COACHES AND PRESIDENTS
"The advice can be boiled down to this: don't compromise athletics at Dartmouth."
FALL COMES TO HANOVER BEFORE IT comes to most parts of the country. It is a time when Dartmouth's strengths can be seen in a brilliant golden light. On some Saturday afternoons, Memorial Stadium is one of the best places to see this light.
Football in the Ivy League, like all of its sports, is different from those where athletics are big-time. The games are more intimate, the athletes more earnest, the skills less obviously professional. The scale of the stadium itself contributes to the atmosphere. I am told that if you sit on the visitors' side (something I have never done), you can see blue Mt. Ascutney against a welter of orange and red.
During a game, Coach Buddy Teevens '79 has things other than light and color on his mind, of course. But I have found that presidents and football coaches share an occupational hazard: virtually everyone else seems to know how to do our jobs better than we do, and they are not shy in telling us their opinion.
I have a friend, a football coach at a major university, who is accustomed to such second-guessing. When he speaks at football banquets he tells alumni, "If you really want to give me advice, do it on Saturday afternoon, between one o'clock and four o'clock, when it is freezing cold and raining hard, when there are 25 seconds to call the next play. Don't wait until Monday morning. On Monday morning I know what to do."
I have been receiving advice myself, lately, some of it from alumni interested in athletics. The advice can be boiled down to this: don't compromise athletics at Dartmouth.
This concern comes after a year in which Dartmouth undertook some budget scrutiny as part of its long-range planning process. Putting our computers to sophisticated use, we came to see that we would experience budget shortfalls in each of the next several years unless we took corrective action now. As a result, we cut $2 million from the base budget. Rather than skim a little off the top of every department, as we have for some years, we chose to make structural reductions. In doing so, we decided to protect four areas of priority: academic programs, tenure-track faculty positions, the need-blind admissions policy, and a competitive salary increase for faculty and staff. The $2 million was taken out of other areas particularly administration, which had grown by 17 percent, or 150 positions, since 1982. Out of that $2 million, $175,000 came from athletics. Athletics were not singled out; they were one of a great many areas that were cut after the four areas of priority were protected.
We continue to hold to several commitments that have guided the College in the past and will guide us in the future. They include:
Offering a broad array of athletic activities for all undergraduates, ranging from recreation to intercollegiate sports.
Providing appropriate balance in the resources available to both men's and women's athletic programs.
Affording high-quality athletics and recreational experiences. Dartmouth athletes at the intercollegiate level have every right to expect the opportunity to be fully competitive.
Conducting this broad spectrum of activities in a way that is consistent with Dartmouth's academic programs.
These commitments have worked well for Dartmouth. Last year, threequarters of our students participated in intramural programs. More than 1,000 were members of intercollegiate teams. Some 250 participated in club sports, and 1,000 were members of the Outing Club. As many as 85 percent of Dartmouth students, in short, take part in College-sponsored athletic and recreational activities.
I have instructed both the Provost and the Dean of the College to work closely with Dick Jaeger '59, our new Director of Athletics, to make certain that athletic programs at Dartmouth remain strong. I am confident that they will, and that our students will continue to benefit from this important part of the Dartmouth experience.
"FOOTBALL," BY ROBERT CRUIKSHANK. FOX/HOTCHKISS COLLECTION.
