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Questions and Comments We've Received

May 14, 2003

I realize that there have been many, many points of view discussed on the topic of the Athletic department. I have followed Tulane sports since I was a child in the 60's & 70's and have had season tickets for Baseball since 1986. Having played Baseball for one of our state universities, I can say that the experience was one of the best of my life. I have been a member of the "Grounds Krewe" since the beginning and have spent many hours working for the betterment of Tulane Athletics. If the board sees fit to drop sports into Division III, do you really expect people to still pay to watch and support it? I can watch High School sports played at a much better level for far less cost. I sincerely hope the board does the right thing for everyone, especially the hundreds of true student athletes that represent Tulane University so well.

*****

Dr. Cowen and the Board:

Please stop this process and commit to keeping Tulane at Division I for the long term. The University has many opportunities to eliminate the shortfall of $5 -$7 million annually. I along with many others have stepped up to the challenge by increasing our giving and buying season tickets that will be donated to charity. There will be no continuing shortfall because the supporters of Tulane athletics will do their part.

What you and the Board have apparently not yet considered is that many of us will stop supporting Tulane University if a change is made. For instance, I have contributed in the past and have increased my donations as my career has provided me with a greater opportunity to give. I am prepare to continue and to escalate my giving but will not donate to the University if this change is made. In addition, my thirteen year old son (my only child) and I have agreed that he would change his plans and not attend Tulane if the Division I participation were to end.

The reason for my sentiment is that this decision is being made without regard to the wishes of the largest constituency of the University -- the alumni. I suspect that the overwhelming majority of the alumni would vote to stay at Division I if they had the opportunity to vote on the subject. If the Board would like to test my opinion, a vote should be taken.

The University cannot afford to lose the support of people like myself. The costs of such a loss far outweigh the benefits of any change. A wrong decision risks the loss of support from my fellow alumni and, once lost, such support will not be regained.

Thank you for the opportunity to comment again on this subject.

*****

Tulane has a mission of becoming one of the preminent universities in the country. Those who would threaten to challenge that mission by eliminating their support for the university should the Board of Governors vote to deemphasize athletics probably would have been much better off going to LSU. And perhaps it's not too late for them.

I have read about and understand the strain the Athletics Department's outsized budget has placed - year in and year out - on Tulane. I cannot see how Tulane can possibly meet its strategic goal of becoming one of the top 25 universities in the country by the year 2010 if it continues to waste its precious financial resources on a department that contributes very little to advancing Tulane's academic reputation.

As a regular donor to the Law School Annual Fund, I cannot countenance the present state of affairs whereby the Athletics Department continues to operate at a $5 million loss annually. In fact, I would strongly support President Cowen and the university with increased donations if Tulane decides to reclassify itself as a Division III school and play against other like-minded schools such as Emory, NYU, Case Western Reserve, and so on. At least then President Cowen's strategic plan would receive the endorsement of the very schools whose ranks Tulane has been working so hard to join.

On the other hand, if Tulane continues to throw away vast amounts of money annually on its athletics, I may have to reconsider whether it is prudent to continue giving to Tulane at all.

*****

Dear President Cowen and Board Members,

First off I would like to thank President Cowen, Yvette Jones, and Paul Barron for the meeting they put on yesterday. I am glad that they took the time to hear some of the many voices out their that have an opinion on this situation. I was in attendance and got up and spoke, but there are a few other points I would like to make.

President Cowen, I commend your dedication to improving Tulane University in your response to the gentleman that stated Tulane cannot be compared to Emory or Washington U. because they are 20 spots higher than us in the ranking. Your response that you envision a Tulane University that will be ranked in that area, and higher, is the same goals everyone who cares about Tulane as a University shares. However, I think you missed the point of the gentleman's comment. He was pointing out that since Tulane is not ranked as high as those schools right now, that one of the factors that gives us an edge in the recruiting process over those schools is the fact that we do have a solid D1 program. When he said we were not going to catch Emory or Washington U. in the ranking, I believe he was trying to make the point that even if we cut athletics, or moved it to the D1-AAA or D3 level and invested that $5-7 million we are currently losing in athletics on to the academice side, that would not jump us up 20 spots in the ranking. Therefore we need to keep athletics where they are now to keep our advantage over such schools.

Secondly, as you stated at the meeting yesterday, resonable minds can disagree, and I disagree with your statement that Tulane, first and foremost, is an "academic" institution and that's what this decision will be made on. I think of Tulane, as well as any other university, not as an "academic" institution, but rather as an "institute of learning." Let me explain the difference. The way I view college, and you may disagree, is that it is an institute that prepares you to succeed in the so called, "real world." Now that preparation comes "inside" and "outside" the class room. By no means is it completely "academically" oriented. In fact, I believe, and I think most people would agree with me, that during your college years, you learn most of the things that will help you succeed later on in life "outside" the classroom. Now of course I am not saying that the "inside" the classroom education is not valuable, but what I am saying is that valuable skills such as time management, budgeting your time and money, social skills from meeting hundreds of new people, being on your own for probably the first time, etc. are all learned while in college, but "outside" the classroom. Events and activities such as athletics not only benefit the athletes who participate in them, but also the everday, non-athletic student at Tulane or any University through school spirit, comradory, socially, etc. Academics and Athletics, as well as many other activities, are what make Tulane and other Universities "institutions of learning" and it is that package, as a whole, that prepares students for the real world.

Thirdly, again I would like to bring up the point, that was brought up many times last night, about the current economic situation. The economy in the entire nation has been down over the past few years, but it seems athletics is the department that is being held financially accountable right now. I know that other departments have been reviewed, and do not know if any changes have been made to those departments, but I haven't heard of any nor have I heard of any departments being completely shut down. In fact, one of Pres. Cowen's promises when he first became President was a campaign to add $700 million to the University's endowment over his first 5 years as President. Those 5 years are up, and it is my understanding that less than 50% of that amount has been raised. Are we cutting that campaign or are people being held accountable for that campaign's financial shortcommings? No, that campaign's situations has been blammed on the current economic times and has been extended. And as well as it should be. The same stance should be taken for athletics. Please don't just look at the short-term, bottom-line figures. Consider the amount of marketing, advertising, goodwill and appeal to prospective, current, and former students and alumni that athletics has. Tulane is a national university with many alumni located out of the greater New Orleans area or even the Southeast for that matter. What keeps Tulane in the minds of many alumni? Many times it is a game on ESPN or a score in their local newspaper. These are things that only D1 athletics brings to the table. And these are the alums that the University, as a whole, will be asking for money. Don't cut of the cord that is connecting Tulane to its Alums. If you need to see figures on this, please consult with a fiancial adviser and figure out how much something like 3 hours of prime time television on Labor Day (Tulane-TCU to open this football season) on ESPN would cost. Look at how much it would cost to have Tulane mentioned every Sunday during an NFL football game (when players such as Patrick Ramsey, Shaun King, JuJuan Dawson, etc. take the field). I am sure you will find these benefits far outweigh the deficiet athletics may be in right now. You heard from many students last night who said they would not even have considered Tulane if it did not have D1 sports and how D1 sports has been an intrical part of many students college experience. Without D1 athletics these students, as well as many others, would not be at Tulane today.

Many hardworking, competent people, led by our outstanding Athletic Director Rick Dickson, have worked hard to run a clean, competitive, fully NCAA-compliant, athletic program at the D1 level who produce the finest student-athletes in the country with a graduation rate higher than most, if not ever, school in the country. I should know, I am a product of that program. Every year under Mr. Dickson's lead the athletic department has continued to improve. Deficits have been cut, graduation rates have been continued to be kept at the highest level, donations have increased and most tellingly, attendance has risen significantly in each of the 3 major sports. ISP has done the figures, and I am sure each of you have a copy of them, that show attendance in football and men's basketball have risen by over 30% and baseball by over 100% over that period of time. On the court, as well as in the classroom, success has been experienced by every team in the department. Tulane athletics is on an upward trend in all areas at levels not seen in recent memory. Don't take the wind out of our sails now. I do not view Tulane as a University that just quits on something. Tulane is a University consistently strive to improve and be better in all facites of University life. As athletics is making these strides, don't take their legs out from under them now. President Cowen and other board members, please come out in support of Mr. Dickson's 5 year plan for the athletic department's budget or add some goals of your own. Please give us a goal to shoot for. We can run a financially successful athletic department if those goals Mr. Dickson laid out are meet. Give him the time and resources to meet them. By supporting his plan, there is something for people to reach for. There is a feeling that we have a chance in this battle. Although I believe no decision has been made at this time, the tone of Pres. Cowen's emails and the way last nights presentation by Mrs. Jones was set up (only talking about the costs of D1 athletics, the problems with the BCS and the unfair balance it has created, the problems with the Superdome lease, etc. and never mentioning once the revenue that Football and athletics as a whole, could possible bring in. Especially if more marketing time and money has pumped into the programs.) makes it seems to many that your minds have been made up and we are fighting a losing battle. All we are asking for is a chance. TAF donations have already increased by 130%, however only 30% of that is from renewals. That means 100% are from new Tulane fans. Speaking to the many of the 70% who have yet to renew, they claim their energy has been zapped by Pres. Cowen and the board. They do not believe we actually have a chance in this matter. Please give them a chance. If Pres. Cowen or the board was to give Mr. Dickson the 5 years he has asked to implement his plan, we then have that chance to prove Tulane belongs in D1 athletics. We can make this a financial profitable program. But please come to a decision soon. Don't prolong this decision anymore than it has to be. Because everyday this issue is unsettled, you are killing recruiting, the lifeblood of any athletic program. And if you kill recruiting, even though your minds may not be made up, your decision may be being made for you. Thank you for your time.

*****

Yesterday, the first domino fell (as I said in an earlier post) and instead of being ready to step up to the plate we are making presentations to Ad Hoc Committees! Please let Rick Dickson do his job!

THINK GREEN! SAVE THE WAVE! ROLL WAVE ROLL!

*****

Dr. Cowen and the Board, I would like to make three points in favor of keeping Tulane Division 1A. 1. From reading the public forum transcript from Friday, Dr. Cowen and the other Tulane panelists never seem to estimate or even consider the intangible value of Tulane sports, such as the value of the following: * ESPN broadcasts of Tulane athletic events (Tulane teams were on national or regional television at least 10 times last year) * Media coverage of Pat Ramsey/Shaun King in NFL * Daily coverage of Tulane athletics in Times Picayune and regular coverage in other Louisiana news papers, including the Advocate * Article in NY Times for the academic achievements of the Tulane football team * The effect that dropping from D1A would have on student morale, the number of student applications and enrollment * The effect dropping from D1A would have on the "brand name" of Tulane university * The impact of not having D1A sports on donations to the Annual Fund and the Tulane Athletic Fund * The impact of not selling any tickets at Div 3 (i.e. no incoming revenue for sports) * The impact of not have D1A sports to the diversity of the student body (many of the athletes are minorities) * The impact of not being able to attract a unique segment of the high school student body population who have a high likelihood of succeeding in life and becoming big donors (i.e., Division 1A athletes) * The strength and power of the Alumni's connection with the University and the impact on this connection from dropping Div. 1A sports. The "5 million" deficit can not be discussed without estimating and trying to calculate the above negative impact of removing Tulane from Div. 1A. The above points relate to cash flows and intangible property values. I recommend hiring an accounting firm/finance valuation firm to place a value on Tulane Athletics outside of straight cash flow analysis. We need a third party to objectively value Tulane's sports franchise. There is so much more to this than simple cash flow analysis, especially when the $5 million deficit is only .83% of the total Tulane annual budget of $600 million. This fact was also reported on the public forum transcript from Friday. I think Tulane is being irresponsible not to consider the true value of the Tulane franchise. In fact, in a business context, this could be considered breach of a fiduciary duty (if a corporate board sold or liquidated a company without obtaining a proper third party valuation). I believe that a third party valuation would uncover that Tulane Athletics provides more than $5 million of value to Tulane on an annual basis. You may have seen studies where even low level, poor professional sports teams that lose money are valued at huge million-dollar amounts. My guess is that Tulane's value as a franchise to the school would be worth a substantial amount. Again, I urge the Board to obtain a valuation study from an objective third party. All of the above items can be valued. There are standard accounting protocols for this.

2. The one school in the public forum transcript that Ms. Yvette Jones said Tulane is on equal footing with is SMU because SMU is (i) a private school with non-BCS status, (ii) has poor football attendance numbers, and (iii) has a similar endowment size. This is the same SMU that is begging to get into CUSA (but was turned down when TCU was added) and built a $50 million dollar football stadium on campus two years ago. SMU sees the value in supporting and improving sports and would love to be in Tulane's position. That is, SMU would love to have a competitive football team in an emerging conference.

3. Just today the ACC voted to expand and, in all likelihood, this means CUSA will be in a better position to obtain BCS status. Even if BCS status is not imminent, CUSA will likely be offered bowl slots formerly occupied by the Big East Conference for bowls that have much higher payouts than CUSA currently receives from its bowl lock-ins. I am very concerned that the Board is making a decision based on data that is already outdated. Simply put, the college landscape is in a current state of flux and there will be opportunities for Tulane to stay in CUSA and enjoy the fruits of becoming a BCS member or obtain better bowl lock-ins or seek a better conference affiliation. Any way you slice it, Tulane is poised to receive more money in the future from CUSA and possibly the BCS or from other higher paying bowls. To make an irreversible decision now on the future of Tulane Athletics would be completely irresponsible because the assumptions on which the decision is based will change over the next year and over the course of the next decade. We should be positioning ourselves (along with CUSA) in a position to reap the benefits of the opportunities that will arise from the Big East fallout. There is simply no way Tulane should make this type of decision now, when the state of college sports is at such a watershed point.

Thanks for considering the above points. Please make the right decision and vote for Tulane to stay D.1A. Think Green! Roll Wave Roll! Below is an article on the ACC Vote.

The Charlotte Observer: ACC votes to expand to 12 teams

*****

I gave up my season tickets to Florida State (50 yard line!) when my son enrolled at Tulane in 1991. The first thing he did (even before he moved into the dorm) was to buy season football tickets! My wife and I adopted the Wave (she's an LSU grad) and have followed the team ever since. I think you should view Stanford as a model and invest in big-time athletics. I know that success in sports has improved the quality of applicants at FSU. A successful Green Wave athletics program will help Tulane too.

*****

Dear President Cowen,

As the former team captain and MVP of the last Tulane women‚s swimming team, I would like to express my excitement for the return of Tulane Swimming to your athletic program. I have already shown my enthusiasm by donating to the TAF in addition to my usual contribution to the Engineering School. Even though I live 6 hours from New Orleans, I am eager to be involved with the upcoming team, and have been in contact with Ms. Irle and Ms. DeBorg several times. I look forward to coming back to Tulane this Fall to cheer on our new swim team!

However, I have recently learned about the committee that has been assigned to determine if Tulane should remain a Division 1-A school. This is very discouraging and confusing to me. Being from the south, I would not have attended Tulane if it was not a 1-A school - not necessarily for the swimming, but it was important to me to be able to attend 1-A football and other sports, competing against LSU, MSU, Ole Miss, USM and other southern rivalries. I‚m sure many other alumni agree with me, as well as many perspective students of Tulane. Also, the TV networks are more likely to cover 1-A sports, which gets the Tulane name out there for prospective students. It seems that the revenue lost from alumni and perspective students would far outweigh any savings from going to AA status.

In addition, I read in a write-up on the web page, "The fact is Tulane Athletics simply cannot continue to compete at the highest levels without an increased level of support from our fans, alumni and the local, state and regional community." I must disagree with this statement. I am always boasting of Tulane‚s athletic accomplishments to my NASA colleagues. For example, in last year‚s bowl games, there was a national article stating that if all the college teams in the bowls were competing based on the average GPA of athletes, Tulane and Notre Dame would be playing for the national championship. Not to mention our undefeated football season a few years ago, tennis conference championship, and I‚m sure there are other examples. Do you think all of those elite athletes would have come to Tulane if it were not a 1-A program? Do you think alumni would contribute as much as they do now if it weren‚t for these accomplishments and if we were not 1-A?

Most of all I hope that your committee decides to stay 1-A for the student-athletes. I was recently recruiting a local swimmer to join the Tulane team, and my biggest point was that she would get to go to a top-notched university, get a great education, and swim at a competitive level. I honestly contribute my successes at NASA to having had the best education possible while at Tulane. Being a 1-A competitor on top of having good grades in Tulane‚s Engineering School is what gave me the opportunity to work at NASA, and taught me the many problem-solving, time-crunching skills that are required to be a NASA design engineer. My time at Tulane was truly the most wonderful experience in my life ˆ four years of memories that I will never forget. To this day, each time I sing the National Anthem, it takes me back to the memories of overlooking the swimming pool at the conference championship meet. For this reason most of all, I hope that you will allow more top-notched student-! athletes to achieve their dreams by maintaining the Division 1-A status for Tulane.

*****

With the changes getting ready to happen within the ACC over the next few weeks, it is clear that the shake up of the BCS has begun. Tulane needs to immediately desist with the evaluation of athletics and begin working on conference realignment and reorganization. A BCS conference will provide money and even more publicity to Tulane as a university. So don't be short sighted. Think Green and Think Long term.

$5 million could not buy the exposure that Tulane received at the Hawaii Bowl last year, so I must implore you to consider the intangibles. Div 1 football is an integral part of being a school in the South. As much as the administration seems to want to move the university in the direction of an east coast model, we are not an east coast school, and most of your students and alums don't want TU to be an east coast school. We want it to be Tulane, a university that has quality academics and quality athletics. You can't find two better selling points for the university than those two things.

Finally, the presentation given by Yvette Jones was not particularly well done. At least during the Monday discussion Ms. Jones chose not to discuss the costs of Title IX because it was made abundantly clear by the women's swimming and diving coach that Ms Jones was ill informed about what Title IX truly requires and seeks to create. Trying to push division III under the guise of Title IX is hurting sports is insulting to your female students. The clear message of the presentation was division III is good, which couldn't be further from the truth.

What is in the best interest of Tulane is to mesh top notch academics with top notch athletics. We have proven time and time again that Tulane students can compete both in the classroom and on the field. What more can you ask of an athletics program that has never been fully supported by the university? Step up to the plate and put your money where your mouth is about having quality programs. Your fans have, and your student athletes most certainly have done everything you have asked of them. You owe it to us. And the loss of support of alums, students, and recruitment ability will have a cost far higher than anything you could possibly imagine.

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