University of Richmond President seems like he really hates runners

Lax fits perfectly with Richmond's reputation and vision as a school for spoiled rich white kids who want to go to a school people think is good (due to its high cost and lily white prep school demographic) but is in fact very middle of the road.

Screw em. We don't need Richmond.

I agree, he lost all credibility as a leader of the university in that video. He may be a solid administrator, or businessman, but not the face of the university as someone to trust. It doesn't matter if it was edited. He is reading from a prepared script.

His histrionic mannerisms, snarky presentation, and responses (or lack thereof) to the few questions shown indicate he was talking down to the crowd, telling them this is the way it is period, and treating people like they were inferiors who could never be trusted in such a "rigorous" process. He was a complete ass.

Virginia wrote:

I agree, he lost all credibility as a leader of the university in that video. He may be a solid administrator, or businessman, but not the face of the university as someone to trust. It doesn't matter if it was edited. He is reading from a prepared script.

His histrionic mannerisms, snarky presentation, and responses (or lack thereof) to the few questions shown indicate he was talking down to the crowd, telling them this is the way it is period, and treating people like they were inferiors who could never be trusted in such a "rigorous" process. He was a complete ass.

i thought it was worse than that. a few times there it looked like he thought it was all a joke to the students. didnt seem to care these kids are getting thrown down the drain

i cant blame him TOO much for the decision but his demeanor and explanations were some bullsh*t

I don't know if I'd want to be involved with the new lacrosse program at this school. It would be kind of like running off with the woman who's been cheating on her husband with you. You already know that she cheats, so you know that she'll probably cheat on you too. You already know that Richmond will drop an athletic program on a whim, so your fate is no more secure than the track team's. Lacrosse is gaining popularity, but it is not an established sport by any means. It could certainly turn out to be a fad. How long will Richmond's lacrosse team last if the sport's popularity wanes over the next couple of years?

I don't understand why they wouldn't wind to track program down over a number of years. It is going to take a few years to build the lacrosse program anyway. Lax won't have its first recruiting class until next year and presumably won't have a full roster of recruited scholarship talent until its fourth season. Why not dissolve the other sports over the next three years? Incoming lacross players get the new scholarships. Track gets to keep its current scholarship guys, but doesn't get scholarships for new recruits. The track team goes away when the current freshman class graduates. At the same time, the Lacrosse team has its first group of recruited upper classmen.

The move to lacrosse makes sense for Richmond. And I say this as someone who enjoyed competing with Sos Bitok and Julian Spooner during Richmond's glory days. The campus itself is a beautiful place and it was a nice place to run.

But Richmond is an incredibly highly priced school which caters to a relatively small segment of the population (rich and relatively average to a bit above average students). The lacrosse culture fits in with their student profile, and it makes all the sense in the world for them to promote lacrosse, and yes, to do so at the expense of track and field, as lamentable as that may be.

Note that Richmond's connection to Virginians is somewhat attenuated for a school located in the Commonwealth capitol. It is not a place where Northern Virginians attend in any numbers because its value is so much less than the Virginia public schools, 3 or 4 of which are demonstrably better in terms of educational quality and challenge and are far, far cheaper. University of Richmond must think strategically, especially given the danger that the current 53/47 percent female to male ratio could balloon to 60/40 in a heartbeat (yes, girls are outdistancing boys that much academically). Lacrosse makes all the sense in the world for them, and will help them recruit Virginia boys, too.

Memo to Lets Run posters: The world does not revolve around track and running, as much as it may surprise.

I don't think that anyone is saying that the world revolves around track and field, they just haven't given a clear explanation as to why elevating the lacrosse program requires an immediate removal of track. The closest thing I heard in the speech was that cutting a program will mean more money for the remaining sports, but they never said that it was a necessity. This was the "least disruptive choice" because, in the task force's eyes, cutting track only effects 6 non-XC athletes, yet frees up a sizable chunk of money.

I agree with the previous poster who said that the move to start lacrosse and end track should not have been made simultaneously. I feel like there would be much less backlash if lacrosse was added and then a few years down the road, track was cut because of "budget issues."

Ayers is a brilliant 19th Century American historian and humanist. And when I say brilliant, I'm not exaggerating. I mean it in the true sense of the word. His reputation as a US historian is why he is familiar to me.

So I was really surprised to see him pop up on LetsRun because I'm pretty sure he's not a sports type of guy. He's the last guy I'd expect would be involved in a sports controversy. But I guess that goes with the territory of being a University President, which carries with it certain administrative roles.

I guess my point here is that people should definitely continue to voice opposition to these cuts and to the positions that Ayers is articulating. But please think twice about attacking him personally. I live 4,500 miles from Richmond and know none of the parties involved. But I can tell you that I know of the U. of Richmond because of the work of Ayers as an American historian, not because of the athletics program. So while I disagree with the decision Ayers is supporting (because I love running and college sports), I think a little balance is in order. Don't attack the man.

SFbayRunner wrote:

But please think twice about attacking him personally. I live 4,500 miles from Richmond and know none of the parties involved.

More like 2,900 miles there fellow.

No one is questioning his ability as a historian. Have you watched the video? Do you see a composed, respectful, brilliant man?

Lenny Leonard wrote:

I would have liked some of the "data" that was gathered in the year-long process to be shared. For instance, what exactly would the university's sports budget look like in the new model vs. the old model? Since the school made the decision without knowing when the money would ever come, would there have been a larger sum of money that would have allowed for one or more of the cut programs to remain, and could that have possibly come just as quickly?

Any chance of getting that data via freedom of information?

The president claimed because of the "confidentiality" of students' personal data, they can't release it.

BS.

Couple of things: We all know "brilliant" people who cannot communicate well, act condescendingly and fail miserably at conveying a message to others. Now, I guess if the SF bay poster above is correct, we know another one.

This is not "confidential" student information, it is an athletic budget decision, and the financials are (typically, unless he has secret donor gifts) public information. I think the above poster is trolling on that point.

historian of things wrote:

Couple of things: We all know "brilliant" people who cannot communicate well, act condescendingly and fail miserably at conveying a message to others. Now, I guess if the SF bay poster above is correct, we know another one.

This is not "confidential" student information, it is an athletic budget decision, and the financials are (typically, unless he has secret donor gifts) public information. I think the above poster is trolling on that point.

He needs to take some geography lessons as well.

sad cheesehead wrote:

No one is questioning his ability as a historian. Have you watched the video? Do you see a composed, respectful, brilliant man?

Given the low quality of presentation, the lack of justification for his decision (how many people with a straight face would cut soccer AND track and field for lacrosse of all things?), his obvious disrespect for the student body, and his unwillingness to release data regarding the decision (presumably someone will have to sue under FOIA), I don't think the question should be about what sport to cut or promote.

The question should be whether Ayers is qualified to be President of a University. From what I see on that video, he is somewhat less qualified than the people who were runnning Penn State. Richmond is not Harvard or Stanford, but the figure I see in that video is an absolute joke, and I think the issue of his performance should be taken up with the Board of Trustees, not the Athletic Department.

You seem to be subtly suggesting that Ayers tenure is currently under review by the BoT. Do you know something?

You people talking about FOIA must not realize that Richmond is a private university.

+1 for Alyson McGonigle

Mr. Obvious wrote:

[quote]virginia runner wrote:

That said, Lacrosse really does fit in perfectly with the Richmond student body, which has tons of upper class prep school students from the Mid-Atlantic.

hy is

As I read it a ton of upper class not overly endowed Athletic students that can compete on their court. What good BB, FB or talented Runner would go for Lacrosse, same as Women's Field Hockey! The talented Athlete who Runs for the top ring is demented to begin; But a Talented athlete, how many of those did Richmond get in their fold? Yet it hurts to see another program go down the hole that can produce an Olympic Champion.

Lacrosse's fame was the Chapel Hill Rape, to be cleaned by Daddy's Money.

Now Daddy's Money got them aD1 Program.....Any Inner City kids on the Team?