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Questions and Comments We've Received May 13, 2003 I would like to make a few points to those people who suggest that the current state of the athletic department (currently Division IA with a $5 million annual deficit) is infringing upon the academic mission of the school... 1) In case you weren't at the May 9 forum, or haven't read the transcript, Dr. Cowen has said the University's annual budget is $600 million dollars. Compare this with the $5 million that athletics loses annually and you realize we are splitting hairs. The University has it well within itself to support athletics without reducing its committment to academics, but refuses to do so. For someone of Dr. Cowen's skills as a fundraiser, getting $5 million or so a year more in donations to help that athletic department shouldn't be too much trouble. 2) In many instances, the academic prestige of the University stems as a direct result of our student-athletes. Our student-athletes regularly rank as the top students in many of our award-winning departments. For example, Emily McArthur recently won the award as the top student in her environmental engineering department. She is embarking on a career in the Peace Corps. She is a graduate that Tulane should be proud of. She is also a soccer player at Tulane and would not be at the University were it not for athletics. Check the academic rolls for the names of Mewelde Moore, Robert Samuelsson, Anna Monhartova and Jared Berkowitz over the last few years. You will find that not only were they some of the top students in their fields, they were some of the top athletes in the nation. And this even though many student-athletes face professors and administrators who are determined to see them fail, solely because they are athletes. 3) Maybe people have come out and said that since we can't annually compete for national championships in football or basketball like Nebraska or Notre Dame that we shouldn't bother trying. That's almost like saying that since there isn't currently a cure for cancer, we should stop looking for one. And for the record, we do compete for national championships. Baseball was in the College World Series just two years ago and is on pace for their sixth consecutive NCAA Tournament berth. Both men's and women's tennis and women's golf were in the NCAA Tournament this past weekend. Women's basketball has been in the NCAA Tournament in each of the last nine years - a claim that only 10 other schools can make. Football has won two bowl games in the last five years. In short, athletics and athletes are a credit to Tulane. More people know about Tulane because of its athletics programs than because of the rest of the academic departments put together. Anyone who thinks that eliminating or restructuring athletics will benefit the University is deluding themselves. ***** Dear Dr. Cowen, In over thirty five years on the faculty at Tulane, only one aspect of the University has not changed. It hasn't mattered whether the President was Longenecker, Hackney, Kelly, or now Cowen, Tulane University has consistently lost money on athletics. At one time it was only 1 million dollars a year, then it was 2 million dollars a year, now it is 5 million dollars a year....and as the analysis presented at the open meetings suggests...we can project that the athletic deficit will continue to rise in the future. The present Board of Administrators and your Administration is to be commended for having the courage to initiate a rational discussion on the wisdom of continuing to spend precious resources in this manner. This is a new and long overdue development. On one occasion Sheldon Hackney told the faculty that he was a strong supporter of intercollegiate athletics and he would continue to support Tulane's athletic program until it became clear that supporting the athletic program was harming the primary academic mission of the university. It should be clear by now that the losses in Tulane's athletic program have been harming the primary academic mission of the university for a very long time and will continue to do so as long as the program runs annual deficits of millions of dollars. The Board should be made aware of the fact that Tulane will never to able to develop its full academic potential, or even to maintain the academic programs and strengths that we must have to continue to be competitive at our tuition level, so long as we continue to use resources that we do not have to maintain an athletic progam. Eventually Tulane will have to stop trying to compete at the IA level...the sooner we do so, the fewer millions will be wasted trying to prevent the inevitable and the more resources will be available for the primary mission of the university, the education of our students. ***** What is the cost of the „Wave Goodbye‰ party? What is the cost of the superfluous graduation ceremony in the Superdome? I shudder to imagine, but obviously the University Administration has decided that these costs are a good investment for the University and I am in no position to challenge that decision. What is the cost of the Provost‚s program that offers up to $125 per course for faculty and students to interact outside of class? Again, someone has decided that this is a good investment for the University. I have heard President Cowen state that the athletics issue is „very complex.‰ I respectfully disagree. I think the problem is quite simple. We must decide the level of deficit spending that makes division IA athletics a good investment. I concede that there will always be a deficit. With a concerted effort, we can perhaps reduce the current level of that deficit. One way that we can arrive at the desired figure is to estimate the cost of a division III program (I have heard $3 million per year estimated for this); but we must factor in that with a division III program there are NO BENEFITS beyond allowing students to participate in a sport. So, realistically we must add to the $3 million figure a conservative estimate of the real but intangible benefits of division IA participation (this is mostly ADVERTISING and I will estimate that this is worth more than both Wave Goodbye and Superdome graduation). I go through this exercise simply to emphasize that we must make a management decision about that level of deficit that constitutes a good investment. I suspect that most members of the Board of Administrators are adept at making similar decisions and that they have a keen handle on the value of advertising and good will. ***** While I understand that there are financial difficulties facing Tulaneís intercollegiate athletics program, I must say that it is with great dismay that I contemplate a Tulane without Division I athletics, including football. If Tulane is truly running a quality athletic program in terms of on-field/court product, then financial failings may be attributable to a failure to market that product effectively. I am not convinced that the university has taken the appropriate measures to grow the top-line of these activities, which is the clear alternative to cuts. As a prospective student some 14 years ago, I had many opportunities open to me on what school to attend. I wanted the full college experience, including attending and enjoying college athletics at the highest level. I chose Tulane over places such as Emory and others for that very reason. I would never have attended Tulane otherwise. I think you will lose other prospective students as a result of eliminating such important aspect of the university experience. You will also lose valuable alumni donations in general and I can guarantee you of one such loss if this comes to pass. ***** I was very happy to see many passionate students at the last meeting at Dixon Hall. Considering the fact that most of the students are gone from campus, those that did show up and voice their opinions had a great impact on me. I am very proud of the students at Tulane. This latest letter is about commitment. Tulane has asked nearly 250 student-athletes to make a four or five-year commitment to Tulane. You've asked them to sacrifice their bodies on the playing field, to compete at the highest level both in athletics and academia, and to represent the university with dignity, honesty and respect. All of those commitments would be dissolved by the university depending on the decision made on May 29th. While the university would lose LESS money going to Division III, there would be a trail of broken promises and commitments made to the student-athletes, the coaching staff, the athletic department faculty and to the thousands of Tulane fans and alums who have supported the Green Wave, both financially and spiritually, when the administration would not. Remember, these people had opportunities to play, coach or work at other Division 1A schools with BCS affiliations, more fan and administrative support, and higher academic profiles than Tulane. Yet they chose to come here and commit themselves to being the best Tulanians they could be. And we as fans have had ample chances and good reasons to cheer other D-1A schools with bigger teams and better conference affiliations and winning percentages than Tulane. Yet here we are, year after year, proud to cheer the olive green and sky blue, and willing tell anyone who will hear it, even if they are in a room full of Tigers. On May 29th, the proverbial rug may be pulled out from underneath us faster than Mewelde Moore's 40-time. If this is the case, I can't see how anyone can commit to Tulane knowing that Tulane won't be able to do the same. Stay 1A. Think Green. Roll Wave. ***** To Dr.Cowen & The Board of Trustees: I am a graduate of Tulane and I went to the public discussion today May 12th at Dixon hall. I could not believe the presentation by "Office of External Affairs" and the characterization of the Board of Trustees made by the panel presiding. Hopefully the administration and the various clandestine committees of the board has more than the hindsighted, static, pessimistic, one-sided view of college athletics than what I watched. Surely the office of external affairs realizes that college football has been "commercialized" because America loves competition and Americans love their colleges. I cannot honestly believe that the Board of Trusteees can be described as representative of the Tulane community's best interests when such an enormous decision with monumental repercussions to image and stature with the stakeholders has HIGHJACKED by so few people without fair warning. That a secretive committee has been on a "fact finding" mission and will make a recommendation at the behest of an administration and Board who are employing people totally out of touch with the street is unacceptable. There are 100,000 +/- living alumni dispersed all over the world and 1.5 million people living in the Greater New Orleans area, and none of these stakeholders has ever been challenged by Tulane to come together and change the culture of support surrounding the largest extenal fuction of the University. Quitting in any form is not an snswer when change is such a constant fixture in the landscape of college athletics. Culture is set from the top down in any organization, and the current adminstration inherited a culture that was set for poor(at best) a long time ago. It should take more time to change this culture than the time this crisis that the board has developed allows. The student body is supposed to be wild and crazy about athletics from the first day they set foot on campus until the day they pass away when the school doesn't even field a band for them? How about considering for once a change in the culture of the Univeristy instead of changing the University's position in something much larger than the University itself, American Culture? How about handing the stakeholders a real challenge and a thus a real opportunity? I noticed that the excuse for the athletics department's predicament is the BCS/Non-BCS cartel/have-not conflict. That will change either by the BCS enacting progressive inclusion of all legacied Division 1A schools or by legal action by the NCAA or a representative plaintiff's bar. What has Tulane done in the past about this, what is Tulane doing now, and what is Tulane going forward? The Board has a fiduciary responsibilty to demostrate where they tried. I am therfore imploring you, the Board of Trustees, and (for crying out loud) any employees involved in external affairs to look forward and think positively rather looking back and making decisions rooted in the fear of change. I think you will be surprised at what you find. Thank you all for your consideration ***** Dear President Cowen and Tulane Board of Administrators, As a graduating senior, my primary concern is the value of a Tulane University degree. This should be the primary concern of all those associated with the Tulane community. Athletics are important, but not more important that academics. As a top-50 school, Tulane needs to make sure that it places all its resources into improving academics. Therefore, we cannot tolerate any deficit in a non-academic department. I do not want my tution money supplementing an ailing athletics department. After researching our options, it appears as though the most logical solution is for Tulane to become a division I-AAA school. Football drains our financial resources every year, and no matter how hard we try, we will never be able to truly compete with the Division I powerhouses. However, we have an excellent baseball team and our other sports have the potential to be great. If we shift funding to these less expensive sports, we will be able to drastically decrease a deficit while boosting great sports programs. Also, eliminating football will make us much more compliant with Title IX requirements. As a female student at this institution, I feel this is an atrocity that we have gone this long without being Title IX compliant. Therefore, I strongly urge you to stay in division I, but to drop down to the AAA level. This institution must no longer tolerate an athletics deficit that drains resources from the primary academic purpose of Tulane University. ***** Dear Mr. Cowan: For years, Tulane alumni have persisted in the delusion that a small, liberal arts college can compete against powerhouse nurseries for the NFL like Notre Dame, Nebraska, Florida, etc. Now, it has finally dawned on some that living out this fantasy costs us dearly. The money frittered away on attracting athletic high-schoolers is money that could go to teacher's and staff salaries, other student activities, and perhaps even books. Tulane has never been competitive in intercollegiate football. And the unfair benefits afforded to jocks creates a resentful attitude among the non-jocks. I am so glad that this issue is finally being addressed in a realistic way. Please, please scrap this pernicious program and turn this university to its original purpose: to educate. ***** I am a graduate of Tulane Business School - 1965 - BBA and Tulane Law School - 1968 - JD. I have been a contributor to Tulane from the time I graduated and have purchased season tickets since my graduation. You can check the amount I give if you so desire and the fact that I am a season ticket holder for basketball, baseball and football. Should Tulane stay in Division 1-A - ABSOLUTELY YES! What is needed is a way to be sure that all Tulane teams are more than just competitive without negatively impacting the quality of our University. Tulane Must do a much better job of marketing our teams as our marketing efforts are at best terrible. What is needed is for the committee to determine what needs to be done economically to make our athletics viable as 1-A. What is not needed is for this committee and the investigation to be made a public issue which adversely impacts recruiting. I am willing to do even more than I now do but Tulane needs to do their part! Another example is that a Tulane Alum, a friend of mine and an active Tulane Alum has a step daughter who applied and was accepted at Tulane. However, the other schools that accepted this outstanding young woman continued to pursue her and woo her - Tulane did nothing. My friend made over 5 phone calls to the admissions people to try to get information and have them at least let his daughter know she was wanted. Not a single call was returned and this young lady has now decided to attend another school even though Tulane had been her first choice. Something is wrong at my favorite institution - Tulane University! The poor handling of this young lady and the absurd public airing of this ridiculous concept of getting out of Division 1-A is horrible. We need to determine what we have to do to make us the model Division 1-A school - one that can win National Championships, graduate our athletes in record numbers and do all of this with an athletic department that does no worse than break even. By the way our Athletic Director, Rick Dickson is one of the absolute best in the country. Most if not all of our major head coaches are superb. Please let me know what I need to do to help Tulane stay in Division 1-A. My funds are tight, like most people today but I will do what I can to help - even contacting my friend Bill Goldring if you think this will help! ***** Sirs, I think staying in Div 1-A is vital to keeping alumni support of the university. I have renewed my tickets and made my contribution to TAF. |