Torgersen on athleticsThe following comments were condensed from President Paul E. Torgersen's speech during the Founders Day celebration in April.Today we celebrate Founders Day, and we recognize achievements of members of the university community. On earlier occasions, we have addressed issues central to the purpose of the university: teaching and learning, research, our strong commitment to information technology and our responsibilities for preparing both an educated citizenry and a productive workforce. Today, instead, I offer some observations on that component of the university that is perhaps more widely visible than anything else we do. Today I would like to discuss intercollegiate athletics. What does the Division I intercollegiate athletic enterprise at Virginia Tech look like? How do we measure success? Is Virginia Tech successful? And most importantly, what is the value of athletics to this university? By any measure, Division I intercollegiate athletics at Virginia Tech is big. We field 21 intercollegiate teams--11 for men, 10 for women. And while intercollegiate football is the largest player, this past year 564 student athletes represented Virginia Tech across all sports. Add student trainers (many of whom go on to careers as professional trainers), student managers, cheerleaders, and a marching band, and the intercollegiate athletic enterprise at this university affords opportunities for more than 1,000 enrolled students. All have an opportunity to travel, to visit other schools, and to play or perform at the highest level of intercollegiate competition. Using a financial yardstick, athletics is a large enterprise, with $20 million per year in revenues and expenses. The funding is a combination of ticket sales, student fees, contributions, television contracts, and promotions. With some reasonable success in football during the past few years, we have managed to subsidize other nonrevenue sports. So how do we measure success? A team's win-loss record is the initial metric. Championships are another. Tech has done relatively well during the past few years: six successive bowl appearances and two Big East championships in football; a women's basketball team that advanced to the "Sweet Sixteen;" and we have competed in the Atlantic 10 Conference for only three full seasons, but Tech teams have won 25 conference and divisional championships. While winning and financial soundness are helpful and not independent of one another, they are not enough. We need more justification for our efforts. In terms of exposure, no other program in the university comes even close to providing the day-in and day-out publicity of sports. Several years ago, a Boston College quarterback named Doug Flutie completed a "hail Mary pass" in the last few seconds of a game to seal a victory over the University of Miami. What is not as well known is the phenomenon university admissions professionals dubbed "the Flutie factor" to account for Boston College's extraordinary subsequent rise in applications. At our own university, applications have increased significantly in recent years in parallel with our success in football. Believe me, those of us closer to the academic scene would like to claim some credit for that increase in student interest in Virginia Tech. And we are due some credit. But if we are honest in this assessment, we recognize athletic success has certainly helped in making the university more well known, and possibly more attractive. We do know that periodic on-line searches of news articles about Virginia Tech reveal that more than two thirds of the stories--more than two thirds of the ink and the television time--relate to athletics. What of the student athletes? Many are afforded an education that they might not otherwise receive. Clearly student athletes profit from the rigors of preparation and competition. But do they graduate? While these statistics are embarrassing at some institutions, they are not at Virginia Tech. The most recent 1998 NCAA graduation report shows 70 percent of Tech athletes graduated in six years versus 74 percent of the larger student body. Only one other school in the Big East Conference has a better average. Except for Vanderbilt, no schools in the Southeastern Conference even come close to Virginia Tech. And the best comparison: we rank third in athlete graduation rates among our 23 highly regarded state-selected peer universities. For my part, I am proud of these graduation rates because they clearly indicate that we have our priorities established. We are matriculating student athletes, not just athletes. A word of caution. Not all the press associated within intercollegiate athletics is positive. A few years ago we were embarrassed by a succession of news reports dealing with athletes. We had some football players arrested, but we learned from these experiences. Our comprehensive action plan on athlete behavior --which lays down the ground rules and clearly communicates our expectations of athletes--is now cited and requested by colleges and universities across the country. And we have had very few problems since taking that corrective step. Athletics can also weld together a diverse community. There are more than 25,000 students at Virginia Tech pursuing more than 200 different degree programs and enrolled in 2,500 different classes. Constantly moving in different directions and different spheres, sports act as a bonding agent building a sense of school spirit and common focus. "Go Hokies" is a universally understood refrain beginning early in school and remaining part of a lifelong vernacular. Football festivities are the social glue that binds the university to various constituencies. The university's fall social calendar revolves around football. It is the magnet that draws to campus a host of friends and alums. We have more than 30 university, college, department, or center advisory boards and virtually all of their meetings are held on football weekends. Class reunions are planned around these games and thousands of alums link again with the campus and friends because of the home football schedule. For many alumni, and a not insignificant number of legislators, the weekend scores are a point of shared commonality. During the university's capital campaign, I visited with literally thousands of friends and supporters. Believe me, a reception held in Texas or on the West Coast following a winning football game was likely to be a better event. This spring, I was in attendance in Cassell Coliseum as our women's basketball team took on a larger and possibly more experienced Auburn team in the second round of the NCAA tournament. The game was exciting. Tech played well and won. Being a part of those 10,000 students, faculty, and alums, whom coach Bonnie Henrickson described as our "sixth player" on the floor, was an experience not unlike an old fashioned revival. And I can recall the most recent bowl victory in Nashville in a driving cold rain against an Alabama team that had never lost to Virginia Tech. Halfway through the second half the stands began emptying of Alabama fans. Tech fans stayed to the bitter end and then engaged in some post season celebration with the team gathered at the center of the field to celebrate a victory. That, too, was a bonding experience for everyone in attendance. And it was an event shared by alumni and friends not in attendance who witnessed the victory on television. Several years ago when the negative publicity rang in our ears, we set out to show that the athletic enterprise can reflect well on the entire institution, that we can win--and win honorably--and that we can conduct a winning program that places academics first. I believe we have done just that. It requires continual monitoring and diligence, but a state university can mount an admirable sports program and graduate its student athletes. Intercollegiate athletics is here to stay at Virginia Tech. We are fortunate to have in place some very fine individuals providing leadership for the larger department and for the teams which represent the university. Student athletes are reflecting well on the university both in their academic and athletic performances. We can take pride in the achievements of these young women and young men. And we can recognize that they are, indeed, an important source of that special bonding that continues to bring us together as a university community.
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