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Questions and Comments We've Received June 5, 2003 To Whom It May Concern: Reading all of the alumni opinions on the feedback website inspired me to contribute my own. Currently a rising senior, I couldn't imagine Tulane dropping down to I-AAA. It might be necessary to keep tuition dollars from increasing even more(ha!), but I can't believe there isn't another way to save money. Why not stop rebuilding/remodeling the University Center every couple of years? Didn't we just put in a new B-School building? I realize that money probably came from donations and the donors might have specified what to use the money for. I have no problems with that. But we should be able to save sports without dropping to Division 3. Didn't we just get selected to a bowl game in Hawaii? Our baseball team has been one of the best since I've come to school and followed them. Don't give up on them. I can't help but wonder where this school will be in 10 years when I come back. Possibly without athletics. I'm 99% certain it will be without a Greek System. But, on the positive side, it will be filled with eggheads from far and abroad, who are not very diverse and aren't truly getting the "college" experience. No parties, no social functions, just academia. If it ends up that way, your students, especially me, aren't going to want to come back to visit or donate. Tulane has changed immensly just in the last 10 years. I can see the picture and composites on the walls of my fraternity house used to hold nearly 100 pictures. That has become the joke of the school, seeing how small the fraternity scene has become (thanks for getting rid of fall rush by the way). Don't do that to athletics. ***** It is time to be a man - Dr. Cowen .. . or, will you hide from and try to ignore what has become so blatantly obvious. The majority (90%) of those responding to 'feedback' have stated they wish Tulane to remain in Division IA football and in all sports. They have responded with financial donations for the upcoming year and pledges for the next five years. They have purchase football season tickets (and will purchase more) and have pledged to purchase these tickets for the next five years. The have met your levels. . and they have done so in 5 or 6 weeks time! I find it quite alarming that you wish to go against the majority of Tulane Alums, friends, fans, students, parents and other interested parties for the benefit of whom?? If the financial deficiencies have been met for next year and the years after - what other issue(s) have you, other than what you have publicly advised?? This is the basis for the review, is it not?? With those financial issues being resolved - what else is driving this review and you, Dr. Cowen?? Honesty is paramount in all relationships and I feel you have not been honest with the Tulane community that so desperately loves this University and wants it to remain as it has for the past 100 plus years. It is obvious you have another agenda - please come out with it. Trying to keep this review secret has not helped you. You must allow Mr. Dickson to speak to the Ad-Hoc Committee and the full Board. You must allow our voices be heard. Our voices are tied to the amount of monies raised for the Tulane Athletic Fund and the amount of additional season tickets purchased. They are tied to the monetary and season ticket pledges we signed for the continuation of Division IA football. We have spoken and continue to speak daily and only Rick Dickson can carry our message. Our position must be heard this coming Monday and Tuesday. You cannot keep us all quiet. To do so would be a travesty to what Tulane University stands for and teaches. ***** I am writing to once again voice my strong support for Tulane's Division I Athletics, and football in particular. I feel very strongly about this subject, and I am extremely concerned about what I perceive to be a shift in the sentiment of the Ad-hoc committee towards eliminating football. When I first heard of the review of Division I Athletics, I was very upset that Tulane would even consider throwing away its proud athletic tradition. In response, I began writing letters and making donations to the Tulane Athletics Fund to show my support. I have been very impressed with the way that fellow alumni have stepped up to join the cause as well. At this point, if the Board makes a decision to do away with Division I Athletics and/or football, I will take it as a direct insult and a slap in the face to all of the Tulane Alumni with whom I share a special bond. I will also seriously reconsider continuing to make the annual gifts to Tulane that I have made since graduation. However, if the Board makes the right decision and supports Tulane Division I Athletics and football, I will continue to proudly support my Alma Mater in any way possible, including financially. I will place a particularly strong emphasis on supporting Rick Dickson's action plan for Tulane Athletics, and will give generously to the cause. I strongly urge the Board to make the right decision to support Tulane Division I Athletics. ***** Dear Dr. Cowen - I am writing a brief note in support of Tulane maintaining Division I athletics. Stepping down from Division I play is a mistake if Tulane wants to be considered in the same breath as a Duke or Stanford or Princeton. All are private institutions that maintain excellent academic credentials as well as competitive sport teams. We are not, and should not try to be, a Harvard or Yale. I believe we offer a much more rounded "life" education than those institutions and top-level athletics is part of that experience. ***** Look, I've written already, mostly angry...but here is a REAL solution to this problem. With the impending addition of Graduation rates to BCS rankings, Tulane (like Vanderbilt) will become VERY attractive to the bcs conferences. If we take a proactive stance and lobby them, we can surely gain acceptance to one of them. Of course they would be using us to keep their grad rates up and we would be using them for the money and the truly better the football program. It WOULD be very difficult to compete on the field initially, but we would have the financial part COMPLETELY taken care of (attendance at games would be 10 fold what it is know if we were part of a major conference), along with the BCS revenue. Tulane has to sell itself/whore itself to the major conferences and the grad rate is a very powerful weapon, please take advantage of this. I know Dixon can make this happen, ESPECIALLY with the current conference turmoil. The administrators say they want to advance Tulane academically, well I assure you national exposure from a 1st rate football team is THE WAY TO GET [academic] RECRUITS. The old farts on the board of reagents are too short sighted to see this and to see that College PERIOD is about big time athletics with today's media contracts, and those who don't jump on board will be quickly left behind. -Tulane MD who will NEVER give a penny of support to the school in any way if they do not re-emphasize athletics. I'm so dumbfounded over how obtuse this board is being that I will not let my children attend this school under any circumstances either. ***** Mr. Koerner, I recently graduated from the Business School at Tulane. While there, I took the "Cases in Entrepreneurship" course taught by Sid Pulitzer. In the first class, you spoke to us about your experience with Barqs Root Beer. It was a troubled company that was shrinking, facing deficeits, and had no marketing. However, you made deals, increased advertising, and ended up saving the company and making a large profit. You know as well as I do that Tulane Athletics faces the same problems that Barqs faced. It has a deficeit because it has been allowed to shrink and contract over the years without any marketing or investment in upgrades. Now is the time to make these investments, and football will bring in the profits. Just look at the amount of money contributed to the TAF in the past few weeks. Look at the amount of season tickets that have been sold. Look at the amount of publicity (positive AND negative) that Tulane is receiving from this issue. I strongly urge you, as Chairman of the Board, to issue a statement supporting the full membership in D-IA athletics. If football is dropped, then I will unfortunately be forced to disassociate myself with my university. I know hundreds of recent graduates who feel the same way, and if the endowment is to increase, you cannot afford to alienate us. Sincerely, ***** The idea of Tulane giving up Division 1-A football is one so fraught with danger for the future of our school and such a total capitulation to an inevitable second-tier existence that it is impossible for me to understand. So much is made of the first tier schools and Tulane is one (as described in U.S. News and World Report). I would think we should aspire to the greatness that is within our grasp. Why are we not looking to Duke, and Stanford, and Northwestern, and Rice as models to follow? Does athletics somehow harm their academic reputations? Do their faculties believe that they are somehow "soiled" by their athletic achievements? Our president is now chasing around begging Conference USA to "allow" Tulane to remain in the conference if he gets his way and we give up football. Look it up. The conference members who do not play football are Marquette, St. Louis, and DePaul. Cross-reference that list with the "second-tier of schools as defined by U.S. News and World Report-a 100% correlation. That's not what I want for my school. We need Division 1-A football at Tulane. On Tuesday we will find out. By Wednesday, our direction will be clear. ***** President Cowen, I fully support the choice of dropping to Division 3. Why is there even discussion about this? I would be proud as an alumnus to have my alma mater be in the ranks of such fine institutions such as Sewanee U and Salisbury State U. I can't wait for those brisk mid December days when I can throw on my old Tulane sweatshirt and watch the mighty Green Wave football team play the Albion Britons for the D3 Championship at 9:00AM on ESPN3. Plus we would finally be able to get rid of all those scholarship athlete students on campus that stick out like a sore thumb. All they do is mis-represent Tulane by winning bowl games and succeeding in the baseball world series. I hate seeing the likes of Michael Aubrey and Shawn King in the national sports media. Finally the media could focus on the new grant the med school received and the state of the art computer system in the school of architecture. I definitely agree that we can reduce the athletic deficit by doing this. I also think if there are deficits in other departments we should reduce funding & efforts in those departments as well. How's the B-school doing? If it's losing money let's stop spending money on advertising to recruit new students. Plus all those high salaried professors, I have a buddy who has a very successful home building business that would teach some classes for probably half the price. I'm proud see the apathy of the students has made it way up to the administration. Good Day, ***** I am not a Tulane alumni, but I have attended nearly every football game for the last 10 years and attended every game from 1973-78. I also attend 7-10 baseball games a year. I believe Tulane is making a huge mistake if the football program is discontinued or dropped to a lower division. If Tulane commits to a Division 1 football program, I will begin annual donations to the program as well as continue to purchase season tickets. I am hesitating to donate anything at the moment because I am not sure what I am donating to. Is it a Div. 1 football team, a division 3 program, or women's golf and tennis? The bottom line is this, Tulane is getting on track with the football program, signing deals with Texas, Alabama and bringing in Miss. St. I cannot believe that the University does not realize that if the football program is dropped completely or lowered to Div. 3, annual donations will decrease by more than the 5 million they claim the football program is losing. Just my 2 cents. I hope to be sending a donation to the football program soon, depending on your decision. If the football program is dropped, I will no longer be attending Tulane athletic functions. Sorry, but I am a football fan first. ***** I'm simply disheartened. When the bomb drops on Tues (no football), Tulane will simply be the place where I went to medical school- nothing more! It's very sad. We simply need more time- until one month ago the fans did not know about this! signing off from my alma mater as of June 10th unless football is retained- Trust me , there are many more like me! ***** 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 send money or students there either. Sincerely, ***** To drop football or downgrade any of our sports would be an unforgivable slap in the face to alums throughout the nation (including me) who OVERWHELMINGLY support our athletic teams. We first learned of this "crisis" only about 6 weeks ago! In that short time, the increased level of donations and overall show of support to T.A.F. has been incredible. There is a tremendous amount of momentum going, which the University can capitalize on. Rick Dickson has put together a well thought-out, legitimate plan to strengthen the financial condition of our athletics program. To throw away over 100 years of football and major-college tradition without even giving it a fair, fighting chance would be a tragic mistake, and one from which, I'm sad to say, my beloved University may never recover. ***** I have two degrees from Tulane (B.A. - 1969 and Law - 1976). The proposal to drop football would be a disaster for Tulane. I would not have attended Tulane if it didn't have a Division I athletic program, including football, and I am sure that many students consider a school's athlectic program in deciding whether to attend that university. Should Tulane drop football, the decision would alienate a very large number of Tulane alums and would result in their severing all ties to Tulane. Such a decision would rip apart the University and its alumni for decades to come. What will happen to overall contributions in the future? Why not strive for excellance and try to emulate Stanford University? ***** Dear President Cowen: My husband and I are writing in support of Tulane University maintaining Division 1-A status for their athletic programs. We are the proud parents of a scholar athlete who is scheduled to attend Tulane University beginning fall 2003 as a freshman and to play on the men’s golf team. Last Friday , May 30, we read a small article in the Arizona Daily Star about this issue, then went directly to the Tulane website, downloaded over 20 pages of articles, including your letter in Tulane Talk dated May 7, discussing the situation, and felt devastated. As I reflected on these articles, trying to digest them with as much objectivity as I could, I observed that there was very little written about the affect the Division 1-A athletes have on Tulane University as a community. My experience in higher education and public education brought this awareness to my attention. For many years at the University of Arizona, a Division 1-A school, I was involved in undergraduate academic advising and the Development Department for University Medical Center. I am currently an educator in the public school system in Tucson. I have a master’s degree in Educational Leadership. Because of my experience and expertise in educational arenas, I see how critically the scholar athlete contributes to the university climate. The presence of Division 1-A scholar athletes permeates the community, adding a rich dimension to the culture on campus. This is a powerful force, intangible, yet a pulse that carries the university with student pride and a sense of family and loyalty shared by all. If “what we aspire to be is absolutely one of the very first rate academic institutions in the country,” and a “vibrant athletic program,” then the Division 1-A status must remain. These two naturally go hand in hand as seen in other similar institutions throughout the United States. Across the country college athletics has obviously become a very complex operation and very costly. Tulane has a “model system, balancing success on the field with that in the classroom.” This was a strong draw for our son in his decision to attend Tulane. He fervently desires to play Division 1-A golf in college (and deserves so) but values the quality of his education above all else. Tulane strongly provides both. If Tulane does not remain a Division 1-A school it will no longer be able to be a “model system” for other Division 1-A schools to follow. We humbly urge you and the Board of Trustees to maintain Tulane’s Division 1-A status and allow Athletic Director Rick Dickson (and others) to pursue efforts to secure additional revenues to support this status. Thank you very much for your kind attention to our concerns. Sincerely, ***** I used to be mad but now I am outraged. What kind of way is this to run a University? Secret meetings, stacking board committees, attempting to make major changes to the character and tradition of Tulane without the alumni's knowledge? Does anyone in the administration ever realize that we're supposed to be on the same team? This is hugely embarassing for my University, to say the least. Where's the fairness? Where's the openness? As I understand it, the athletics issue in money plain and simple. Well first let me state that if athletics at Tulane is changed in any way, including doing away with football, the support of many, many alumni will totally disappear. Your donations are going to dry up. I would suggest that tuition revenues will drop too when the school moves from prominence into obscurity. Second, you all are making the WRONG financial decision if you drop football. Rick Dickson's plan is working. The plan is going to reduce the deficity to BELOW the level of what it would cost to run a Division III program. But football MUST be included - it is the one sport that has the potential to generate program saving revenue. Rick's plan with football would put the deficit below the non-football level also. It is the solution. If we meet the goals, which we are doing, you must be fair and stand by your public statements to keep athletics. You must also be doing your fiduciary duty because Rick's plan leads to the best outcome financially as well. Why, putting the secret meetings other questionable practices that have been exposed in the media behind us, won't you give us a fair opportunity to make this work? And I state this realizing that this administration's lack of public support is totally hypocritical to the greater good of Tulane. Do the right thing, BA'81 MBA'88 ***** Dr. Cowan, A Tulane University without Division 1-A athletics, including football, would bear no resemblance to the school I attended (A&S '84, Law '87). It would be a gutted shell of a once proud university. ***** Sirs, As a "very small potatoes" but very long term supporter ( 4 football season tickets, and just increased my annual donation to $500), I would like to weigh in on the issue and let you know that if the eggheads win again (as they won in the 50's, which got us into this mess in the first place) and you drop football, I wouldn't think of giving one more penny to the school in my lifetime. Football and Div 1 athletics are what bridge the huge gap at Tulane between us run of the mill, average joes that support the university because of athletics and our heritage and history, and the elitist ivory tower occupants of buildings between Willow and St. Charles who don't have enough practical sense to realize the importance of the football presence. I will make every effort to support Mr. Dickson and his grand effort to succeed if you give him the chance, but will have nothing more to do with the university if you deny him that right and march into oblivion with the naive academists. Most sincerely, |