To the UNO Community,
Last week, the Board
of Directors of the Privateer Athletic Foundation (PAF) voted unanimously to
ask that any decision on the future of UNO athletics be postponed until the
input of the new Chancellor at UNO could be heard with regards to athletics.
At the time of the
decision, the PAF Board did not have all the information necessary to come to a
proper conclusion. Now, with all the pertinent information available, it
becomes necessary to address the supporters of our University.
In May of 2010, at the
direction of then-Chancellor Timothy Ryan and with the approval of the LSU
Board of Supervisors, UNO applied for admission to NCAA Division III. That application was approved and a process
was set in place with timelines and benchmarks for UNO to meet to attain
Division III membership.
When Chancellor Ryan
was relieved of his duties in September of 2010, all work on the DIII process
came to a halt. The energies of the
Department of Intercollegiate Athletics at UNO were turned to stabilizing the
department financially and studying all of the different options for
intercollegiate athletics at UNO.
Amy Champion, Director
of Intercollegiate Athletics, and her staff, in tandem with the University
administration, have done exhaustive research on every possibility for UNO
athletics including Division I, Division II and Division III.
This included
financial pro formas, conversations with NCAA and conference representatives at
all divisions. This work was done under
the direction of the LSU System representatives on campus, including Dr. John
Lombardi, President of the LSU System.
That work is nearly complete.
The problem UNO
athletics faces at this point in time is that the Division III clock is
ticking. The University needs to meet
benchmarks and a timeline for Division III membership or we will face
complications with our NCAA membership. Following a probationary period, the
school could run the risk of losing its place as an NCAA member.
In order for the department
to maintain our NCAA membership, it must have a direction as soon as possible,
which is why we cannot wait for a new Chancellor to be heard from.
Further, there are
many pressing needs at the University.
Our new Chancellor will be very busy and will have to make a fair share
of tough decisions regarding UNO.
Members of the LSU System are pushing to get the athletics decision off
the table prior to that time because it will not, nor should it be, a top
priority for the new Chancellor.
Intercollegiate
athletics should serve several purposes at a university such as UNO. It should be a rallying point for the
university. It should raise the spirit
and bring together behind a common goal all facets of the university; students,
faculty, staff, alumni, donors and the general public.
Athletics should be a
tool for the university in terms of attracting high-quality students, faculty,
staff and donors to the university. The
advertising and public relations value of intercollegiate athletics goes far
beyond the dollars that it costs or the dollars that it brings in. Pride, prestige and public goodwill cannot be
measured.
There is something
that an athletics program should not be and that is a financial burden to the
University. For one reason or another,
UNO athletics has fallen short in this area in the past.
A direction for UNO
athletics needs to be laid out for the UNO community to rally behind and
support. This direction will be decided
upon within the next sixty days. The
time is now for all of us to come together and support UNO. The time for UNO to speak with one voice is
now!
To help us move
forward, we need to be very thankful for the leadership in place in our
athletic department. During the
2010-2011 fiscal year, the UNO athletics budget will be in balance for the first time since
Hurricane Katrina. This is due to the
hard work of Champion, her staff, the coaching staffs, the UNO financial staff
and our donors. Congratulations to all
involved on a job well done and keep up the good work.
This can and should be
the norm and I believe that it will be the norm moving forward if the correct
decision is made on the future of UNO athletics. We all have a vested interest in moving the
University and the athletic department forward.
Together, this can be
the case!
Michael
F. Sapera, CPA.CITP
President
Privateer Athletic
Foundation
The University of New
Orleans
