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Questions and Comments We've Received

June 11, 2003

Now that the Board of Trustees has decided that Tulane should maintain its athletic programs at the Division I level, it is time for the University administration to step in and promote the athletic department. One simple way the administration could promote the athletic department is by having the tours given to prospective students actually include athletic department facilities. There are many current students who would support athletics, but do not know where the facilities are because the tours currently given by the office of admissions stop at the Reily Center. These tours do not include the Wilson Center - where tickets can be purchased and donations made. They do not include the Goldring Tennis Center - where our men's and women's tennis teams (both Conference USA Champions) compete. The tours do not include the Westfeldt Facility - where our rapidly improving soccer team plays. And they do not include Turchin Stadium - where our nationally-ranked baseball team plays.

Dr. Cowen, encourage the entire Tulane community (including faculty and staff) to support athletics - starting with the admissions office. The benefits can be overwhelming.

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Congratulations on making the right decision. Go Wave!

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Thanks to President Cowen, AD Dickson, the Board and administrators of Tulane University for yesterday's decision. I will convert my passion to tangible support.

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i am very glad to see that the sports program will remain Div I-A. as a recently graduated student I must say I enjoyed my time at Tulane, and it was a great academic school. I believe that dropping athletics to a lower level would have deterred many good future students from considering tulane. I know I would have not been interested in a private D-3 school. Great job, roll wave.

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To the Board of Administrators;

I applaud your decision to retain Tulane's athletic programs at the Division I level. Over the past few weeks many members of the alumni, including myself, and other interested parties have explained the absurdity of dropping to Division III as a method of eliminating athletic deficits, and have exhibited that athletic programs at the Division I level are meaningful to students, prospective students, and alumni alike. As a long-term contributor to Tulane at the Associates level, my hope is that all alumni who have shown so much passion over the past few weeks will provide financial support to the University, as well as its athletic program, in the months to come when donations will speak louder than words.

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ATTAWAY TO GO GREEN!!!!

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As a proud Tulane alum and new football season ticket holder, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Board for making the right decision and affirming its support for Tulane football and Division I athletics. I would also like to congratulate Rick Dickson and his staff for their tireless efforts in putting together the Think Green campaign and making it work in such a short period of time.

I am very proud of my alma mater today, and especially of all of my fellow alumni for rallying to support the cause. Let's all be sure to continue our support throughout the years to come, so that we will look back on this as a turning point for Tulane athletics. With the support of the students, the administration, the city and the alumni, we can raise Tulane athletics to new heights. Let's make sure that even the idea of getting rid of Tulane Division I Athletics becomes unthinkable in the future. ROLL WAVE!!!

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I would like to congratulate the President, the Ad Hoc Committee and the Board for making the correct decision by staying in Division I-A. Although I believe the evaluation process could have been handled in a better manner, in the long run this entire ordeal will have made the University stronger, not only in athletics but in all areas. Also, I would like to personally thank Rick Dickson for his herculean efforts in organizing the support for our athletic programs.

I will now proudly send in the remainder of my pledged donation to the Tulane Athletics Fund, and, as an additional show of support for this decision, will send in a separate donation to Tulane College (of which I am an alumnus).

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Dr. Cowen and the Board,

I would like to commend the Board on not only making the right decision, but more importantly, emphatically articulating the right message! This was not a vote just about Division 1 football. This was a chance to make a statement that Tulane University is not just a one of the major research Universities, but we are a leader amongst our peers; we will not just lead by silent example, but actively campaign for other schools to do what is right. And Chairman Koerner, Dr. Cowen and Mayor Nagin drove that point home! Academics and athletics can coexist, and we will actively campaign to re-exert the proper balance!

I believe that the emotion, support and commitment of the fans of athletics is not the only thing out of this process that must translate into concrete action. The resolution and determination of the Board must be upheld and applied to all facets of the University. I think that the response of Alumni proves that we are responsive to a call to action! If we highlight the ways that the University affects and benefits the alumni, the citizens of New Orleans, and the State of Louisiana, we will receive the support we need to improve and further invest in the academic mission of Tulane. If the mission is clear (i.e. no school of gambling management in Biloxi), support will be there!

Thank you for making me proud! Thank you for letting the nation know that Tulane will be a leader! And finally, thank for the commitment to the Alumni!

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Thank you so much for keeping Tulane football at D1!!! Since ticket sales are up by so much and they have surpassed the goal of 11,000 sold, there will be so much support and enthusiasm involved with the team and the Tulane athletics department in general. Let's hope that the unity and passion that was shown through this process by alumni, students, athletes, and friends continues through this season and many more to come.

Roll Wave Roll!

*****

It is nice to see that the Board confirmed what everyone else knows. As a member of a Tulane athletics team and an honors student in Newcomb College, I have to say that it was only once I joined the track team at Tulane as a walk on that I finally felt at home here, and that my belonging to the track team has facilitated a balance between school and activity that is essential to my performance in the classroom, sports having been an integral and necessary part of my performance in high school, where I was captain of the cross-country team and the class valedictorian. Being a part of D1 was a dream of mine since childhood, and achieving this dream has given me the confidence to tackle my academics and achieve those goals as well.

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This campaign began its drive with the outstanding efforts of Rick Dickson and his athletic department staff. A truly unbelievable job! Thank you also, Alumni, for making it possible for our daughter to experience Tulane as you have done in the past. You have been a strong voice for the future!

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Officers and Trustee of the University,

Now that you have chosen a path you must articulate specific goals, and objectives and measure the performance against those standards. Please do not forget to issue a periodic score card that documents actual performance against the goals you have set. Measurement against comparable Universities should also be included.

As an Alum, I will find either of the following situations unacceptable. Furthermore I will interpret either of them as a deliberate attempt to guard special interests in conflict with the primary objectives of the University.

Situation 1. In it's reporting process the University is anything less than completely candid about the financial drain the athletic program is placing on the University.

Situation 2. The University sets goals but then shifts the goals to allow current efforts to be label as successful when in fact they have failed.

I am very much in favor of college athletics but not at the expense of academic programs. As tuitions continue to rise, you will find very few parents or students willing allow administrators to divert tuition towards a few elite athletic programs.

Good Luck.

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You made the right decision. Retention of athletics at Tulane will help the university maintain the national visibilty it needs to showcase its academic programs. Thank you for not allowing us to join those obscure colleges with nothing to offer but academics.

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Dear President Cowan:

When the alumni community -- under the leadership of AD Rick Dickson -- was challenged to demonstrate to the BOA why Tulane should continue to participate in Division 1 sports, every possible avenue was discussed. AD Dickson implemented a crash program which sold tickets, boosted revenue, and kept an 80% graduation rate program in Division 1. But, as you and others have observed correctly, a sustained effort is needed, not a short-term reaction to the threat of losing Division 1 sports.

In my view, one critical issue is the local and statewide fan base. Perhaps there should be more of a marketing emphasis on the "University of Louisiana" portion of "The Tulane University of Louisiana." That gives non-alumni the opportunity to side with "State" in Baton Rouge or "The University" in New Orleans. Its a "Coke versus Pepsi" strategy, with the intent to have Tulane perceived as the better product and not ignored because it is misperceived as an elite academic institution catering to Yankees and excluding locals.

One person I know suggested the letters "TU" left of the outline of the State of Louisiana, with the letters "LA" larger and inside that outline, and the letters "NE" to the right of the outline. Underneath would be the words "The University of Louisiana." Wouldn't this be a wonderful new symbol for a resurgent sports program? If UL Lafayette and UL Monroe raise a fuss, that's free publicity (and Tulane had the name first anyway). Picture that logo on billboards in Baton Rouge.

Maybe we ought to sell tickets to inner city youth at $1 apiece (Howard Schnellenberger did this at the University of Miami) until the fan base is expanded. This will be an incentive for local student-athletes (note use of both words) to consider Tulane.

No doubt there are many good ideas to boost sports attendance and reduce any athletic budget deficit. Please consider announcing formation of a new ad hoc committee to deal expressly with expanding the New Orleans and statewide fan base. Then, give the committee only one month to report on the matter.

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Dear President Cowen and Board:

You blew it!

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Congratulations!Tulane is a grat "product". But like any other great product, it needs marketing and the athletic program helps in this connection.I think you made the right decision. I have no "ax to grind" and more effort should be made to raise money for the university as a whole.I have been told that some univerities require the student body to attend games.Best Wishes!

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As a 1963 PhD recipient in Political Science from Tulane and as an alumnus who has fond memories and great admiration for the educational experience I received there, I respond to your request in the "Tulane Talk- Athletics" email as follows:

President Cohen notes that Tulane, as do all great organizations, share at least four characteristics. I would like to address each of these and give my reaction in the context both of Tulane and the nation as follows:

1. Great Organizations Recognize Changes in the Outside World:

(a) The nation's economy is weak due to fundamental misperception of domestic and international economic reality.

(b) More and more, institutions like Tulane [_The Chronicle of Higher Education_ (13 June 2003)] are dropping athletic programs that are not economically self-sustaining. This would indicate to rationally-operating institutional administrations--especially those heading the most significant ones--existence of a lack of interest/demand in the marketplace for various athletic programs now provided, expensively, by colleges and universities throughout the country.

Thus, it seems that Classically Liberal economic forces are telling Tulane and other institutions of higher education that their economic reality simply CANNOT sustain many, perhaps not any, university sports programs on the grounds of "Market Forces." For example, West Virginia has been forced to drop track. Hence, for some schools, Tulane among them, the academic mission may be all that remains to be fulfiled.

Division I-A athletic programs may be the goal of many instituions of higher education in this country, but they are, in most instances, too expensive, given our prime object of remaining [becoming?] one of the "most outstanding universities in the world when it comes to academic achievement and impact." _________________

2. Great organizations must always focus on accomplishing their mission and realizing their aspirations--and allocating its resources accordingly. I agree wholeheartedly especially as the statement continues: "Deviations from this focus can lead to mediocrity in everything and excellence in nothing."

["Great" universities have a "basic mission." Does the adjective "basic" devolve into "debased" when Tulane or other universities pursue secondary values such as Division I-A Athletics? I think they do. And, I wonder why there is so serious a dispute over this point as scarce 2003 dollars rush after expensive non-academic, athletic program values.] __________________

3. Great institutions must constantly challenge the status quo.

The "outside world" may have major commitments to athletic excellence, but The University, ideally, is about excellence in learning facts, thinking about them seriously and deeply, asking questions and seeking answers. It seems to me that this is the "Mission" implied in President Cohen's 6/10 speech and in this month's Tulane Board Resolution. If I am correct about this, why the anxiety about posible loss of Division 1-A status -- and football? The Board and Tulane's Administration know that hard choices must be made during times of financial exigency and that they must make those choices accordingly. This constitutes functional allocation of resources.

Present and future students--both undergraduate and graduate--know very well the seriousness of the challenges now facing our nation and world. They are also beginning to understand how inadequately such "frills" as Division I-A athletics will be able to produce meaningful actions to meet those challenges. Even Tulane's proferred $2,000,000 subsidy of the athletics program alluded to in the _Chronicle_ article and specifically proposed in the Board of Trustees Resolution becomes an obviously unnecesary use of Tulane's increasingly scarce resources.

May I also say that remedial programs in English, Mathematics and other subjects--aimed at a student athlete audience unprepared for Tulane's academic work is an insult to the integrity of the University. Tulane has set increasingly high admission and retention standards. These should not be compromised for athletes whose function in the university community is marginal, at best.

Might I suggest that University community spirit might just as well be fostered by less expensive and possibly more healthy athletics than football. Specifically, what would be the comparative costs of university supported programs in baseball, golf, swimming, track [reinstated!] and tennis? These are all activities that imply competition and school spirit. Moreover, they are all activities that students can enjoy throughout the entirity of their life. ____________________

4. Great organizations listen to those they seek to serve [and, in my case, to those they have served].

I write this after a thirty seven year teaching career at public institutions whose resources have all too often been squandered on athletic programs, siphoning off millions of dollars desperately needed for fostering academic excellence. Time after time I have seen the "core vallues and basic mission" of a university as "great organization" fundamentally compromised and distorted.

Thank you for considering my observations. They are made out of a deep affection for Tulane.

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As an alumna (G '96) and employee, I'm very disappointed that Athletics has been put before Academia, once again. As an employee, I am expected to stay within my budget, and I always do. The Athletics program should not be exempt from basic fiscal responsibility. Allowing Athletics to consistently run a deficit is economically absurd.

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HOORAY!

Thank you for keeping Tulane in Division I-A. Challenges are no reason to cut and run. We have faced greater issues and on the better of them before, today and we will again.

This is a huge point of connection for those of us that are proud alumni but out of the New Orleans area.

Also, I do believe the more the athletes integrate with and not separate from the student body the better. The students need to feel connection with the teams - their support is critical too.

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One of the writers to the Times Picayune had it just right: Tulane supporters and fans would be greatly served by moving the football games to a friendly outdoor venue like the one presented by the Tad Gormley Stadium in City Park.

Though not a fan of college football, I think the attraction of tailgating and visiting with friends would enhance the fall football experience for New Orleanians, and just like the hot tubs and levee at Zephyr Stadium draw ambivalent spectators toward a possible conversion into true fans, the social interaction afforded by tailgating and like activities can only help the attendance at Tulane games.

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To the professors who are disappointed by this decision:

Ask not what the University can do to raise your salary, ask what you can do to raise revenue for your academic department.

An alumnae

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Dear Scott...

I am ecstatic about the decision regarding Tulane continuing as a Division 1-A school; however, I must take exception to your comment about a very good university becoming a great university. I had the great good fortune of attending and graduating from Tulane. I have two degrees, but my greatest total life experience, or education, came from Tulane! As you well know, a college education is far more than simply academics. Tulane offered and, I assume, still offers far more than an academic experience. I not only matriculated, but matured at our University. My Tulane education has served me well in the military and in every life endeavor thereafter...including personal relationships. Tulane made me a complete person...and I will be forever grateful!

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