At what point do we stop building all new buildings and put the endowment money to athletics? This is a serious question that the board of visitors needs to figure out. I know the school of business needs to be expanded and there are some other buildings that need to be renovated. I know I am in the minority on these boards that sees athletics second to academics. All that said, the athletic department is very important from a marketing and name recognition standpoint. The 16-17 year olds applying to schools don't care about Nobel Prize winners but they do care about winning teams. If the academics are top notch it seals the deal with the parents.
I think almost everyone (if not everyone outright) sees athletics second to academics, in absolute terms... but the thing is, the way things are structured doesn't straight-up pit one against the other. To a large extent, the revenue streams are separate, and not in direct competition.
You guys seem to operate on the assumption that the endowment is just a big pot of money and the school can decide to do whatever it wants with it. The school can't just pull $40 million out of the endowment to fund football or any other project from the way I understand how it works. The overwhelming majority of those funds are probably restricted to specific scholarships, initiatives, programs etc. and the donor designates what they want their contribution to be used for.
First, if you list the top 300 university endowments in the nation, VCU would be at the bottom. It is one of VCU's weakest statistics. Second, the Athletic Department must be self-sufficient. No money comes from the general fund. It raises its money through student athletic fees, through ticket sales, through advertising, through NCAA distribution, and through the Ram Athletic Fund. If the Athletic Department wants an athletic facility, it must pay for it through fund raising for that project. VCU is not a rich university by any means. It does, however, make excellent use of the all funds received. Third, all endowment funds must be spent as the donor specified. They cannot be used for any other purposes. Finally, VCU, through its President and through its Board of Visitors, has given high priority to athletics at VCU.
UNCC presser Friday @11:30am http://www.charlotte49ers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=23200&ATCLID=205423156
ODU could be in an interesting position here. Let's say they decide they want to move in on the A-10, either joining us and Mason and become the replacement for Charlotte, or by stealing a spot that would have been one of ours. They get the upgrade in basketball and potentially get to maintain state rivalries, and they can still leave their football team in the premiere FCS football conference in the CAA. With ODU, Mason, and VCU all gone the CAA would likely try to strengthen their football programs even more, so who knows how prestigious the league could be in say three years. ODU continues to grow their football program and take a run at a national championship (because once they hit FBS that ship will have sailed) and (in theory) become more desirable. I don't think C-USA is finished expanding; 14 is a weird number, you'd either want 12 or 16 in a conference, meaning hanging out in an A-10/CAA hybrid for a few years might pay off in the long run.
Sorry that was kind of a jumbled mess of thought right there, largely brought on by the notion a few pages back that ODU was committed to playing in the FCS playoffs next year. Basically, assuming Conference USA doesn't completely cease expansion forever, I think ODU may stand to benefit from hitching their wagon to VCU and Mason (wherever that happens to lead).
If everyone leaves next year and is ineligible to play in the CAAT, RIC will be a ghost town. As for whose left, that may be Towson's best shot at getting an autobid.
ODU playing football is like ODU playing basketball right? Who thinks they are good? The CUSA? Joke's on them.
