* Vanderbilt did not 'eliminate' its athletics department. VU simply formally merged its athletic department into the University, which drastically enhances its resources.

* Vanderbilt's athletic restructuring is IMMEASURABLY POSITIVE for the University's athletic programs and CLEARLY emphasizes athletic success at Vanderbilt.

* VU athletics programs are now funded by the University's multi-billion dollar endowment...one of the largest in the world. VU is ADDING SIX varsity sports as a result of the direct access to VU's financial strength.

* Only a small percentage of athletic departments in the country are profitable, reserved almost exclusively for big state schools with gigantic state-wide followings, 20,000-50,000 student enrollments and 80,000-100,000 seat stadiums.

* Vanderbilt athletics is now led by Vice Chancellor David Williams II who, among various academic/administrative roles, presided over Ohio State's athletic department until his arrival at Vanderbilt a couple of years ago.

* At the conclusion of the 2002-2003 season, Vanderbilt finished as the SEC's 7th (out of 12 SEC teams) ranked weighted athletics program in the NACDA Directors Cup rankings (formerly Sears Cup)

Analyzing the restructuring in more detail:

When Chancellor Gordon Gee announced Vanderbilt would MERGE its Athletic Department into the University, many folks were unsure if the move emphasized or de-emphasized athletics. Rest assured this move is EXTREMELY beneficial for VU athletics and ABSOLUTELY emphasizes Vanderbilt's commitment to win the Director's Cup. Vanderbilt finished in the top 20% of all schools in this past year's Director's Cup.

Take the following into consideration:

* Gordon Gee held collegiate presidencies at West Virginia, Colorado, Ohio State and Brown before becoming VU's 7th Chancellor. His programs won football conference championships at ALL of these schools. West Virgina was independent when Gee was President, but they were obviously extremely competitive through the Don Nehlen years. Colorado won the 1990 national championship. Ohio State won several conference championships as well as the 1995 Heisman Trophy with Eddie George. Even Brown won the Ivy League Championship while Gee was President.

* Gee is very disappointed Vanderbilt has not been to a bowl since he arrived. He's stated this publicly and when the Board of Trust would not allow him to earmark funds for the football program and athletics department, he took matters into his own hands by merging the AD in the University.

Until now, every dollar associated with the AD had to go through Kirkland Hall, VU's main administrative center. Roy Kramer, former Vanderbilt AD and SEC Chairman, publicly stated VU was always restricted by 'Kirkland Hall'. VU does not have this problem anymore. The University is now responsible for funding ALL Vanderbilt olympic/non-revenue sports through the general endowment, which is one of the largest in the world. The revenue sports will now ONLY support themselves unlike in the past when they were responsible for funding all olympic/non-revenue sports.

VU athletics now has the financial support equivalent to its 'state school' brethren. Vanderbilt already announced the addition of up to SIX olympic sports, the complete funding of sports like men's soccer (which until now I believe only offered 9 scholarships for a 20-man roster), and the revenue sports will now be self-sufficient. Remember, women's lacrosse has the same scholarship expenses per student-athlete as football.

Furthermore, even seemingly minor expenses will be resolved. For example, the Athletic Department's two-person/underfunded marketing department is now dissolved and folded into the University's award-winning marketing department. It is now responsible for not only developing marketing solutions for the Vanderbilt Medical Center but for the athletics department as well.

* There are roughly 20 profitable athletic departments in the country, or only 15-20% of all division I athletic departments. Florida, Ohio State, Texas, Michigan, Oklahoma, LSU are just a few examples. Big state schools with a state-wide following, sold-out 85,000 seat stadiums, student enrollments north of 20,000 and nationwide apparel appeal enable the ultra-high costs of running an athletic department to be offset by tremendous FOOTBALL revenue. Additionally, many of these programs have relatively low tuition costs which further offsets expenses with AD's.

Put more simply, the only NCAA athletics departments that are profitable or will break even are those that can sell more than 80,000 season football ticket packages, regardless of the current won-loss of the football team. To operate the Vanderbilt athletics department under the premise that, if all goes as planned, there will be enough money to pay for everything is at best unrealistic, and at worst, a self-made, ongoing budgetary disaster. The fact of the matter is, most all NCAA universities operate under this completely erroneous assumption, mostly because they have no better way of doing things.

* Vanderbilt is in an entirely different situation than the aforementioned schools. We are a top-20 University with 6,000 students, many of whom leave Nashville after graduation to pursue impressive careers throughout the world. We are not funded by taxpayers and do not have a 'state school' following. We have tuition costs in excess of $30,000 per student athlete. We are not able to pack 90,000 fans into a 90,000 seat stadium and sell Vandy gear in Montana. This is true for 80% of all NCAA Division 1 programs, and 100% of all programs below the 1-A level.

* Gee named Vice Chancellor David Williams, one of America's highest ranking African American university administrators, to oversee the new structure. Williams is no stranger to athletic administration. Ohio State's athletic department, the largest inter-collegiate sports program in the country, answered to him during the '90s and he was responsible for hiring Andy Geiger.

* Many negative views on the restructuring stem from the manner in which the message was delivered as well as 'state school' fears of this structure undermining their programs. The ticker 'Vanderbilt Eliminates Athletic Department' on ESPN was entirely disturbing. We all know the media aims to generate attention. Certainly 'eliminate' sells more papers than 'merge,' which is precisely what Vanderbilt did: MERGE the athletic department into the resource-rich Vanderbilt University and dissolve Vanderbilt's underfunded athletic department.

* Gee is in the process of transitioning VU into a residential college, the same structure utilized by the Ivy League. It's simply an effort to immerse students within their respective disciplines and stimulate inter-college interaction within VU's 10 Colleges and world-renowned Medical Center. His merging the athletic department into the University aligns with this program and creates unity within VU.

* Since Gordon Gee took over the chancellor's job, Vanderbilt has spent $56 million on new sports facilities and facilities upgrades. That is more money than any other SEC school has spent over the same period. In fact, when compared to the size of the school and alumni base, Vanderbilt out-spends every other SEC school on athletics by at least two to one — and in most cases, five to one.

For an overview of Vanderbilt's current athletics facilities, go to Vanderbilt University Athletics Facilities

* Vanderbilt's annual athletics budget is reportedly around $30 million a year. That is above the average for all BCS-member schools, including the SEC. Those who say Vanderbilt is not financially committed to athletics simply have no idea how committed the school actually is to fielding winning athletics teams. The plain fact of the matter is, no other SEC university spends anywhere close to what Vanderbilt spends when compared to the potential return on that investment.

* Sadly, some of the negative publicity stems from the current state of collegiate athletics. Dishonest coaches, 10% graduation rates, teammate murders, cheating, illiterate graduates and NCAA investigations are only a few of the disappointments we've seen increase over the past year.

The state of college athletics is going in the wrong direction...at the expense of 18-22 year old kids. Gordon Gee's goal is not to disturb college athletics...it's to reform it to the benefit of the 'student athlete.' His goal is not to 'fix' Vanderbilt...Vanderbilt doesn't have a problem with integrity. His goal is not to de-emphasize VU athletics, but to strengthen them with additional funding and resources. Adding SIX varsity sports, completely funding existing varsity sports, continuing to enhance facilities (over $50MM during the past 3 years), proactively merging athletics into the resource-rich Vanderbilt University, naming such an accomplished university/athletic administrator such as David Williams to oversee the transition, and attending virtually ALL Vanderbilt sporting events leads this fan to believe he's EMPHASIZING athletics. His goal does not insist Vanderbilt's structure MUST be XYZ University's structure. It's simply to give VU athletics more resources, emphasize VU athletics, emphasize the student athlete and encourage graduation (tying scholarship allotments to graduation rates).

The best part is Gee has the ear of every University President and they are ultimately the ones who make the final decision regarding athletics. Vanderbilt is a founding member of the SEC. The SEC's University Presidents decide who is admitted or released from the league. According to a David Williams speech during Homecoming, the SEC's University Presidents consider Vanderbilt one of the SEC's GREATEST assets and wouldn't even consider asking VU to leave. They want the rest of the SEC to be like VU and are embarassed by constant violations and poor graduation rates by the majority of the league. If Gee, Williams and Vanderbilt are held in a negative light for attempting to infuse integrity in college athletics, we really are in a sad state of affairs.