven semesters as a teaching assistant, one summer as a visiting assistant professor, and two years as a Newcomb instructor, all from 1972 through 1978). I explained that in those six years I had not taught a single class in which there was a student for every chair in the room. I suggested it would have cost Tulane little to allow scholarship athletes to occupy some of those empty chairs without paying tuition. Their presence would not have increased my salary, and would hardly have driven up the heating and air-conditioning costs. The main expense would have been the administrative cost of inputting their classes and grades into the computer and spitting out a grade report at semester's end. I made the point that the cost of football players' tuition scholarships was a phantom cost insofar as the enrollment of scholarship athletes did not prevent Tulane from admitting tuition-paying students. As I recall, the majority of the football deficit consisted of the tuition "charged" to the football program for placing scholarship athletes in the empty seats in classes such as mine. As I was age thirty-one at the time of this interview, I was still something of a s--t stirrer, and so made the further observation that if the faculties that had voted against maintaining football had been entirely honest with themselves and the rest of the Tulane family, they would have seen it as counterintuitive to eliminate football when the deficits currently being rung up by the fledgling Tulane Medical Center were well in excess of the losses attributed to the football program (and even more in excess of the cost of football in actual rather than phantom dollars). I put it to the reporter that if the faculties wished to trim the budget by eliminating losing enterprises, they must logically begin by shutting down the Tulane Medical Center--a far bigger loser (at that juncture) than college football.

As I might have known, the only part of what I'd said in this two-minute interview which made Alec Gifford's evening news was my suggestion that the faculty's standards required terminating the medical center before the football program. Taken out of context, it actually sounded as if I were calling for the end of the medical center, which I then considered--and do still--to be a vital part of Tulane's medical teaching program and a necessary palliative to years of playing second fiddle to LSU at Charity Hospital. I missed the 6 o'clock news because I was, again, teaching a class, but heard about it in the halls of the History Building from angry departmental colleagues. After class, I scuttled home to watch WVUE's out-of-context sound bite on the 10 o'clock news. None who saw the news heard the point I was making. Esteemed colleagues such as Charles Davis expressed shock and dismay at my statement, necessitating on my part some effort to explain that the remark was made to expose the faculty's faulty logic. I recall the foregoing rather well because I suffered not a little ignominy for championing the students' point of view on college football. It was clear to me that the faculty, on the whole, were of a quite different mind, as the votes of A&S and Newcomb so well illustrated.

Anent the current proposal not to drop football but to downgrade all sports, I would like to make the following points:

1. The athletic program should not be burdened with the phantom tuition losses attributed to the award of athletic tuition scholarships.

2. The traditional faculty view that such scholarships deprive them of salary increases and library funds is premised on the belief that those phantom tuition losses are real losses.

3. The faculty are but one interest group on campus. Another--and I submit far more important interest group--is the student body. To the extent they are tenured and do not come and go as students do, many faculty may feel more entitled to their way than students to theirs. But a businessman should have little difficulty recognizing that the students are the clients, and the faculty are merely the staff who serve the clients. In my law practice (I could not make a living in the teaching market), the clients' desires generally take precedence over those of the lawyers who serve them. Heretical as it may sound, the faculty tail should not wag the dog.

4. As with any business, a university depends on advertising. To the extent they are successful, major college football, basketball, baseball, and other sports advertise Tulane around the country. The more advertising, the higher the ratio of applications to admissions, the better quality the students, the happier the faculty.

5. The etiology of the current proposal traces to two improvident decisions--the first, taken in the early fifties, to replicate the Ivy League's decision to reign in the U. of Pennsylvania and generally deemphasize sports recruiting; the second, taken in the sixties, to withdraw from the SEC. The proposed removal to Division III, if taken, will be a fatal blow. If it leaves Division I-A, Tulane will never return.

*****

Okay, I've been part of the silent majority but I've had enough of the vocal minority spewing vitriolic comments and denigrating Tulane's Board of Administration, in general, and Scott Cowen, in particular.

Many seem to have lost sight of the reality that Tulane is a well-known, well-respected RESEARCH institution. It draws its students from around the globe; its faculty comes from the best universities in the world; its reputation nationally and internationally is founded on its research and academic programs.

As an alumna and staff member, I can tell you firsthand that the financial situation in athletics has existed for more than my 15+ years in New Orleans. (My understanding is that the problems have existed to various degrees for more than 30 years.) The university has subsidized athletics to the detriment of raises for faculty and staff and maintenance to its facilities.

Former president Eamon Kelly, well-known for his policy of "deferred maintenance," advocated each unit within Tulane paying its own way and preached "every tub on its own bottom." In his 18+ years as president, it never happened. Faculty and staff began ignoring the sermon because they knew nothing was being done.

President Cowen is the only one who has had the intestinal fortitude to "step up to the plate" and address the longstanding situation, examine the data, and pose the questions to the board. This is the action of a courageous individual. (For the first time ever, the university has an "every tub on its own bottom" system. The professional schools-business, law and medicine-have to run cost-efficiently because of the "tax" they pay back to the university. Now the other units will do the same. It has been a painful process and we're still adjusting. But it's best for the whole. None of the units exist in a vacuum.)

Since he arrived at Tulane, Dr. Cowen has walked the campus, greeting students, faculty, staff, and visitors alike. (At first, no one knew how to respond, because Kelly had never done this.) His passion for all things green and blue is contagious. Fundraising and enthusiasm for the university has received a "shot in the arm" with him at the helm. He and the board do not deserve the falsehoods, erroneous statements and unsportsmanlike comments that have been leveled at them.

I wish I knew how many people, of those who have written in, have season tickets to any Tulane sport and how much they have given to the athletic fund. I venture to guess that I could retire if I asked for a dollar for each one that doesn't attend the games and doesn't give to the fund.

The university's constituencies, the city and the state need to coalesce their support around Tulane regardless of the board's decision. Be thankful someone is willing to fight for financial solvency in all aspects of the university.

*****

Dr. Cowen, et al:

Concerning Tulane Athletics . . . .

I live in Carrollton about seven blocks from campus. Although I did not attend Tulane (at least not yet) but instead LSU, my family has a strong tradition of attending Tulane most notably my grandfather and my uncle.

It is of my opinion that the current NCAA division level as well as the sports in which Tulane participates should not be changed. Although I do think that academics should be and is currently the priority of Tulane, athletics play a major role as well. I understand that the university is currently losing money with the athletic program and I also do understand and agree that the current football BCS contract puts Tulane and all schools in non-BCS conferences at a severe disadvantage.

To keep is short, here are a few of the many reasons Tulane should continue at Division 1 and also maintain the most costly program, football:

1. The amount of PR and name recognition given to Tulane because of playing football at the Division 1 is invaluable. Tell me of another way Tulane will get that mainstream name recognition. The deficit of the football program is worth this cost.

2. Tulane has 100+ years of football tradition. That tradition is an integral part of Tulane and that must be preserved. New Orleans is all about tradition--and the Tulane football program is one of those traditions which contribute to the greatness of our city.

3. The focus of academics keep getting mentioned as one of the reasons to sacrifice athletics. Tulane has done an outstanding job as its student-athletes maintain among the highest gpa's in Division 1--and manage to field fairly competitive teams. Tulane already has a great reputation for academics. Sacrificing athletics to show that the administration is serious about this is un-needed. Comparisons to Harvard are un-necessary and to me seem to indicate some sort of lack self-assuredness by those that continue to use that reasoning for reducing the athletic program. Tulane is not Harvard--Tulane is Tulane. Athletics and academics can exist.

4. Changing the current status would be on par with Tulane leaving the SEC. (Actually it would be worse.) If Tulane still remained in the SEC, none of these discussions would be taking place--see Vanderbilt. Killing football will be looked back upon in ten years as a horrible, horrible mistake.

5. There will be a severe backlash from key Tulane athletics/financial supporters if any of the possible changes are indeed made. This backlash will seriously effect both athletic attendance and financial support to the university. Once these people are lost, they are not coming back to support Tulane in any capacity--academical or athletic.

These five reasons to preserve Tulane athletics are just the ones that I came up with sitting in front of my computer in ten minutes. There are many, many more reasons than the ones I have listed in this email. The more I think about it and the more I talk to people in the community about the Tulane athletic situation, the more I am convinced that any major changes to the athletic program would be detrimental. Please make the right choice and preserve Tulane athletics.

*****

I can't understand all of the attacks on Tulane football from certain quarters as the egregious drain on university resources when the Department of Education shows that Tulane broke even on athletics for fiscal year 2001-2002 and that the women's sports programs earned almost no revenue while costing more than $4 million. Football, if the university would support it properly, does have the chance to earn significant revenue, revenue far greater than any other program at Tulane has much chance of earning.

*****

Sponsorships. Tulane AD Dickson and others are making the excuse that a drop to Division III or dropping the football program would harm sponsorship opportunities? Isn't that funny. No offense to New Orleaneans, but not very many big businesses are based in New Orleans. Companies generally like to sponsor athletic programs that are close to home because of Public Relations purposes and recruiting benefits. Name a couple of FORTUNE 500 enterprises based in New Orleans. Let's count...oh wait, there's only ONE: Entergy. Now, let's see the GLOBAL 500: Entergy is no longer on the list now. So let's factor that into the equation. Tulane is in Conference USA. Conference USA = NOT A LOT OF MONEY and NOT A LOT OF PUBLICITY. Tulane athletics runs a large deficit = MAJOR STRAINS ON TULANE ACADEMICS. And now, Tulane is in New Orleans. So of course "New Orleans city boards laud Tulane Athletics"...there's just not a lot in New Orleans and they need Tulane. On the contrary, let's use Boston College as an example. Their basketball stadium: Conte Forum is relatively the same size as Fogelman. Their academic rankings are comparable to that of Tulane's. So what comparative advantages does BC bring to the table in order to attract big conferences such as the BIG EAST and the ACC and many business sponsorships? Because it's located in Boston. Boston Metropolitan Area is the seventh largest in the country and it yields six million potential consumers. Also BOSTON is a base or headquarters for major Fortune 500 and GLOBAL 500 corporations such as Gillete, FleetBoston Financial, Verizon Communications, Raytheon, Fidelity Investments, need I continue? And I work for Verizon, and I guaranteee you, Tulane is not on our short list of schools to sponsor... And also, many Tulane grads don't stay and work in New Orleans knowing that New Orleans lacks opportunities. Many are like me, they go to Tulane for an EDUCATION, and leave to work elsewhere. So, let's think? We all love New Orleans. Yes, we all go and went to Tulane for the entire package. But we primarily go and went to Tulane for academics. And figure this alumni. If Tulane's academic ranking slips, and we lose out in academics to other schools, your Tulane degree will no longer look so attractive, placing you at a comparative disadvantage to other workers from other institutions! Think about that! Academic reputation is not carried over year after year. It is static. People, recruiters, colleagues are parents, grandparents, cousins, and aunts of college students and potential college students that research college rankings and reputation. Reputation is static and is dependent on a school's current rankings. So now, would you want to say you went to Tulane if Tulane slips in rankings and academic prestige? First impressions are built on paper facts. If Tulane becomes that jock school with a great football team, others will cast you off as just that--and that's assuming Tulane Football will improve. But as we've seen, Tulane does not attract all the great athletes...which brings us back to Conference USA. As you notice, all these problems get compounded and recycled. One problem leads to another which leads to another which leads back to your primary dilemma. Yes, you're right, the situation Tulane is in is institutional and it is due to the unfairness of a discriminatory BCS system. But Tulane can lobby Congress and the NCAA and waste millions of dollars going through that channel hoping the system will be altered through legislation or government intervention, or it can go through the cheaper channels and either drop football or Division I status. And note this I won't contribute to Tulane unless it drops to Division III or unless it is a specific donation to the Tulane Economics Department! Thank you for your time!

*****

Dr. Cohen

Mr. Greer

I think it is safe to say that the rank and file of the city of New Orleans, and the state of Louisiana does not readily identify with Tulane simply because it is viewed as a rich man?s school. The only bridge that spans that way of thinking and further alienation with the rest of the state is the athletic program, in particular football. For those who think dropping football is the answer to the athletic departments problems, I say look at the example of UNO. They can?t even support their basketball program, which is the butter for their bread. You are only prolonging the inevitable destruction of the entire athletic department. In no time the ?academicians? will be nipping at the heels of basketball claiming they can?t support it, and with football gone, they probably won?t be able to. But for now, they?ll take that! Shoot yourself in the foot one more time. It will be the LAST!( as far as athletics goes)

*****

President Cowen and Committee Members,

I have reviewed the website and want to express my concern that if Tulane decided to drop to a Division I-AAA or a Division II status, I believe it would have long term ramifications for this university. My parents are Tulane graduates, my sister and I are second generation graduates and I hope my children will consider Tulane in their future college plans.

One of my fondest memories is attending Tulane football games in various locations around the country with my parents and their friends. This was my first exposure to Tulane and when Tulane plays TCU or SMU, I attend to support the Green Wave. I believe Alumnae support is directly tied to college athletics in many instances. I think the idea of building an athletic foundation is an excellent idea and I would be interested in giving money to this endeavor.

I am certain that your decision will be duly deliberated. I hope for the sake of future Tulane students and their alumnae parents you choose to keep Tulane in Division I-A school.

*****

I am writing to you to express my opinion that Tulane should remain a Division I school. I realize that this is a difficult decision for the University, and one that has far-reaching repercussions on the school's financial future. Nevertheless, I strongly believe that the attention the University receives through being Division I is worth the price.

I transferred to Tulane from Trinity University after my freshman year of college. Trinity was (and is) a Division III school that, at the time, was no athletic powerhouse. I believe that Trinity is a great institution, but one of the reasons I transferred was because I felt the school lacked a strong sense of identity and unity. I always thought that shortcoming was a byproduct of not having a Division I athletics program to rally around.

When I came to Tulane, I found what I thought was lacking at Trinity - a national university whose identity was fostered by it's athletics team and its Division I status. I have a great fear that if the University decides not to continue in Division I, it may well lose the prestige and attention that sports inevitably attracts.

Additionally, since I graduated, it has been the football team that has allowed me to keep up with the school and to retain a great deal of interest in the university from my home in Austin. I watch the team whenever they are on television, and I fully intend to go the game when the team visits the University of Texas this fall. I am not sure that same sense of connection can be inspired in the alumni without a high-profile athletics department.

*****

I've been a swim coach in Massachusetts for over 10 years now and was horrified to hear that Tulane was considering dropping their Division I status.

One of my swimmers who actually moved to Florida to pursue her swimming seriously, was just accepted at Tulane. She was so excited to get into Tulane University for the swimming program that she tracked me down to let me know the wonderful news. She felt she was on her way to making her swimming dreams come true at a school that she felt comfortable in academically as well. Imagine her surprise to hear that Tulane was considering dropping the Division I standing. Without the partial swimming scholarship, she simply won't be able to attend.

Our sport of swimming is one of the few sports that can be considered a lifesaving and a lifelong skill. We simply can't allow it to be dropped out of Division I programs, and out of the national limelight. We need to keep it visible to encourage children and adults to learn how to swim for their own safety!

Tulane is a leader amongst Division I schools, please set a good example by keeping your Division I athletic status.

*****

Given the current state of change among athletic conference affiliations and the certainly-less-than-permanent structure of the BCS system, dropping football right now seems short sighted. A progressive approach would be to strengthen the football program to the point where Tulane becomes attractive to a BCS conference (or whatever major school system eventually succeeds the BCS). An aggressive approach would be to spearhead a drive for a new conference of academically superior institutions that, like Tulane, play major college football. How, you may ask, could such a conference be attractive to the BCS powers that be? There's only one way: do whatever it takes to get Notre Dame in the new conference. Tulane, Notre Dame, and anyone else would be BCS. Notre Dame by itself is BCS. Geaux Wave, Geaux get the Irish on our side.

*****

As a Tulane Alum and donor, I am writing to express my strong support of keeping football (and the other sports) at the Division 1-A level. To "kill" football at this time would be incredibly short-sided. The BCS is going to be in flux for the next several years when TV contracts come up for renewal. There is a real possibility that a national playoff could be put in place, with a greater number of conferences sending their champs to the playoffs (similar to the current basketball tournament). With a competitive football program as it fields now, together with its #1 THE NATION GRADUATION RATE AMONG BOWL TEAMS, Tulane would be well-positioned to be a part of one of these conferences and share in huge amounts of money. Of course, if the football program is eliminated or downgraded, there will be no chance of sharing in this monetary bonanza.

*****

Dr. Cowen, Please provide us a percentage of people who favor Tulane keeping all Div I sports versus those who support dropping football or downgrading to a lower level.

*****

Dr. Cowen.

Please listen to what the overwhelming majority of alumni or as you call us Stake Holders want. Division I football is vital to maintaining The Tulane experience. If you don't listen to the people you surely will be looking for a new job and in the process your quick fix will contribute to the further destruction of the university.

*****

Dear Board and President Cowen:

Have you noticed the messages posted here are getting more blunt? That is because there is a tremendous and very justified level of frustration.

You asked for input from the Tulane community. You got it. The message from alums and students is overwhelmingly to stay 1A in football and D1 across the board. That is the real sentiment of Tulane. If you try to convince yourself that some artfully-worded survey asking "did you come to Tulane for the sports?" is any sort of a valid poll on this issue, you're only kidding yourself. The answer for most students and alums to that question would obviously be "no" whether they attend or attended Tulane, Notre Dame, Alabama, whatever. But if you want to know whether 1A sports are important to your students and alums, look at this feedback forum, look at the uproar among our alumni base, look at the transcripts of the meetings at Dixon Hall. Bluntly, if this were a boxing match, it would have been stopped.

You asked those who want athletics to stay 1A to step up their financial support. I hate to be cynical, but I don't think you expected the huge outpouring of financial support that occurred. But that's what you got. A record amount of money has been raised. If there was even an inkling of an indication from the administration that this support is making a difference in the outcome, you would see that support soar even higher. But we haven't received that inkling. What we have now received instead is an indication that even though Tulanians overwhelmingly want D1A, even though the financial goals for solving the deficit are not only being met but exceeded, you're inclined to drop football anyway.

If you go against the wishes of the alumni and students, particularly when the financial issue that is supposedly at the root of this review is not only solvable but is being solved, you will do tremendous harm to Tulane University. You can try to "spin" the numbers or issues any way you want, but the students and alums know how much money has been raised in such a short time and how easily solvable the deficit is. If you vote to drop football or change divisions, you will gut the core of those who currently support Tulane, financially and otherwise. You will also alienate the present students and younger alums who are the givers 10 to 20 years from now. If this is truly about what would be best for Tulane 10 to 20 years from now, that most certainly is NOT to alienate the people who would otherwise be Tulane's financial support network at that time. The people who will be disinclined to support Tulane if you ignore them are today's and tomorrow's lawyers, doctors, engineers, business persons; if you think that only some "lunatic fringe" cares enough about this issue to let it influence his or her financial support for the rest of the university, you are sadly mistaken or have been tragically misled. These are not rash people, but when they speak this loudly, this passionately, and in the numbers you see in this instance, they can only interpret a decision that goes against their wishes as you telling them that they are not "Tulane" regardless of what they might have thought, and that instead "Tulane" is an unelected president and board. If you turn your backs on them, they will turn their backs on you.

There is only one proper and acceptable outcome here: Division 1A football and Division 1 across the board.

Thank you.

*****

To President Scott Cowen and all of the board members who seem to not understand what Tulane is:

Tulane is a wonderful university that is competitive both athletically and academically. We should strive for the highest achievement in both. Athletic talent does not mean someone has no intellectual capacity as some would like to contend, but rather the student-athlete bring something else to the table with them, just as the student-actor does. Diversity of students is a good thing. Athletics help diversity. Roll Wave!

And one more thing, if you think the response you have gotten to your secret plan getting out is bad, just wait to see what happens should you dare try to mess with Newcomb. I'd be fighting that good fight too.

Don't forget that the people who have taken the time to respond are likely the same people who have donated money to the school. Clearly the overwhelming amount of feedback has been in favor of maintaining Division 1A sports. Consider those checkbooks closed if you make the wrong choice.

So fight, fight Old Tulane fight on to victory!

*****

THINK GREEN! Make the right choice on 6/10. Vote to keep Division 1A athletics at Tulane University. ROLL WAVE!

*****

Keep it big time BIG COMPETITION

COACH SCELFO bleeds green and blue

Work it out

*****

I must comment on the proposal to gut Tulane athletics which I gather has switched from a move to D-3 to abolishing football outright. I am an alum class of 1954. I was in school when Dr Harris gutted the football program- I saw the further gutting of leaving the SEC. Its taken those 50 years of mismanagement and bad decisions but we're finally pulling out of it. 4 winning seasons in 6 years, more talent then in 20 years on campus and a coach who wants .to stay. Plus we have FINALLY an AD who has a marketing plan. Yes we have a deficit. But you must know that success of Mr Dickson's plan depends upon football and is the only chance to rid us of the deficits. You must know that other sports without football particularly the Title 9 sports have no chance of solvency. Then why is this counter productive move being considered? Why was it done in secrecy? Why were the alumni a main stakeholder group not notified and brought in to the equation? Why hasn't the President and Board members been helping in Mr. Dickson's campaign..? How can a man who has been at Tulane 5 years destroy 110 years of Tulane seemingly on his own? Don't you realize that people with no Tulane ties should consult in a serious way with people with lifetime ties to this University? Don't you realize that the progress of Mr Dickson if not given a chance will look like you did not want it to succeed? Don't you realize that this in itself will cause erosion of support that will probably make your financial situation worse? Dr Cowen speaks of what kind of University we want to be in 10 years. I believe if he succeeds we will be UNO-UPtown in 10 years no football no support no interest. Also why do the numbers keep changing. First it was $7 million, then Dr Cowen said $14 million and today the Washington Times quotes Tulane losing $20 million a year on athletics? Whose cooking the books and why? For Dr Cowen to add in the paper loss of scholorship money is ti be blunt a scam. You don't turn other students away because 85 football players are on campus and you don't hire more faculty because you may have a football player or two as additional students in school. Your real costs are only his meal plan plus loss of revenue from dorm room rental assuming all dorm iunits are full, To claim any other academic expense is just plain false and misleading.There just is so much phony argument,changing stories, undercutting Mr Dickson that this alum for one and in talking to many others I know I am not alone wants nothing more to do with Tulane if you go thru with this sham. And the way its been handled it can't be called anything else Thank you. God bless.

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Division III will put college sports back where they belong. Football is an extracurricular activity.

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Div 1A College Football is "King" in the South. Don't mess with it, or you will be disenchanting and alienating a surprising number of "quiet" donors to all branches of Tulane University.

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