Harvard newspaper doesn't want a 4th sorority

[SWTXBelle]

My point is that the argument that we need football to attract students doesn't work, since we already have too many students. The University has x amount of money - where does it go? If it is going to rebuild the stadium and to support athletics, it's not there to hire the faculty to teach upper level courses, for example.

They sold the name change to us by stating "It won't cost any money! We have $250,000 in private donations". Um, if we have $250,000 to use to improve the school, I think it could have been better spent on scholarships rather than changing signs and buying stationery. Yep, that's what it went to - to facilitate the name change.

[knight_shadow]

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

My point is that the argument that we need football to attract students doesn't work, since we already have too many students. The University has x amount of money - where does it go? If it is going to rebuild the stadium and to support athletics, it's not there to hire the faculty to teach upper level courses, for example.

They sold the name change to us by stating "It won't cost any money! We have $250,000 in private donations". Um, if we have $250,000 to use to improve the school, I think it could have been better spent on scholarships rather than changing signs and buying stationery. Yep, that's what it went to - to facilitate the name change.

Admittedly, I didn't read the entire thread, but the post that I saw re: football attracting students didn't say that we NEED football to attract students. I read it as "Football can cause the number of applications for admission to increase."

If we're concerned about overcrowding, I think there needs to be a change in admissions (like UT).

[Munchkin03]

Does Texas have an automatic merit scholarship program like Florida (Bright Futures)? If so, then that would totally explain the jump in enrollment--families who wouldn't otherwise send a kid to college are able to do so, and families with money are sending their children to in-state schools instead of private or out-of-state publics.

It's across the state in Florida too--it's not just UF and FSU which are bulging at the seams, but schools that are less known as football powerhouses or who don't have football teams at all.

[AOII Angel]

Going to D-1 didn't effect admissions for ULM. Going from D-2 to D-1 actually DECREASED attendance significantly at home games (which were almost non-existent in the early years after the change. We were actually National Champions as D-2 but never have a winning season as D-1. That doesn't bring in students. It does, however, bring in money. LSU paid us a lot of money to lose to them at home this year. A group of sorority sisters and I went to the game, but we all rooted for LSU. (Hey, we've all been lifelong LSU fans, and ULM has done everything in their power to kill off any alumni support of their football program.) The only exciting thing about the football program in recent years was the surprise win over Bama three or four years ago in Saban's first year.

[SWTXBelle]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

Does Texas have an automatic merit scholarship program like Florida (Bright Futures)? If so, then that would totally explain the jump in enrollment--families who wouldn't otherwise send a kid to college are able to do so, and families with money are sending their children to in-state schools instead of private or out-of-state publics.

It's across the state in Florida too--it's not just UF and FSU which are bulging at the seams, but schools that are less known as football powerhouses or who don't have football teams at all.

Nope, no automatic merit scholarships - and because of the UT/A&M auto-admit program for top 10% (or 8 - they may have changed it) of public school grads more and more quality students are going OUT of state. You would not believe the number of Katy senior women going to Auburn, Bama, LSU and OK schools - if you look at the Katy Panhellenic records you can pinpoint when the 10% rule came into effect because of the jump in out of state students.