One of my colleagues was sort of complaining to me about EMUTalk.org the other day, asking why there isn’t the positive things about EMU there? I do agree that it is far too easy for this site to turn into a combination of a “bitch fest” and a “pity party” far too often, and it does overlook that there really are a lot of good things going on here. Of course, with the good there is the bad, too.
Take EMU athletics, for example. There was a full page ad in The Ann Arbor News last night congratulating various sports programs on campus and announcing that EMU won 8 MAC championships during the 2006-2007 school year, which is the most that EMU has ever won. So congratulations to men’s and women’s swimming and diving, men’s indoor and outdoor track and field, men’s cross country, women’s softball, women’s gymnastics, and men’s golf. Y’all have done good!
But then, when I went to emueagles.com, I came across this concept movie/vision of the $20 million ++ Student-Athlete “Performance Enhancement” Center. Given the location of the center (between the football stadium and the Convocation Center) and the way the video is put together, it might as well be called the “let’s get a football team that wins a few games” center.
The story that I have heard is that the funding for this center is coming from a private donor who specifically wants to fund a project for student athletics. I guess if that’s the way it’s going to be, that’s the way it’s going to be, and I suspect that this will ultimately benefit the athletic programs on campus. Still, I do wish that members of the Board of Regents, the administration, and the EMU Foundation would do a little more to try to convince this donor that an academic building with his or her name on it would do a lot more good for the EMU community.
A few years ago the University had a donor to build an indoor practice facility. Some University administrators badgered the person about donating to academic programs and the donor was completely turned off and went away. A long time fund raising professional told me this: “People give to people not to programs.” If this person wants to build an academic center and indoor practice facility for athletics they should be encouraged to do so. I have seldom given to any academic program at EMU without knowing the individual who runs the program first. I never give to individuals at EMU who have no interest in participating in building their progam. If the professor involved has an attitude of I’ll let the Foundation staff and volunteers do all the work I won’t have anything to do with it or give them a nickel.
that colleague’s allegiance to those remaining trembling admins is clearly evident since they have plenty of [tax-payer supported] resources they can use to douse themselves in ‘positive’ pr & spin endlessly. This site is best thing to happen to emu in ages.
It’s utterly amazing hearing about these thinly-veiled attempts to quiet this site and these conversations–vivid proof that there remains a pocket of naked emporers squashing the life out of emu…and proof that these conversations must continue. Thank you to this site!!
…and now this ridiculous athletic facility proposal!! Trotting this atrocity out during this economy and in the wake of one facilities scandal after another is just astounding.
We’ll get ‘happy’ about this when A) the ‘donor’ goes public, B) the ‘donor’ agrees to pay for its operation and maintenance for all time, C) this is done only after ALL ACADEMIC FACILITIES are in good condition, and D) athletics can stand on their own two feet financially without draining dime-one away from academics. It ain’t rocket science
Three things:
* I actually kind of agree with Alum, though somewhat reluctantly. If someone wants to give money to athletics and only athletics, then EMU ought to accept that money. But I will say that there are at least two reasons why professors like me don’t get involved with building the personal relationships it takes to raise money for academic programs. First, we’re too busy and underpaid doing things like teaching classes to spend time on fundraising too, and I think the culture here is such that this isn’t “our job.” It’s one of the main jobs of a university president and it is *the* main job of the foundation office.
Second, the suits don’t ask. At least they’ve never asked me. Maybe there is some fear of what faculty might say, maybe they see us as unwashed masses not suitable to present before rich donors, maybe they see it as giving up control. I’m not sure. But while I’ve been asked to contribute money to EMU, I’ve never been asked to raise money.
* Do not over-read my post, so-sad. No one is trying to pressure me to take down EMUTalk.org or silence the site or anything like that. But I do agree with my colleague in that it is far FAR too easy for EMUTalk.org to remain in the mire of a combination “bitch fest/pity party,” in that all we hear here are people complaining about how screwed-up stuff is at EMU and how screwed-over we are here at EMU for various reasons. That sort of self-loathing gets kind of old to me after a while, especially when there really are good things happening, too.
* And toward that end, congrats again to the various sports teams who won various MAC championships.
Site Dad:
There are several of your colleagues who don’t actually participate in the fund raising, but do participate in getting to know alumni who are interested in helping their programs. One example is the Jazz Program in the Music School. We have a small friends group that puts on a fund raiser every year for scholarships and equipment. We got to know both of the prof’s and some of the students simply by going to lunch or dinner with them. We help them, they help us help them. The program now has its own scholarship. As long as the faculty in the program are interested we plan on sticking around. Most of the faculty that I work with understand that I can say things to a Dept. Head or Administrator that they could never say. What are they going to do fire us? If a Department Head protests, and they have, about our involvement we take our show elsewhere on campus. In addition, I have absolutely no problem with telling off any Dept. Head or administrator who basically tells me that I can’t do something positive for any program on campus. I have also found the President to be pretty supportive of our efforts. The College Arts and Sciences have two great people from the Foundation to help with program development. All you need is an idea and they will help you develop it. Keep in mind that there are only two of them. They basically, help you help yourself.
You don’t need to raise money, just raise friends! Former students are a great start.
If you really have some good ideas perhaps I can help.
The short answer for the time being from my point of view on this is it’s complicated. We (meaning folks in the English department) have had a very difficult time both tracking alumni and then getting alumni information from various powers that be at EMU. I agree with the sentiment that all we really need are friends, but money is nice, too. The problem is though that it is not easy for (for example) English student alumni to give money that goes directly to some particular cause in the English department.
But the fact is faculty-types do need to make it more of our job to keep track of our former students, to cultivate alumni interests, etc. Again, that isn’t something we’ve traditionally done, but it again falls into that category of “if you want something done, do it yourself” duties.
Don’t always need alumni of your program. I am not an alum of the music program. The Foundation Office can help you with contacts. Why not develop some sort of programs with the Friends of the Library Group. It’s sort of down your alley. They’ve already done something with Loren Estelman (sp), the author who writes about a Detroit private eye. It’s easy – you just have to get a group together and get started on a “simple” project.
First come the friends, then the money.
Kudos to the Eagle\’s softball team for making it to their first NCAA Tournament!
Why wouldn\’t we all celebrate that?
As for anonymous donations for athletic facilities, isn\’t it a basic rule of friendship to not spit in a friends face when they offer you money?
The problem is not the Donor entirely. I personally want to put up (and this is the first time ever where I have declared what my initial donation might be) somewhere between $2 – $10 thousand dollars towards EMU Academics (which means anything related to Academic programs/building renovations/etc.)
I have the money already to make such a donation, so why don’t I donate the money today?
I am in a ridiculous situation where I have been lead to believe by President John Fallon himself that it is not easy to fund Academic Programs or Buildings on campus.
The problem is that if the EMU Administration doesn’t want to spend the money towards renovating a building or towards whatever I feel it should go towards then they won’t do it.
What would most likely happen is that the only thing my Donation can fund are Faculty Supplies such as Markers, paper, printing ink tubes, and etc.
But, my intent is not to fund things that are expendable items but rather to fund things that are durable items.
I’d much rather (for example) fund Technology such as better computers or peripherals for a Computer Science Lab than to have my money go towards Makers/Paper/Printing Ink Tubes.
I have heard from the EMU Foundation of other Donors being flat out DENIED when they called to say they wanted to donate their money to renovate Mark Jefferson. That was well over 1 year ago. Who knows what the total number of willing Donors with an untold amount of money have been willing to donate towards Academics in the past really is.
Janice Stroh (forgive me if I messed up the spelling) Business and Finance director should make it a Top Priority to really investigate private donations for Academics.
I want an Account that can stay afloat forever that can be donated towards that can collect money for the sole purpose of Academic Buidlings/Programs/Technology.
If Donors are being told that they CAN NOT donate to improve Academics on campus, then there is a sense of FALSE notion being created where by EMU Administrators can continue to say, “There just isn’t any Donors out there with enough money to renovate Pray Harrold or Mark Jefferson.”
It is a downright scam as far as I can tell which prevents Private Donations money, so that the EMU Administration can *pretend* that the only solution available to them is Michigan taxpayer dollars.
The EMU Student Government has been mislead by the EMU Administration on a yearly basis regarding this very issue.
To this day, EMU Student Government officials believe there isn’t Private Donations money out there for Pray Harrold or Mark Jefferson. That is completely FALSE from where I am standing.
I would definitely love to get some answers and I hope to get them in the next couple weeks, becacuse I am deeply hurt and frustrated and confused as to why EMU Foundation would refuse Generous Gifts from Generous People like myself and others.
Given that one’s donation sent to the EMU Foundation for Academics is merely tossed into a “Multi-Purpose” General Account which can then be spent for EMU Football Tickets instead of what you intended your money to fund,
the EMU Foundation is 100% broken.
It’s not the EMU Foundation’s fault as they lack authority over the money they collect. They just collect money and toss into the General Account and that’s all they do.
It is the Business and Finance Director who carries authority over any and all money collected by the EMU Foundation into the General Account.
Therefore, if the business and finance director does not want to spend donation dollars for what the Donor or Gift Giver wanted the money spent on then it is perfectly legal for the Business and Finance director to do it.
If I were to conduct a PDC (Private Donation Campaign), I would not have any legal rights what-so-ever as to the *fate* of those donation dollars. The money could spent on Bottles of MERLOT for the Presidential Mansion instead of Computer Technology for the Classrooms (or projectors).
The only solution is pretty simple:
The Business and Finance Director Janice Stroh must consider allowing me (or my Non-profit company when I create one and register it through the State of Michigan) to have a Signed Contract detailing exactly how the money is to be spent and handled.
The EMU Foundation can no longer be trusted blindly by us willing Donors. That much was made perfectly clear to me over the phone in my conversations with a number of EMU Foundation members including the Director himself.
The solution is a LEGAL Contract signed and notorized by a lawyer. It is silly it has to come to that but that’s what I am attempting to do as the only solution I can think of.
I thought we were going to celebrate the Women’s softball team’s first NCAA tourney?
What does that have to do with the foundation? If one looks hard enough, they’ll find a reason to disrespect anyone else’s achievement at EMU.
The emuealges.com site has a small image that links to the concept video, but to bitch about that, you’ve got to ignore a number of great stories:
* Matt Shoemaker picked up his 12th save of the season to move into second place all-time on the career saves list.
* Men’s Golf Tied for 13th (out of 27) at NCAA East Regional
* Senior Lauren Clark was named to the 2007 Great Lakes All-Region softball first team
* Men’s Golf Heads South For First NCAA Appearance
Anyhow, kudos to AD Derrick Gragg!
@AnotherAlum
I could have responded to the 1st half of the article about celebrating the women’s softball NCAA tourney, had I had any personal knowledge of EMU’s great athletics successes this past year. But, I am unfamiliar with the athletics programs at EMU.
The 2nd half of the article is what I was responding to and thus I am on-topic. The contributor in the article wrote:
” I guess if that’s the way it’s going to be, that’s the way it’s going to be, and I suspect that this will ultimately benefit the athletic programs on campus. Still, I do wish that members of the Board of Regents, the administration, and the EMU Foundation would do a little more to try to convince this donor that an academic building with his or her name on it would do a lot more good for the EMU community. ”
My comments address this issue in explaining the agonizing troubles I have been having in just getting any information about how one can Donate to ANY Academic Building on campus instead of having my funds rearranged for some other purpose.
The EMU Foundation, the EMU Administration, and the Board of Regents have done very little to address my personal interest in donating my own money in this manner.
What does this say about the entire Private Donations system at Eastern Michigan University?
In my opinion, with my back against the wall here, there may be an attempt to force donations towards whatever the EMU Administrators want rather than what DONORS want.
@Jeff MacMillan
Actually, I wasn’t responding to your post, but to the author of the article.
If you talk to someone from the foundation, I doubt you’ll find problems with the types of donations so much as problems with a lack of volume of donors and donations.
Since I have nothing else constructive to say, I’m out.
Alum, as I type this, I’m getting ready to give a presentation at a conference– ironically, about EMUtalk.org, actually. And then I have a bunch of other projects on my plate. But I might eventually hit you up for support/ideas for getting alumni involved and such. Or I might also try to promote the ways we have/will managed to do this kind of promotion in a future post.
Another Alum:
The College of Arts and Sciences has increased the amount raised every years for at least the last 7 years. The number of donors are also up. With a solid Foundation staff in place the amount of money raised and the number of donors will also increase.
@AnotherAlum
In my personal experiences it is ONLY about the types of donations and not at all about whether there are donors out there. Donors are being rejected by the EMU Foundation! They readilly have admitted to rejecting donation money to me.
President Fallon admitted to it when I spoke to him last Fall Semester during the 2nd Student Government Senate meeting, right outside the doors of the McKenny Union Gallery.
Plus, how can the EMU Foundation or the EMU Administration ever claim that there isn’t enough Donors out there to fund Pray Harrold or Mark Jefferson when for nearly 12 years or more they have not even bothered to ask anyone for money?
They have done everything to shut donors and donations out of Academics across the board. They have yet to allow a PDC for anything academically.
Given that Halle Library, Pierce Auditorium Renovations, and other successful PDCs have been conducted in the past there really is no historical record to back up any claims made by anyone that there isn’t enough PDC money or that a PDC would fail or that it would take too long.
@Alum
I would definitely be interested in some specific information about what you are talking about as there’s nothing as far as I can tell on the EMU Foundation’s website about donating to the College of Arts and Sciences.
If anyone can provide me with convincing evidence that there is a donor ready & able to fund the $20 million new sports building, I will buy that person lunch at any Ypsi restaurant they like. Until there is proof put on the table that there is such a donor, it seems more like spin than reality – spin aimed at advancing the University’s committment to the project while advoiding debate on the fiscal advantage/disadvantage of such an expense. It’s an old game: Float an idea, build support for it, claim that it’s free money, get it approved…and then get the school to pay for it. To avoid such games, when there are real donors with deep pockets, universities bring those donors out in public early on, and give them credit, and their public involvement helps build support for the project.
These claims of a private donor for this project looks like spin, designed to avoid real discussion of EMU needs and priorities. If anyone has info that disputes my assertion on this, contact me privately, and if I am persuaded, I will retract my comments and endorse the project on emutalk.org.
Even if a donor is privately funding the construction of this building, every other expenditure post-construction will act as another burdon on the overall EMU budget.
Given that Michigan’s Budget for 2008 is currently projected to be worse than 2007, as an Alumni to EMU I will not support this project regardless if it’s true that a donor is funding the construction costs completely.
How can we as a University accept this money when its priorities are misguided?
If my money is being turned away (which it has and is) then certainly this donor’s money could be turned away as well.
I don’t support turning money away but EMU has a dire, urgent, need to renovate existing buildings not to simply create more buildings.
@Mark Higbee
If it’s true that there actually isn’t a donor(s) funding the Sports Center, then this has huge implications when it comes to Student Representation.
Currently as we speak a number of Student Government senators and perhaps Student Body President Greg Jones are not fighting against this Sports Center as they are being lead to believe that there’s a Donor funding it.
If we learn about (said donor) actually existing or not existing, it will certainly be after EMU’s Budget is already approved with the Sports Center project built into the budget plan.
It is my belief that should it be true that there is no DONOR that EMU’s goal would be to make sure there’s no opposition to the EMU Budget Plan by making sure the EMU Student Government remains ignorant of what’s really going on.
And if recent history is any prediction, the Student Government has consistently been all too willing to take things for granted and to place blind trust in the EMU Administration no matter how many scandals they made in the past.