THE VALUE OF ATHLETICS TO A UNIVERSITY

                  

          There is considerable evidence that successful athletic programs

are a tremendous asset for a university.  Fortunately, winning sports programs at UCM have been the norm, and under the new president, Dr. Charles Ambrose, we can expect UCM’s programs to remain highly competitive.

          Here are just a few of the reasons why we are proud of all of UCM’s sports programs:

·        There are more than 500 student athletes competing in 16 different sports.  Only six percent have full rides, and many of the remaining have only partial scholarships.  Thirty percent are “walk-ons” who pay their own way.  Like other students, part-time jobs and academic scholarships are additional sources of support.

·        Student-athletes as a group score over 3.0 GPA, well above the all-student average.

·        A large percentage of the student body is involved in activities directly related to sports – the Marching Band, cheerleaders, Mulekickers, the Roaring Red student booster club and numerous others.

·        Five of the fall sports have attained national rankings – football, cross country, soccer, volleyball, and golf.   Many other UCM teams are expected to be nationally ranked when their seasons begin.

·        Student athletes have attained considerable academic success.  The Jennies softball team had a 3.53 GPA -- the highest in the nation.

·        Last year the Jennies volleyball team had the highest GPA of the national tournament’s Elite Eight.

·        The MIAA named Lindsay Lettow, of track & field, as the top female athlete and last month she was selected for the NCAA regional scholarship award.

·        Eric Czerniewski, former Mules football quarterback, received the Division II National Player of the Year award.  He graduated with a 3.49 GPA in business management.

·        UCM Literacy team -- Student-athletes from all UCM sports teams participate in reading to children in Warrensburg’s elementary and secondary schools.  More than $20,000 worth of books have been purchased through the UCM Foundation’s Carol D. Hughes Fund, named in honor of the late wife of Athletics Director Jerry Hughes.  Student-athletes read to the children and the books are then given to the various school libraries.  This is the 20^th anniversary year for this program.

          All of the above is supported and encouraged by the greatest team of coaches  you could ever want.  They demand that student-athletes perform at their highest levels and give them all kinds of support in their future careers.  Most of the coaches have compulsory study halls for their athletes who are making less than 2.7 GPA’s.  It is no wonder that our athletic teams receive national rankings for academics as well as for sports.

          A prime example of the impact of athletics was recalled when I met Clark Frost, a UCM Hall of Famer, at the Mule Train tailgate party during Homecoming activities.  Frost, as many of you will remember, was a highly talented wide receiver for the KC Chiefs in the 1960’s.  

          We had another inauguration back then. The year was 1970,  Dr. Jack Horner replaced Dr. Warren Lovinger and, as the PR director, I looked on this inauguration as a great opportunity to introduce our new president as a leader in higher education.  And, of course, it gave me an opportunity to show him just how valuable I could be.

          Since Horner had earlier made the comment that he didn’t think today’s high school graduates were well enough prepared for college, I decided  to work that theme into his speech.  So, I wrote about the need to strengthen elementary and secondary education.  It was a bit controversial since the “strengthening” part required considerable state funding.      

 It was a good speech, my very best effort.

          The plan was to release the speech statewide, stir up some controversy, and put President Horner into his rightful role as a leader in higher education.  At least, that was the plan.

          The big day arrived, Horner delivered the speech, and we distributed it statewide.  I actually hand carried the release to the KC Star.  We didn’t have email in those days, remember.

          The next morning I grabbed the Star and looked for the inauguration story.  There it was.  A full two inches of copy on the bottom of page 16.  All it said was that Central Missouri had inaugurated Dr. Jack Horner as president in ceremonies held on campus yesterday.

          I kept reading through the paper, and there, taking up the entire top half of Page One of the sports section was a huge photo and story about Clark Frost, a former wide receiver with the KC Chiefs, who had just been appointed an assistant football coach at Central Missouri.

          At first I was devastated.  Then I realized that the name of our university had been broadcast to thousands of sports fans throughout our region.  People were interested in us because of athletics.  Although I made no points with the new president, the overall public relations effect was tremendous.

          The moral to this story is that you use whatever means available to promote your university.  In the case of UCM, we have an athletic program that is a major factor in name recognition.  Closely related is the current “Get the Red Out” campaign which is associated with both athletics and academics.  The net result?  Record  enrollments topped off by exciting sports events.    

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RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE IS FOR IDIOTS

          It is a source of amazement to me to witness both locally and nationally the intolerance of a growing and alarming group of individuals who claim they are Christians but who by their words and deeds are nothing more than zealots and religious bigots.

          A Baptist minister blasted Republican presidential candidate Mitt  Romney for being a Mormon  He claims that Romney is a member of a “cult.”  Actually, he is right.  The Mormon Church is a cult.  But Methodists,  Presbyterians, Catholics, Lutherans and even Baptists are all members of cults.  Don’t take my word for it.  Look up “cult” in any standard dictionary.  It is defined as “a formal religious veneration.”  The veneration part generally applies to an individual, so I assume that in the case of  Christian denominations, this means a belief and worship of Jesus.

          There are those who say we are a Christian nation.  This, of itself, is not a problem. But, it is a problem when we levy our hate against anyone who doesn’t believe exactly as we do.  This nation was founded on religious freedom.  Early settlers wanted to live where they could decide who and how they worshipped.  That’s the way it began; that’s the way it should continue.

          So, I was particularly appalled to learn about the recent window smashing at Warrensburg’s Islamic Center.  This level of hate crime makes no sense. 

           .  A sizeable number of foreign students live and attend classes at the University of Central Missouri.  A number of them are of the Islamic faith.  They are welcomed here as key elements of the university’s diversity program.  We learn about the world, other cultures, other ideas by associating with those who are not exactly like us.  Top universities strive for diversity as a means of educating their students about the world.

          It is my belief that most of us in Warrensburg prefer for hate mongers and religious bigots to crawl back into their holes.